Kenneth Nixon (left) and Gilbert Poole, exonerees and clients of WMU-Cooley’s Innocence Project, participated in the Michigan Task Force on Forensic Science hearing on August 10.
(Photo courtesy of WMU-Cooley Law)
Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Innocence Project exonerees and advocates recently shared their experiences with wrongful convictions in appearances before members of the Michigan Task Force on Forensic Science (TFFS).
Gilbert Poole, who was released in May after wrongfully serving 32 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, participated in the discussion about why misapplied forensic science is one of the leading contributing factors to wrongful convictions and how it can be addressed going forward.
Marla Mitchell-Cichon, distinguished professor emeritus and counsel to the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project, joined other legal experts to share insight about the need to review forensic science applications for convictions.
“I spent 32 years in prison trying to get out and it was my efforts to learn the law and my persistence in pursuing assistance that gained my release,” Poole told the TFFS committee.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 136 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated in Michigan.
Some 25 percent of the cases involved false or misapplied forensic evidence as a factor that led to the wrongful incarceration —
accounting for 526 years of wrongful imprisonment.
The task force was created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to review the state of forensic science in Michigan.
The panel is expected to produce its findings and policy recommendations to strengthen forensic disciplines by the end of the year.
“The time lag between our discovery that the science was not reliable and the time Mr. Poole was released is too long,” Mitchell-Cichon told the gathering earlier this month. “I think that a task force and a commission can go a long way to help and correct these problems sooner.”
Other presenters included Megan Richardson, clinical teaching fellow at University of Michigan Law School Michigan Innocence Clinic; David Moran, clinical professor of law and co-founder of the University of Michigan Law School Michigan Innocence Clinic; and clients of the Michigan Innocence clinic.
The WMU-Cooley Law School Innocence Project is part of the Innocence Network, which has been credited with the release of over 375 wrongfully accused prisoners through the use of DNA testing.
The WMU-Cooley project has screened over 5,800 cases and is responsible for the exoneration of seven men: Kenneth Wyniemko (2003), Nathaniel Hatchett (2008), Donya Davis (2014), LeDura Watkins (2017), Kenneth Nixon (2021), Gilbert Poole (2021), and Corey Quentin McCall (2021).
The WMU-Cooley Innocence Project has also helped to exonerate Lacino Hamilton after spending 26 years in prison, and Ramon Ward, who spent 27 years in prison, for crimes they did not commit.
The project is staffed by WMU-Cooley Law School students, who work under the supervision of WMU-Cooley Innocence Project attorneys.
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