Illustration: Cornelia Li
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Supporter:
How do you spend your time?
Helping your kids with their homework. Watching them play sports. Going to the gym.
Preparing dinner for your family. Being stuck in traffic. Doing work that is interesting and fulfilling.
Now, think about all those moments that remind you of life’s meaning:
The awe in the birth of a child. The wonderment in the views from a mountain. The tenderness of caring for an aging parent. The peace in spending a day in nature and hearing the birds.
How different might your life look without all of those things? Could you bear the excruciatingly slow, blank passage of time if deprived of those experiences? And yet, wrongfully convicted people like Darwin Crabtree, Domingo Bustos, Glenn Payne, Zavion Johnson, and Ed Easley did it - despite unfathomable discouragement, frustration, and defeat. Together, these five innocent men, all exonerated in the last year, served nearly 70 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.
Each of their cases represents years of work by countless people – lawyers, investigators, pro bono counsel, and students dedicate thousands of hours to this work. Despite these supreme efforts, victories are hard to come by; when they do occur, they are painstakingly slow, made impossible or extremely difficult because of outdated laws and practices. Most of this year’s five case victories were preceded by losses, or were not previously possible to pursue because of limitations posed by California law.
NCIP uses what it learns from defeats to generate policy change, and then uses that policy change to address the causes and consequences of wrongful conviction. The coming summer months will be dedicated to another full legislative agenda with bills that, if passed into law, will continue to change the landscape of innocence issues in California. Had some of the bills we are advocating for been passed in earlier years, many of our exonerees might never been wrongfully convicted.
As the great Babe Ruth said –“It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.” NCIP does not ever give up. When a lab, or a District Attorney’s office, or a court tells us that they’re sorry but they can’t find the transcript, or the evidence, or the file – we find it! And if we cannot find it – we find a way around it.
When someone shuts a door to us, we find someone else to open the door, or find another door in. When we lose in one court, we proceed to the next.
When the law does not allow us to win a righteous case, we work to change the law. And then, we work to apply the changed law to correct the case that inspired the change in the law.
Each one of our exonerees represents an astounding example of the resilience of the human spirit. That is precious and that is something worth fighting for. Thank you for fighting with us in the name of the wrongfully convicted.
Linda Starr
Executive Director
NCIP's New Home at Santa Clara Law
WE'VE MOVED! The NCIP team is very proud to announce it has a new home inside Santa Clara Law's Charney Hall. We are so excited to continue our mission to promote a fair, effective, and compassionate criminal justice system and to protect the rights of the innocent at our new office on the Santa Clara University campus. Please note our new mailing address: 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053 More>>
Featured Stories
NCIP’s 2018 Legislative Efforts Forge Ahead
NCIP’s legislative efforts forged ahead this spring. NCIP’s priorities for this legislative session include postconviction discovery reform, improving evidence retention in criminal cases, implementing eyewitness identification best practices, and automatic compensation for exonerees. Learn more about what these bills would accomplish if passed into law and their current status in the legislature. More>>
Maurice Caldwell: Civil Rights Lawsuit Moving Forward
On May 11, 2018, a federal appeals court formally ruled that NCIP exoneree Maurice Caldwell can sue police for manipulating a key witness and falsifying evidence in his case. Caldwell was 22 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1991. This lawsuit is one of the many avenues Maurice has sought to attempt and rebuild his life after losing decades to wrongful conviction. More>>
An Amazing Year at the NCIP clinic
This spring, the NCIP clinic wrapped up an amazing academic year. Special thanks to all 13 of the NCIP clinic students who contributed to our case and policy victories over the last academic year. We wish the best of luck to the 3L NCIP clinic students who are graduating and taking the Bar Exam in July. More>>
Featured Videos
Recapping NCIP's Justice For All Awards Gala
On April 12th, NCIP held its annual Justice For All Awards Gala at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. With 275 people in the room and a record number of exonerees and their families in attendance, this year's Justice for All Gala was perhaps the most special one yet. Watch the highlights here.
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The Truth Will Set You Free: The Story of Ed & Nichole
In 1993, NCIP client Ed Easley was wrongfully convicted of sexually abusing his girlfriend’s eight-year-old niece, Nichole. It took 24 years to prove Ed's innocence, which wouldn't have been possible had the victim, Nichole, not come forward years later to set the record straight. Ed and Nichole's story epitomize the resilience of the human spirit. Watch their incredible story
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Historic Innocence Network Conference Held in Memphis
Over the weekend of March 23-25, NCIP joined hundreds of innocence advocates and exonerees from around the world at the annual Innocence Network Conference. This year's conference was held in Memphis, TN, and concluded with an Innocence March and rally outside the National Civil Rights Museum.
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NCIP In the Media
Hearing delayed 2 weeks in 1985 murder case in Village Life featured NCIP Staff Attorney & Policy Liaison Melissa O’Connell.
Hearing delayed 2 weeks in 1985 murder case in Mountain Democrat featured NCIP Staff Attorney & Policy Liaison Melissa O’Connell.
Part 1: The Northern California Innocence Project and the Case of Jeremy Puckett on ABC 10 Sacramento featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr and client Jeremy Puckett.
Part 2: The Northern California Innocence Project and the Case of Jeremy Puckett on ABC 10 Sacramento featured NCIP client Jeremy Puckett.
LA County DA Conviction Review changes Leadership in the Daily Journal featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr. (subscription required)
Santa Clara County checks old criminal cases for missteps on KTVU News featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr.
Ninth Circuit OKs Wrongly Convicted Man’s Bid to Sue Officer on Courthouse News featured NCIP Exoneree Maurice Caldwell.
Man Wrongly Imprisoned for 20 years can sue San Francisco police over false evidence claims in the San Francisco Chronicle featured NCIP Exoneree Maurice Caldwell
Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable and police and lawmakers know it in the Los Angeles Times featured NCIP Exoneree Franky Carrillo
Innocence Project takes on 1985 stabbing murder in Mountain Democrat featured NCIP Staff Attorney & Policy Liaison Melissa O’Connell.
