We challenge wrongful convictions on every front by exonerating the innocent, educating future attorneys, and reforming criminal justice policy. Read our Summer 2025 update to see how we continue to exonerate, educate, and reform.
LATEST NCIP NEWS
NCIP Frees 38th Client, Regi Tanubagijo!
NCIP Staff with Regi and his family, moments after his release from San Quentin.
On Friday, May 16, NCIP client Reginald “Regi” Tanubagijo walked out of prison after having spent 11 years wrongfully incarcerated. Regi was wrongfully convicted on charges of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing great bodily injury or death, after the tragic death of his infant foster son. The charges stemmed from an accident in 2010, when the bouncer chair in which Regi’s foster child was seated, slipped off the kitchen table, resulting in a fatal head injury.
Click here to read how NCIP worked diligently to free him. Additionally, the San Francisco Chronicle published an in-depth article about Regi's case.
A few items still remain on Regi's Amazon Wishlist -- the entire Tanubagijo family is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support so far for Regi's homecoming!
EXONERATE
Glen Payne Granted Compensation Seven Years After Exoneration
Glen celebrating in the NCIP office after the CalVCB hearing in March 2025.
In March of this year, NCIP client Glen Payne was approved by the California State Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) to receive $765,380 for his wrongful incarceration -- seven years after his exoneration.
“Despite the most challenging circumstances–having suffered 15 years of wrongful incarceration, time on parole, homelessness, and substance addiction, [Glen] has remained patient while always hoping for accountability,” said NCIP Volunteer Attorney Catherine Boyle, who worked on Payne’s case since 20I6, in her remarks to the CalVCB during the hearing. “Compensation cannot undo the almost 15 years Glen spent sitting in prison and the harm those years caused him. It cannot undo being separated from his family and losing his father while incarcerated. But it can and will provide him with the stability he has lacked for so long and help him make the most of the years to come.”
EDUCATE
NCIP Clinical Students Graduate from Santa Clara Law
NCIP clinical students at the Center for Social Justice and Public Service Celebration.
This spring, Santa Clara University School of Law marked commencement week with a series of events and award ceremonies. The week began with a swearing-in ceremony in the Mission Church for graduates who passed the California Bar Exam in February, which included a number of former NCIP students. The week continued with special graduation ceremonies hosted by the law school's centers and student groups, which honored the following NCIP clinical students:
- Melissa Chen received the Hoge Fenton Public Interest Fellowship for her work at the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office.
- Caitlin Strickland received a Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship for her work at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center.
- Two NCIP clinical students received Richard P. and Madé S. Berg Public Interest and Social Justice Summer Grants: Morgan Botelle for her work at the Legal Assistance Center, and Asha Kadakia for her work at Santa Clara County Counsel.
- Four clinical students received Pro Bono Recognition Awards: Danielle Bongulto; Morgan Fuller Kolsrud; Jennifer Moller; and Caitlin Strickland.
- Jennifer Moller received the Pro Bono Student of the Year award, for logging 80.56 pro bono hours this year.
- Ulises Solis and Hannah Chang received the Deans’ Outstanding Student Leadership Award, which is given to graduating students who have exemplified Santa Clara Law’s mission of leadership and hard work on behalf of their classmates, their clients, and their communities, and also have led by their example of kindness, respect, ethics, and professionalism.
- Morgan Fuller Kolsrud received several awards including the Herman Edith Wildman Social Justice Law Award given to the best student essay on a Public Interest and Social Justice Law topic; the Pro Bono Graduating Student of the Year award for logging 307.5 total pro bono hours; and the Mabie Award for the Outstanding Graduate, Santa Clara Law’s highest academic honor, given to the graduating student who best represents exceptional “qualities of scholarship, community leadership, and a sense of professional responsibility.
The week concluded with the formal commencement ceremony, celebrating 219 graduates whose education emphasized not only academic excellence but also service, integrity, and compassion.
Ada Cruz Joins NCIP as Stevens Fellow for Summer
For the fourth summer in a row, NCIP is hosting a Stevens Fellow through the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship Program.
NCIP's 2025 Stevens Fellow is Ada Cruz, a rising 2L at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, where she majored in Applied Mathematics and minored in Computer Science, focusing on data-driven solutions for social justice issues. She hopes to continue using data, law, and advocacy to promote justice and equity.
REFORM
California Innocence Coalition Sponsors
Two Bills in State Legislature
This bill would authorize reasonable access to discovery materials for felonies resulting in a sentence of one year of incarceration or more, and would no longer require a showing that efforts to obtain discovery from trial counsel were unsuccessful.
AB 1036 would also broaden the definition of “discovery materials” to include materials from any prosecutor who tried or worked on the case that tend to negate guilt, or mitigate the sentence or offense.
The bill would additionally require trial counsel, for all criminal convictions on or after July 1, 2026 that result in a sentence of one year of incarceration or more, to retain digital color copies of every item in the file.
Access to California’s prisons is essential for state officials, legislators, judges, and legal professionals who play a critical role in shaping and overseeing corrections policies and creating access to justice for those incarcerated. However, the current clearance process imposes unnecessary administrative burdens, delaying essential oversight and legal access.
This bill is needed to streamline entry for designated officials and legal professionals, ensuring efficient and effective governance. SB 553 provides short-term access for state officials and annual statewide clearance for legal professionals. This solution maintains security while reducing administrative inefficiencies, facilitating timely legal access, and improving corrections oversight.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the Date: 2025 Justice For All Gala!
For the first time, the Justice for All (JFA) Gala will take place in NCIP's own backyard! This year's gala will be Thursday, October 16 at the de Saisset Art Museum on Santa Clara University's beautiful campus.
Stay tuned for more details and the opportunity to purchase tickets or serve as a sponsor. For questions, contact NCIP External Relations Director Carla Spain at cspain@scu.edu.
NCIP COMMUNITY
In early June, NCIP hosted a Health & Wellness retreat for clients. Left: retreat participants getting ready to start a chocolate making workshop with Timothy Adams Chocolates; Right: a session on hope led by Santa Clara University Professor David Feldman.
NCIP Client Arturo Jimenez (right) with wife Laura and their baby at the Innocence Network Conference in Seattle in April.
NCIP Client Obie Anthony speaking at the Innocence Network Conference about the cutting edge work undertaken by Exonerated Nation on using virtual reality.
Two NCIP clients (from left: Zavion Johnson and Miguel Solorio) participated in the always compelling Moth Storytelling Performance that closes out the annual Innocence Network Conference every year.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
NCIP's continued work is made possible through donations from our supporters. With your help, we can continue to exonerate, educate and reform. Thank you for helping us make a difference in the lives of the wrongfully convicted.
