{{Short description|American legal non-profit founded August 2002}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox organization | name = Georgia Innocence Project | formation = July 27, 2002 | logo = Georgia_Innocence_Project_Logo.png | status = 501(c)(3) organization | purpose = Preventing and correcting wrongful convictions | headquarters = Atlanta, Georgia | leader_title = Chairman | leader_name = Alan Essig | leader_title2 = Executive Director | leader_name2 = Kristin Verrill | affiliations = Innocence Network | website = [http://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org georgiainnocenceproject.org] }} The '''Georgia Innocence Project''' is a non-profit legal organization based in Atlanta, Georgia that works to correct and prevent wrongful convictions in the Deep South.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/mission/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> The organization provides representation to Georgia prisoners whose innocence can be proven through modern DNA testing or other newly available evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apply for Help |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/cases/apply-for-help/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> It is a part of the Innocence Network and is the only organization in Georgia focused on investigating and litigating post-conviction claims of innocence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=element |first=Rosie Manins {{!}} 2022-10-14 16:49:51-0400 · Listen to article Your browser does not support the audio |title=Georgia Innocence Project Celebrates 20-Year Mark - Law360 Pulse |url=https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1538572/georgia-innocence-project-celebrates-20-year-mark |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}</ref>
As of January 2025, the organization has helped free or exonerate 15 people, with nine of these occurring since 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stories of Freedom |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/cases/stories-of-freedom/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> The organization has also played a central role in securing legislation to prevent and correct wrongful convictions, including Georgia's post-conviction DNA testing statute and legislation compensating exonerees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-14 |title=The Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act is Officially Law! |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/general/wrongful-conviction-and-incarceration-compensation-act-is-law/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=georgiainnocenceproject.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
== History == The Georgia Innocence Project was founded in 2002 by September Guy and Jill Polster,<ref>{{Cite web |last=element |first=Rosie Manins {{!}} 2022-10-14 16:49:51-0400 · Listen to article Your browser does not support the audio |title=Georgia Innocence Project Celebrates 20-Year Mark - Law360 Pulse |url=https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1538572/georgia-innocence-project-celebrates-20-year-mark |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}</ref> inspired by the exoneration of Calvin Johnson Jr. in 1999 by the Innocence Project in New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/learn/history/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> Johnson was the first person in the state of Georgia to be exonerated through DNA, and his case highlighted to Guy and Polster the capacity of new scientific breakthroughs and forensic tools to expose wrongful convictions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/learn/history/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> Johnson subsequently served on the newly established Georgia Innocence Project's board of directors,<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Memoriam: Innocence Project Founding Board Member and Exoneree Calvin Johnson |url=https://innocenceproject.org/in-memoriam-innocence-projects-founding-board-member-and-exoneree-calvin-johnson/#:~:text=A%20Tireless%20Advocate%20for%20Criminal,want%20to%20make%20real%20changes.%E2%80%9D |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Innocence Project}}</ref> and his sister continues to serve on the board as of 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/our-team/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
Aimee Maxwell was the organization's first executive director and was, for a time, its only staff member.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marill |first=Michele Cohen |date=2006-02-01 |title=The Innocents |url=https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/georgia-innocence-project/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Atlanta Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The organization helped secure Georgia's adoption of a post-conviction DNA testing statute in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Georgia Innocence Project Celebrates 20-Year Mark - Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1538572/georgia-innocence-project-celebrates-20-year-mark |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}</ref> In August 2004, Clarence Harrison became the first person to be exonerated by the organization's efforts after DNA testing conclusively proved his innocence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/learn/history/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> By the time of his exoneration, Harrison had spent over 17 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clarence Harrison - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3286 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> Robert Clark became the second person to be exonerated by the Georgia Innocence Project in December 2005, followed by Pete Williams in January 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/learn/history/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2016, Clare Gilbert took over as executive director and oversaw a substantial expansion of the organization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/our-team/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> During Gilbert's tenure, the organization grew to a staff of more than ten,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-01 |title=Our Team – Georgia Innocence Project |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/our-team/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201222934/https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/our-team/ |archive-date=1 December 2024 }}</ref> secured exonerations increasingly frequently, and significantly expanded its policy and legislative advocacy. Kristin Verrill succeeded Gilbert as executive director in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/our-team/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Work == The Georgia Innocence Project's stated mission is to correct and prevent wrongful convictions in Georgia and to provide support and assistance to innocent people freed from wrongful conviction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/mission/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> The organization provides pro bono post-conviction legal representation to people currently incarcerated in Georgia whose innocence can be proven through modern DNA testing or other newly available evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apply for Help |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/cases/apply-for-help/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
The organization has received over 7,000 requests for assistance and expends considerable resources identifying cases with the strongest innocence claims.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Streamlining Identification and Correction of Wrongful Convictions in Southeast Georgia {{!}} Bureau of Justice Assistance |url=https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/awards/15pbja-21-gg-03601-wrng |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=bja.ojp.gov |language=en}}</ref> In recent years, it has sought to use patterns of wrongful convictions to more efficiently identify innocence cases and exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals more efficiently, such as by using data aggregation to identify hotspots of police or prosecutorial misconduct.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Streamlining Identification and Correction of Wrongful Convictions in Southeast Georgia {{!}} Bureau of Justice Assistance |url=https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/awards/15pbja-21-gg-03601-wrng |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=bja.ojp.gov |language=en}}</ref>
In addition to direct legal representation, the organization also engages in policy and legislative advocacy to address the root causes of wrongful conviction, to make wrongful convictions easier to correct when they do occur, and to make it easier for freed and exonerated people to rebuild their lives after release from prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/mission/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> The Georgia Innocence Project helped to pass Georgia's post-conviction DNA testing statute, and in recent years has focused on securing legislation providing compensation to innocent exonerees.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Ambria |date=2023-03-29 |title=The Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act is one step away from Kemp's desk. Will it pass? |url=https://www.gpb.org/news/2023/03/29/the-wrongful-conviction-compensation-act-one-step-away-kemps-desk-will-it-pass |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Public Broadcasting |language=en}}</ref> In 2025, after a four-year long advocacy campaign by the Georgia Innocence Project, Georgia's Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act was signed into law with bipartisan support.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-14 |title=The Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act is Officially Law! |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/general/wrongful-conviction-and-incarceration-compensation-act-is-law/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> The law provides exonerees who prove their innocence with $75,000 for each year they were incarcerated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Brooke |date=2025-05-15 |title=New Georgia law will allow exonerees to get $75K for each year wrongfully incarcerated |url=https://www.wjcl.com/article/georgia-law-allows-exonerees-to-get-75k-per-year/64783827 |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=WJCL |language=en}}</ref>
The organization has also helped strengthen eyewitness identification procedures, improve evidence retention, and increase the ethical obligations of police and prosecutors to act on exculpatory evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=element |first=Rosie Manins {{!}} 2022-10-14 16:49:51-0400 · Listen to article Your browser does not support the audio |title=Georgia Innocence Project Celebrates 20-Year Mark - Law360 Pulse |url=https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1538572/georgia-innocence-project-celebrates-20-year-mark |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}</ref>
As well as advocating for compensation for the wrongfully convicted, the Georgia Innocence Project also provides other re-entry support to its former clients and works to educate the public about wrongful convictions,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/mission/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> including partnering with the Atlanta Hawks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlanta Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce Partners with GA Innocence Project to Prevent Wrongful Convictions |url=https://www.nba.com/hawks/atlanta-hawks-head-coach-lloyd-pierce-partners-ga-innocence-project-prevent-wrongful-convictions |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.nba.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2022, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum housed an exhibition by the Georgia Innocence Project detailing the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-20 |title="Bonded by Innocence, Together in Freedom" Exhibition |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/general/bonded-by-innocence-together-in-freedom-exhibition/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Overturned convictions == As of January 2025, the Georgia Innocence Project has helped free and exonerate 15 people, with nine of these occurring since 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stories of Freedom |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/cases/stories-of-freedom/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Clarence Harrison was, in 2004, the first person to be exonerated by the Georgia Innocence Project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/learn/history/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> Harrison served 17 years in prison before post-conviction DNA testing proved his innocence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clarence Harrison - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3286 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> Jeffrey Brickman, the District Attorney who dropped the charges against Harrison after his conviction was overturned, later joined the Georgia Innocence Project's board.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/about/our-team/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> * Robert Clark was wrongfully convicted of rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery in 1982 as a result of faulty eyewitness identification.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Clark - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3108 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> He consistently proclaimed his innocence until, in 2005, post-conviction DNA testing secured by the Innocence Project and Georgia Innocence Project proved his innocence, leading to his release and subsequent exoneration.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-12-08 |title=Robert Clark |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/freed-client/robert-clark/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> * Pete Williams was exonerated in 2007 after serving nearly 22 years of a 45-year prison sentence for a sexual assault that DNA testing eventually showed he did not commit.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Willie Williams - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3751 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * John White was exonerated in 2007 after serving more than 22 years for a sexual assault he did not commit after the victim mistakenly identified him in a lineup, saying she was "almost positive" it was him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Jerome White - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3735 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> Post-conviction DNA testing ultimately excluded White and revealed that another man, James Parham, who had been in the original lineup, was the actual perpetrator.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Jerome White - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3735 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Michael Marshall was exonerated by the efforts of the Georgia Innocence Project in 2008 after DNA testing excluded Marshall as the perpetrator and isolated the DNA of another man.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Marshall - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3408 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Michael Googe was exonerated in 2015 as a result of a unique grant-funded collaboration between the Georgia Innocence Project, Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, to search for potentially exculpatory DNA evidence in CODIS hits.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Googe - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4740 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> The partnership discovered a CODIS hit that had been provided to police after Googe's conviction but ignored.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Googe - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4740 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Kerry Robinson was exonerated in 2020 after serving 20 years in prison. At trial, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation laboratory analyst incorrectly characterized the DNA evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kerry Robinson - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5671 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> Subsequent DNA testing revealed the flaws in the analyst's testimony and showed that a random African American man was 1,800 times "more likely" than Robinson to have contributed to the DNA mixture collected from the crime scene.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kerry Robinson - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5671 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Johnny Lee Gates served 43 years in prison for armed robbery, rape, and murder. Incentivized informants led police to Gates, a Black man with a sixth-grade education, who was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-13 |title=Johnny Gates |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/freed-client/johnny-gates/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> The State destroyed the vast majority of evidence in Gates' case, but two Georgia Innocence Project interns found physical evidence in the district attorney's archived files, despite the State having previously stated that this evidence had been destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-13 |title=Johnny Gates |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/freed-client/johnny-gates/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> After getting the evidence tested, Gates was finally released in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-13 |title=Johnny Gates |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/freed-client/johnny-gates/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref> * Terry Talley was exonerated of four rape convictions in 2021 after a multi-year collaboration with the LaGrange Police Department to re-investigate Talley's case.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terry Talley - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5933 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Dennis Perry was exonerated in 2021 after being sentenced to life without parole for a double homicide.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fortin |first=Jacey |date=2021-07-23 |title=After Two Decades and a DNA Test, Charges Are Dropped in Georgia Killings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/dennis-perry-charges-dropped-swain-murder-case.html |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2024, another man, Erik Sparre, was charged for the murders.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanders |first=Hank |date=2024-12-11 |title=Georgia Man Charged With 1985 Murders of Couple in Church |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/us/erik-sparre-arrested-swain-murders.html |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * Ronald Jacobsen was exonerated in 2021 after serving 31 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ronald Jacobsen - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6029 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Devonia Inman was convicted in 2001 of a murder in Adel, Georgia, after incentivized witnesses led police to Inman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Devonia Inman - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6089 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> The witnesses later recanted their stories, and DNA evidence indicated another man, Hercules Brown, was the perpetrator.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Devonia Inman - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6089 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> The Georgia Attorney General continued to litigate the case, even after Georgia Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias encouraged the prosecutors "to do the right thing."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Devonia Inman - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6089 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> Inman was finally exonerated in 2021, more than 20 years after his conviction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Devonia Inman - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6089 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Lee Clark was exonerated in 2022 after serving 25 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Darrell Clark - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6518 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Joey Watkins was exonerated in 2023 after serving 22 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph Watkins - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6675 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref> * Ray White's conviction was overturned in 2024 after faulty eyewitness identification led to his wrongful conviction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-20 |title=Ray White |url=https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/freed-client/ray-white-2/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Georgia Innocence Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
== In popular culture == The Georgia Innocence Project has had many of its cases featured in the media, including the podcasts Undisclosed (podcast), AJC's Breakdown, and Actual Innocence. Exoneree and former Georgia Innocence Project board member Calvin Johnson Jr. co-authored ''Exit to Freedom'' with Greg Hampikian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calvin Johnson, Jr. - National Registry of Exonerations |url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3329#:~:text=Calvin%20Johnson%20was%20among%20the,the%20University%20of%20Georgia%20Press. |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.law.umich.edu}}</ref>
==See also== * List of wrongful convictions in the United States * List of exonerated death row inmates
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/ Georgia Innocence Project] *[https://www.undisclosedpod.com/cases/joeywatkins Undisclosed Podcast] *[https://www.ajc.com/news/breakdown/ Breakdown Podcast]
Category:Government watchdog groups in the United States Category:Criminal defense organizations Category:Innocence Project