Notre Dame Law Exoneration Justice Clinic secures 2nd round of DOJ funding
Notre Dame Law School’s Exoneration Justice Clinic has secured another grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the U.S. Department of Justice.
exoneration
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‘I’m living like I died before’: Inside the fight to exonerate Leon Benson
A letter from a stranger in Philadelphia kicked off a series of events that freed Leon Benson.
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New murder trial affirmed for Elkhart man with mental disability
A man with a mental disability who has for years claimed he was wrongfully convicted of an Elkhart murder and who spent more than 15 years behind bars can proceed to a new trial after the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a post-conviction relief order vacating his murder conviction.
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Articles
ND Law School gets $3M grant to defend Mexican nationals in criminal cases
Notre Dame Law School’s Exoneration Justice Clinic received a $3 million grant from Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to defend Mexican nationals in criminal cases in the United States.
Notre Dame Law Exoneration Justice Clinic expanding: Clinic creating opportunities for national, international students
The Exoneration Justice Clinic at Notre Dame Law School has been up and running for three years and has grown to the point of opening its doors to students from outside the Hoosier State — and even outside the country.
Father-son duo win legal victories for same client decades apart: Indy attorneys worked on exoneration, compensation cases for murder defendant
Bob Hammerle and his son Chris used to go into the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday mornings with a sack of doughnuts and a chunky TV. Bob, then a brand-new lawyer, worked on files while Chris watched cartoons.
Notre Dame Law grad helps wrongfully convicted man go free
Walking out into the cold Minnesota winter air after nearly 25 years in prison wasn’t something Thomas Rhodes thought would happen. But thanks in part to a recent Notre Dame Law School grad, that’s just what Rhodes did.
Notre Dame Law’s Exoneration Justice Clinic gets federal grant to help represent the wrongfully convicted
The Exoneration Justice Clinic at Notre Dame Law School, which traces its founding to a group of students and dozens of white roses, has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that will bolster the clinic’s ability to investigate and litigate wrongful convictions.
State dismisses murder case against Elkhart man with mental disability following release last year
A criminal case has been dismissed against an Elkhart man with a mental disability who was convicted of a 2002 murder but who won his release from prison last year.
Marion Co. Prosecutor’s Office accepting petitions for wrongful conviction reviews
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office is officially accepting conviction review petitions as part of its new Conviction Integrity Unit.
State argues against new trial for man freed in 2002 Elkhart killing
It’s been more than 15 years since Andrew Royer was convicted of an Elkhart County murder and more than nine months after he was freed due to concerns over his confession and other evidence, but his case is not over yet. Instead, it’s back at the Indiana Court of Appeals, where the state is asking for the reversal of an order giving Royer a new trial.
Acting to ensure integrity: New prosecutor’s unit to investigate wrongful conviction claims
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced this month that his office will establish the Conviction Integrity Unit in early 2021 to prevent, identify and correct wrongful convictions. The new unit will consist of one attorney, an investigator and a paralegal and be the first of its kind in Indiana, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
Notre Dame Law clinic designed to help innocent inmates
For the last few years, students at the Notre Dame Law School have been working in conjunction with a Chicago organization designed to seek justice for wrongfully convicted individuals. Now, the law school has graduated to a new level of independence in its wrongful-conviction work, opening the Exoneration Justice Project this semester.
Wrongly convicted in son’s death, Kristine Bunch will be compensated
A woman who spent 17 years in prison for a fire that killed her 3-year-old son will be compensated by Indiana for a wrongful conviction. Kristine Bunch was declared eligible Thursday by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute’s Board of Trustees.
Indiana program has yet to pay those exonerated
An Indiana program aimed at compensating those who have been wrongly convicted of crimes hasn’t yet paid out any money since it was created last year.
Man with mental disability freed, granted new trial in murder case
A northern Indiana man who has maintained for more than a decade that law enforcement officials in Elkhart exploited his mental disability to coerce him into a false murder confession has been released from prison and granted a new trial.
Elkhart considers new $500K legal bill for suit over overturned conviction
A northern Indiana city is weighing spending another $500,000 to defend itself against a lawsuit filed by a man whose attempted murder conviction was thrown out because prosecutors didn’t disclose that the state’s sole eyewitness underwent hypnosis to sharpen his memory.
US Supreme Court rejects ex-cop’s appeal of rape convictions
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal for a former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of sexually assaulting black women he encountered while patrolling the city’s low-income neighborhoods.
Muncie man freed in 2017 alleges wrongful rape conviction
An Indiana man who spent nearly 25 years in prison for a 1992 rape until DNA evidence helped free him alleges in a federal lawsuit that he was wrongfully convicted by authorities who fabricated evidence against him and took advantage of his severe mental health issues.
Elkhart man revives efforts for new trial in 2002 murder
A mentally disabled man serving a 55-year prison sentence for an Elkhart murder 17 years ago that he maintains he did not commit is reviving his efforts for post-conviction relief, presenting new evidence in a petition he claims exonerates him.
Many new Indiana laws take effect today
Several new state laws take effect Monday, from a required high school state government test to allowing wrongfully incarcerated individuals to collect $50,000 a year.
New laws for 2019
The following enrolled acts, followed in parentheses by their corresponding public law numbers, take effect July 1 unless otherwise noted below.