Cooley Innocence Project Update, June 2001
The Thomas M. Cooley Law School Innocence Project recently accepted the first students into its clinical program. Seven students began the summer term in the clinic on May 9, 2001. Project director Norm Fell indicates that the backlog of inquiries has been tackled in recent weeks and initial responses have been sent out to all potential clients. Since last fall the Project has received over six hundred inquiries and they continue to come in at a pace of more than ten per week.
The backlog and some initial delay ensued when the Project had to go public much earlier than planned to deal with DNA legislation proposed by the Prosecutor’s Association and fast-tracked last Fall in the legislature. Once it became known that an Innocence Project was being established in Michigan, inquiries began pouring in before staff was in place. Now, in addition to Norm Fell’s time, the project has a full time office manager, Vicki Gilpin, and has added a visiting professor with superb experience. Kathy Swedlow has been hired by Cooley Law School to teach criminal law and a death penalty class in addition to assisting with the Project. Kathy has many years of experience doing death penalty defense work in Philadelphia and her enthusiasm and abilities are off the charts.
This summer Justin Brooks, a Cooley professor for several years before heading out to California to open an Innocence Project at Cal Western Law School, has returned to Cooley to assist with the Project during summer term. This group, along with Cooley professors Ron Bretz, Dorean Koenig and Nora Pasman, constitutes a deep talent pool and will, together with the new clinical students, be able to get Michigan’s Innocence Project off to a great start. The new direct line for the project is (517) 334-5764.
As staff was being assembled and as inquiries poured in, fundraising has continued. CDAM has written checks totaling $5,500.00 and Michael and Peggy Pitt, private practitioners in the civil arena from Royal Oak, sent a check for $7,000.00. Cooley will be honoring these supporters as major donors and would welcome additional honorees. If you are one of the 160+ members of the Participating Attorney Panel and have not sent your contribution, please do so as soon as you can. While Cooley Law School has been very generous in support of the Project, with approximately $50,000 in in-kind contributions already, we badly need private donor funding to add necessary staff. Grant writing is being worked on and the Project has already applied to the Michigan State Bar Foundation for funding.
In addition to generating donations, the early March visit by Barry Scheck for the opening reception and fundraiser provided the initial litigation for the Cooley Innocence Project. At that time Barry asked the Cooley Project to assist with the Michael Hicks case, a Calhoun County case in which he initially requested DNA testing in the Spring of 1998. The request for DNA testing was vigorously opposed by the Calhoun prosecutor and several denials were issued by Michigan courts over the last few years. Frank Reynolds, Vice Chair of the Cooley Innocence Project Commission, and I agreed to assist with litigation under Michigan’s new DNA testing legislation, which became effective in January of this year. Frank, with the help of CDAM board member Pat O’Connell of Battle Creek who had been working with Barry for several years, quickly and efficiently obtained an order allowing DNA testing in the Hicks case over continued objection by the local prosecutor. As soon as the order was entered the prosecutor appealed it to the Michigan Court of Appeals. We responded, requesting sanctions against the prosecutor for frivolous litigation, and leave was denied in short order. We are currently in the process of shipping the relevant evidence to Forensic Science Associates in Richmond, California, for DNA testing.
We know there are innocent people in Michigan’s prisons. Whether we will be able to find them and prove their innocence remains to be seen. Nationally, 4 out of 10 cases where DNA is tested by Innocence Projects result in the exoneration of an individual who has been convicted and incarcerated. This is an incredible statistic and speaks volumes about the failures of our criminal justice system, failures which fall most heavily on the poor. The Thomas M. Cooley Law School should be commended for its efforts in establishing a Project in Michigan. None of this would be happening without the dedication and hard work of Project Director Norm Fell. And, again, many thanks to all of you who have agreed to assist with the important work of this project as members of the Participating Attorney Panel.