Restoring Freedom
Last year, we helped free or exonerate nine clients while continuing to help former clients rebuild their lives post-release.
We also partnered with co-counsel, community leaders, advocates, and activists to stop the execution of Pervis Payne in November 2021. Additionally, in January 2022, we joined Melissa Lucio’s legal team and helped develop evidence of her innocence, which successfully led to a stay of her execution in April 2022, just two days before she was set to be executed.
Since our inception, we have pioneered the use of DNA technology to unequivocally prove innocence. In cases where DNA evidence was no longer available or where our attorneys uncovered other new evidence of innocence (from misapplied forensic methods to police and prosecutorial misconduct), we secured our clients’ freedom based on new non-DNA evidence. Recognizing that DNA evidence is only available in a limited number of cases and that the overwhelming majority of the nation’s more than 3,200 proven wrongful convictions were obtained with non-DNA evidence, we plan to widen the scope of cases we accept to intentionally include more non-DNA cases.
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Ron Jacobsen
Exonerated: August 2021Ron Jacobsen was wrongly convicted of a 1990 abduction and rape in Covington, Georgia, despite the fact he was 200 miles away when the crime occurred. Although post-conviction DNA testing confirmed that he was not the person who committed the crime and his conviction was vacated in 2019, the prosecutor vowed to retry him. In November 2020, he was released on bail. He moved back to his native New York, where he lived under home confinement with his older sister. He was officially exonerated in August 2021, when the district attorney’s office finally dropped all charges against him. Mr. Jacobsen was represented by the Innocence Project and Georgia Innocence Project.
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Philip Barnett
Exonerated: October 2021In 2008, Philip Barnett, along with his brother Nathan and two other co-defendants, was wrongly convicted of the murder of a young woman in Cabell County, West Virginia. After the state’s Supreme Court ordered a new trial for the Barnett brothers in 2010, the two accepted a plea deal that allowed them to maintain their innocence and receive a lesser sentence. DNA testing of crime scene evidence ultimately proved the four individuals’ innocence. Philip Barnett was represented by the Innocence Project and Weston Robertson.
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Kenneth Hovland
Freed: October 2021Kenneth Hovland was just 21 years old when he was wrongly convicted of the 1981 murder of a teenager in Lynwood, Washington. His conviction was based on a false confession and unreliable forensic methods that included bite marks, hair microscopy, and fiber “matching.” In October 2021, he was released following negotiations with the prosecutor’s office. The Washington Innocence Project currently represents him, with support from the Innocence Project.
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Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam
Exonerated: November 2021Muhammad A. Aziz and the late Khalil Islam were wrongly convicted in 1966 of the 1965 assassination of human rights leader Malcolm X in New York City, based on unreliable eyewitness testimony and official misconduct. Mr. Aziz was not released on parole until 1985 and continued to fight for justice until his exoneration last year. Mr. Islam passed away in 2009, losing the opportunity to see his name cleared. Both men were represented by David B. Shanies Law Office and the Innocence Project.
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Anthony Dixon
Freed: December 2021In 1995, Anthony Dixon was wrongly convicted of a rape and robbery that had taken place two years prior in Harrisonville, Missouri. His conviction was based on eyewitness and voice misidentification. Although DNA testing later proved his innocence, Missouri courts refused to exonerate him. In December 2021, Mr. Dixon was paroled and walked free after spending 28 years wrongly imprisoned. He is represented by the Innocence Project and Midwest Innocence Project.
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Michael Monroe
Freed: January 2022Michael Monroe spent more than 27 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted of the 1993 murder of his mother-in-law in Nashua, New Hampshire. His conviction was based on a false confession he gave to police after being interrogated over the course of 17 months. He was released on parole in 2022 after the state parole board heard compelling arguments on his declining health, exemplary disciplinary history, and tremendous familial support. He is represented by the Innocence Project.
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Barry Jacobson
Exonerated: April 2022Barry Jacobson was wrongly convicted of setting fire to his home in Richmond, Massachusetts, in a biased 1983 trial, during which jurors made antisemitic remarks about him. His conviction was based on unreliable arson evidence and a baseless claim that he was seeking to collect insurance money, despite no claim ever being filed. In January 2022, the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office vacated Mr. Jacobson’s conviction based on the evidence of antisemitism during trial and jury deliberations. Mr. Jacobson was represented by the Innocence Project and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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Mallory Nicholson
Exonerated: June 2022Mallory Nicholson spent 21 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted of a burglary and sexual assault in Dallas. His conviction was based on eyewitness misidentification, despite the fact that no physical evidence connected him to the crime and strong alibi evidence was presented at his trial. In June 2022, a judge granted the Dallas County district attorney’s motion to dismiss the charges following the discovery of evidence that pointed to another suspect in the case, which police and prosecutors had failed to turn over at his trial. Mr. Nicholson was represented by the Innocence Project, the Innocence Project of Texas, and Udashen Anton.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we expanded our social work team and increased assistance — including housing, transportation, basic necessities, and more — to more than 20 freed clients and their families.
Transforming Systems
Informed by our cases and guided by science, we have taken to courts, statehouses, and Congress to protect vulnerable communities that are most impacted by wrongful conviction.
Last year, we helped secure more than 10 state policy wins to reform and prevent practices that drive wrongful convictions and, in so doing, create a fairer and more equitable legal system for all.
Building on this work, we will address the widespread use of unreliable, emerging technologies in overpoliced communities of color; launch a program that will educate defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges on the limits and potential of forensic evidence; continue efforts to ban police deception in the interrogation of juveniles; and work to eliminate the trial penalty. We will also collaborate with stakeholders, including the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, to tackle racial bias in forensic pathology and algorithmic technologies.
New Yorkers Demand Justice
On Dec. 15, 2021, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana — all members of the Exonerated Five — joined New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, and advocates to champion a package of bills that aim to reveal and prevent wrongful convictions in the state of New York. This year marks 20 years since their wrongful convictions were vacated.
Advancing the Movement
Our widest-reaching work is done in close collaboration with other innocence organizations, key partners, advocates, and supporters.
Together with members of the Innocence Network, we’ve amplified awareness around wrongful convictions and accelerated the release of innocent people over the years. We’ve also tremendously increased our digital presence: This year, we grew our community of advocates to 1.2 million across our platforms, made 44,000 connections to legislators across the country, and reached new audiences.
Broadening and deepening these partnerships are absolute priorities in the coming years. After a survey of the needs of Innocence Network organizations, we will explore where we can collaborate more effectively. We will also continue to expand digital engagement on all our platforms and channels, build out our Speakers Bureau and Ambassadors program to help drive support and advocacy, and strengthen our collaboration with researchers interested in our work.
Following two years of pandemic-related shutdowns, the Innocence Network Conference returned this year as an in-person event in Phoenix. The conference — which brings together innocence organizations, freed individuals, and exonerees — has grown exponentially since its establishment in 1999.
Statement of Activities - FY22
(excluding pro bono activities)
Revenue
Individuals | $26,544,154 | 63% |
Foundations | $9,082,394 | 22% |
Corporation | $2,598,521 | 6% |
Events | $2,584,301 | 6% |
Yeshiva | $310,000 | 1% |
Investments | $499,163 | 1% |
Other Income | $430,283 | 1% |
Total Revenue | $42,048,816 |
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Expenditures
Program | $17,409,207 | 76% |
Management & General | $2,762,126 | 12% |
Fundraising | $2,857,399 | 12% |
Total Revenue | $23,028,732 |
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Advancing Justice Together
The victories highlighted in this report and over the last 30 years were only realized because of you. We take the care and stewardship of your gift seriously. We are guided by transparency, efficiency, and integrity. To learn more, visit GUIDESTAR and CHARITY NAVIGATOR, external groups that evaluate the efficacy of nonprofit organizations. We encourage you to share your feedback with us at development@innocenceproject.org.
I read Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld when it first came out some 20 years ago. I was just fascinated with it and outraged by all the miscarriages of justice. I really hadn’t known anything about the whole concept of actual innocence. I soon became involved with the Georgia Innocence Project, which was just getting started at the time and, through them, learned about the broader innocence movement. What I came to see was that an injustice is an injustice; it doesn’t matter whether an exoneree is freed in Georgia or Arizona or Texas. While I continue to support innocence work in Georgia, I also wanted to support the movement nationally. This eventually led to my support of the creation of the Network Support Unit at the Innocence Project that, since 2012, has helped strengthen the power of the global network of innocence organizations.
The goal has been to try to get funds into new exonerees’ hands within a couple days of their release. That immediacy was very important, and the funds are absolutely without restriction. If an exoneree wants to spend it on having a night out with friends — well, they didn’t get to do that for 23 years while they were wrongfully incarcerated — they can do it now. Or if someone wants to set up a business or pay their first month’s rent or get a new suit, they can use it for that.
When I meet these exonerees — white, Black, men, women, young, old — it’s very moving to hear their individual stories of how they lost years or decades of their lives. And they say to me, “Oh, I used your funds to buy the tools for a woodworking business” or “I finally got my mother into a decent apartment.”
My wife and I had started a foundation and were interested in trying to do some good in ways that meant something to us in the here and now. We purposely donated the last of the money left in the foundation a couple of years ago, but we’ve continued to contribute on an individual basis.
The fact of the matter is that the innocence movement started 30 years ago has changed the mentality of people across the country. There is now, at least, some recognition on the part of the general public that, just because a prosecutor is trying someone for a crime, does not mean that all the t’s have been crossed and the i’s dotted. That’s where DNA comes in: Cases that were seemingly the most airtight turned out not to be airtight at all. You know, it wasn’t too long ago that people thought the Innocence Project would work itself out of a job. Unfortunately, that hasn’t yet been the case.
Cedric L. Alexander
City of Minneapolis Public Safety Commissioner
Marvin L. Anderson
Retired Fire Chief
Cynthia Augustine
Global Chief Talent Officer, FCB
Gordon DuGan
Innocence Project Board Treasurer
Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Social Psychologist, Stanford University
Jason Flom
CEO, LAVA Media
Denise Foderaro
Advisory Board Member of the National Registry of Exonerations
Tony Goldwyn
Actor, Director, and Producer
John Grisham
Author
Brett Hart
President, United Airlines
Sara Naison-Tarajano
Partner, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Vered Rabia
Innocence Project Board Vice Chair
Steven Alan Reiss
Retired Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Jessica A. Roth
Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Yeshiva University
Yusef Salaam
Motivational Speaker, Yusef Speaks
Andrew H. Tananbaum
Innocence Project Board Assistant Treasurer
Jack Taylor
Innocence Project Board Chair
Ekow N. Yankah
Thomas M. Cooley Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy, University of Michigan
Janet Reno
Board Director Emeritus 2010-2016
B.J. Rosen
Senior Outside Legal Advisor, Innocence Project
Malcolm Alexander
Marvin Anderson
Dewey Bozella
Cornelius Dupree
Angel Gonzalez
Eddie Lowery
Jerry Miller
Michelle Murphy
Bill Ackman
Karen Herskovitz Ackman
Laura & John Arnold
Fred & Jutta Benenson
Thomas & Evon Cooper
Maddy deLone
Rodney Ellis
Sherry & Leo Frumkin
Kathryn Greenberg
Jeffrey Gural
Calvin Johnson
Jawed Karim
Howard & Wilma Kaye
Ivy Beth Lewis
Dianne & John Moores
Frank Quattrone & Denise Foderaro
Matthew Rothman
Stephen Schulte
Daniel Shuchman & Lori Lesser
Darrel W. Stephens
Betty Anne Waters
Adnan Sultan
Staff Attorney
Alicia Maule
Digital Engagement Director
Amanda Wallwin
State Policy Advocate
Ana Marie Diaz
Case Associate
Andrew Lee
Staff Attorney
Andrew Shear
Director of Post-Conviction Litigation
Anton Robinson
Staff Attorney
Barry Scheck
Co-Founder & Special Counsel
Bay Scoggin
State Policy Advocate
Bhavan Sodhi
Chief Program Officer
Brenda Cachay Gutiérrez
Paralegal
Caitlin Murray
Assistant Director of Network Stakeholder Engagement
Carlita Salazar
Deputy Chief Communications Officer
Carrie Baker
Assistant Director of Learning and Development
Cecily Burge
Paralegal
Celeste Vargas
Case Analyst
Chloe Hughes
Interim Deputy Chief Development Officer & Director of Individual and Major Giving
Christina Swarns
Executive Director
Corinne Padavano
Director of Human Resources
Crystal Ortiz
Assistant Director of Special Events
Daniele Selby
Assistant Director of Digital Engagement
Dara Gell
Interim Co-Director of Intake & Case Evaluation
Debra Fulton
Intake Assistant
Denise Tomasini-Joshi
Chief of Staff
Donald Katz
Intake Assistant
Elena Aviles
Interim Co-Director of Intake & Case Evaluation
Elizabeth Gardner
Paralegal
Elizabeth Vaca
Executive Assistant
Erika Lago
Human Resources Manager – Payroll, Benefits & Compliance
Evelyn Jimenez
Receptionist and Administrative Assistant
Fiona Guthrie
Chief Communications Officer
Gabriel Lopez
Case Analyst
Henry Decker
Director of Digital Fundraising
Isabel Vasquez
Communications Coordinator
Isabela Budelmann
Paralegal
Isabelle Cohn
Forensic Science Policy Associate
Jaime Henderson
Director of Data Science and Research
Jane Pucher
Senior Staff Attorney
Jeffrey Johnson
Office Manager
Jessica Diaz
Documents Manager
Jever Mariwala
Paralegal
John McKeown
Director of Information Technology
Jonathon Burne
Senior Case Analyst
Joseph Thompson
Chief Financial Officer
Julia Boland
Paralegal
Julia Lucivero
Senior Media Strategist
Justin Chan
Managing Editor
Kaleena Aviles
Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director
Kanani Schnider
Paralegal
Kenneth Colosky
Information Technology Manager
Khadijah Ndiaye
Policy Assistant
Kyana Champion
Social Worker
Lauren Gottesman
Staff Attorney
Lauren Schlansky
Case Analyst and Investigator
Laurie Roberts
State Policy Advocate
Luis Baez
Administrative Assistant
Marc Vega
Senior Case Analyst
Margo Sacerdote
Policy Researcher
Marisela Hernandez
Legal Assistant
Mary-Kathryn Smith
Post-Conviction Litigation Fellow
M. Chris Fabricant
Director of Strategic Litigation
Megan McIlroy
Strategic Communications Director
Meredith Kennedy
Director of Innocence Network Support Unit
Michael Coleman
Staff Accountant
Natalie Baker
Post-Conviction Litigation Fellow
Nathaniel Erb
State Policy Advocate
Olivia Barnes
Policy Administrator
Patrick Morris
Finance Associate
Peter Neufeld
Co-Founder & Special Counsel
Prahelika Gadtaula
Research Data Coordinator
Rebecca Brown
Director of Policy
Robyn Jefferson
Paralegal, Post-Conviction Litigation Fellowship Program
Rodney Roberts
Re-entry Coach
Sammy Bernstein
Administrative Assistant
Sara LaCava Lieberman
Assistant Director of Development, Network Support Unit
Sarah Chu
Senior Advisor on Forensic Science Policy
Shirley Wu
Innocence Network Coordinator
Shoshanah Kennedy Hobson
Events and Special Projects Manager
Simran Sohal
Case Analyst
Stacey Anderson
Legal Policy Analyst
Susan Friedman
Senior Staff Attorney
Susan Hyon
Executive Manager and Board Liaison
Suzy Salamy
Director of Social Work
Tania Brief
Staff Attorney
Tara Thompson
Senior Staff Attorney
Tebah Browne
Forensic Science Policy Specialist
Valencia Craig
Case Database Coordinator
Vanessa Meterko
Research Manager
Vanessa Potkin
Director of Special Litigation
Vedan Anthony-North
Post-Conviction Litigation Fellow
Yosha Gunasekera
Attorney, Intake Strategic Initiatives
Ysabel Coss
Gift Processing and Engagement Associate
Zeus Rivera
Human Resources Manager – Talent & Development
Thank You
Your generosity and support have been crucial in sustaining our success in the fight for freedom, in the push for structural change, and in advancing the innocence movement. We are sincerely grateful for your commitment to our work and mission.