See a short video about the OIP
2011 Innocence Network Conference
April 8-10, 2011
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Picking Cotton
September 17, 2009
Cincinnati Museum Center
Eyewitness Symposium
October 2, 2009
Ohio Supreme Court
Webcasts of the presentations are now available.
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View media coverage of RIJ.
The OIP has helped to secure the freedom of 8 individuals since its founding in 2003. Some of these cases are profiled below:
Clarence Elkins was convicted in 1999 of murder and rape and sentenced to life in prison. In 2004, DNA testing conducted by the OIP proved not only that Elkins was innocent, but that a convicted sex offender named Earl Mann was the true perpetrator. Elkins was released in 2005, and Earl Mann faces trial for these crimes in 2008. The OIP's work on the Ellkins case was featured in news outlets around the world, including Larry King Live, People Magazine and Dateline NBC. A documentary film titled, Conviction:The True Story of Clarence Elkins, featuring several OIP students, won the 2008 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.
In August of 2008, Robert McCledon was exonerated from the rape of a 10 year-old girl. McClendon had been convicted based on the identification by the victim and a semen stain found on the victim's underwear. When the Ohio legislature amended the DNA testing statute in 2006, the Ohio Innocence Project, in conjunction with the Columbus Dispatch, selected McClendon's case as one of thirty that best met the new standard. DNA Diagnostics Center, Inc. performed advanced DNA testing on the victim's underwear and was able to exclude McClendon as a contributor to the semen stain. Armed with this exculpatory evidence, the Ohio Innocence Project and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien moved to free McClendon. McClendon served 18 years in prison prior to his release. Read more about Robert McClendon.
Chris Bennett was convicted in 2002 of vehicular homicide for allegedly driving drunk and causing an accident which killed his best friend, Ron Young. OIP students investigated his case and were able to prove that Bennett was actually the passenger, not the driver, of the car. Evidence included DNA evidence in the form of Bennett's blood found on the passenger side of the vehicle and a new witness who saw Bennett in the passenger seat. Mr. Bennett was released on Mother's Day 2006 after serving four years of his nine-year sentence. Chris Bennett's case was featured in a documentary on Court TV in October 2007.
Gary Reece served 25 years in prison for a crime that did not happen. He was convicted in 1980 for attempted murder and rape based solely on the eyewitness testimony of the complaining witness, who claimed that Reece raped and stabbed her in her apartment. An investigation by a Cleveland TV station revealed that the complaining witness' testimony was unreliable and that she in fact was mentally ill. The complaining witness failed a voice stress examination while Reece had passed several polygraphs. In an interview with the Cleveland station, the complaining witnessindicated that Gary Reece had actually killed her on the day inquestion, but that "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" had brought her back to life. Investigation by OIP students uncovered that the complaining witness had a history of self-mutilation, which explained the injuries that she suffered on the day of the alleged crime. In addition, before the "crime" in this case took place, she had told the same story to other individuals, claiming that it had happened early in the 1970s when she was still a high school student. Reece was released in February 2004.He is now a successful public speaker. His Web site can be found here.
On June 24, 2009, Nancy Smith, a Head Start bus driver, and Joseph Allen were exonerated after a Lorain County judge granted their motion for a new trial and then acquitted them in the face of mounting evidence of their innocence. They each spent 15 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. How could this happen?
In the early 1990s, the news program 60 Minutes aired an episode in which a daycare provider had molested the young children in his care. The culprit was convicted. The parents sued. Because the center was funded by the federal government through the Head Start program, the parents were able to collect huge settlements. After this episode aired, copycat claims were made against Head Start daycare providers in many states across the country. Many providers were convicted and sent to prison, with the parents then receiving huge settlements. In many of these cases, the authorities now realize that the charges were concocted and the defendants have been exonerated and set free. Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen are the most recent innocents who have been recognized by the courts as victims of this unfortunate pattern.
The case against Smith and Allen was based on the testimony of very young children who had been coached by their parents. The children alleged that on certain days Smith did not take them to school; rather, she took them to different locations and spent the day molesting them with Allen. Despite numerous inaccuracies, including the fact that the children's stories contradicted each other and often did not make sense, the jury convicted Smith and Allen. The parents received settlements in the millions of dollars.
Many OIP students worked on the case over the years, along with private investigator Martin Yant, and developed strong evidence of innocence. The parole packet submitted to the court, which outlined the grounds of innocence, was written by former OIP students Bobbi Madonna '07 and Whitney Sheff '07, when they worked as OIP Fellows. The evidence they set forth included: