The Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law ("OIP") seeks to identify and assist those prison inmates who claim to be actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. The OIP will review a request from a prison inmate and conduct an investigation into the inmate's request if it is determined that the request meets our review and screening criteria. The OIP will work only on those cases where new evidence, whether newly discovered or that can be developed through investigation, supports the inmate's claim of innocence. The best type of new evidence is physical evidence (DNA evidence) that was not tested prior to the inmate's trial. The OIP will also work on cases that do not involve DNA if the appropriate criteria are met. While the OIP does not charge inmates for its services, inmates are usually required to pay for DNA testing or other expert witness fees.

The OIP will utilize students from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and possibly other Ohio law schools. These students will be closely supervised by faculty members and private, volunteer attorneys throughout their investigation and work on the case. Students are also heavily involved in the preliminary investigation to determine if a request for assistance meets the established criteria.

The OIP provides free investigative services to those inmates whose cases are selected for investigation. The OIP does not provide legal representation to inmates, does not engage in the practice of law, and does not have legal clients. If an inmate's case is accepted for investigation by the OIP, and litigation or other forms of legal representation are ultimately necessary to achieve exoneration, the inmate in question will be represented at that time solely by a volunteer attorney arranged by the OIP, and not by the OIP itself except in limited circumstances.

An inmate requesting the assistance of the OIP should complete the Screening Questionnaire (pdf). The inmate must FULLY COMPLETE the form and submit it to the address on the form, otherwise it will be returned and no further action will be taken until returned complete. Print out a hard copy of the questionnaire, fill out in ink, and return it by mail if you would like the OIP to review your case.

After a completed questionnaire is received by the OIP, the screening process will begin. During the screening process, the OIP will determine if a case will be fully investigated. Those cases approved for investigation will be assigned to students for investigation and work-up under the supervision of university faculty advisors and volunteer private attorneys.

An inmate will be notified upon the completion of the screening process whether or not the case has been assigned for investigation. Please understand that due to the overwhelming number of requests for our assistance, immediate response may not be possible.

Inmates Please Note: DNA test results can provide strong evidence of one's innocence. However, DNA test results can also provide additional proof of one's guilt. If DNA tests are performed in your case and they fail to exclude you as the perpetrator of the crime, that evidence may hurt your chances on direct appeal or on a post conviction relief motion. We encourage all inmates to honestly evaluate your case as you fill out this questionnaire. Consider whether by asking for DNA testing, you could be creating additional evidence that may hurt rather than help your chance for release and exoneration.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006
Archived Webcast

Students at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, along with the rest of the UC and Greater Cincinnati communities, will have a fascinating opportunity to learn about the mechanics of the legal system as well as one man's personal odyssey on Feb. 14 when Clarence Elkins visits UC for the first time.

Also visiting along with Elkins will be another key figure in the effort to gain his release, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro.

Elkins was the first Ohio prisoner exonerated by the Ohio Innocence Project, staffed by UC law students and based at the UC College of Law's Rosenthal Institute for Justice. He was released from the Mansfield Correctional Institution on Dec. 15, and now will be meeting for the first time as a group the students and lawyers who helped free him after spending more than seven years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Petro was instrumental in the Elkins case in the last few months when, as Ohio's chief law enforcement official, he publicly announced his belief in Elkins' innocence and called on local authorities from Summit County to once again review the case.

A program featuring Elkins, Petro and members of the Ohio Innocence Project will begin at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Room 114 of the UC College of Law. The event will also be Webcast live for viewing on the Web, and be projected into Room 104 of the College of Law, should the audience overflow the 190-person capacity of Room 114.

"Clarence's case has been an incredible learning experience for our students, and meeting with him will also bring home the human elements involved in practicing law," said Mark Godsey, UC associate professor of law and faculty director for the Ohio Innocence Project. "What the students have experienced through Clarence's case goes far beyond the academic lessons we are able to teach in the classroom."

Elkins had been serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder and rape counts involving members of his family. DNA evidence developed after the involvement of the Ohio Innocence Project helped prove not only Elkins' innocence, but also pointed towards another man as the likely perpetrator of the crime.

The Ohio Innocence Project first began reviewing cases at the UC College of Law in the fall of 2003. In the spring of 2004, it was decided that the facts of Elkins' case qualified as the kind of case worthy of full intervention by the Innocence Project.

The typical Innocence Project case around the country takes on average about five years to reach conclusion, so Elkins' release came quickly by that standard – quickly enough that many of the 20 law students who work on the Ohio Innocence Project and who took part in the Elkins case will be there to meet him on his first visit to the UC College of Law.

A large number of contributors from the legal community also worked to help with the Elkins case. Lead counsel for the case were UC's Godsey and attorney Jana DeLoach of Akron.

Many members of the legal field provided pro bono assistance on the case, including lawyers from Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, led by Pierre Bergeron, who also leads UC's Appellate Law clinic, and attorneys from the New York firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

There may never be another story that better illustrates an inspirational French saying from Saint Exupery's The Little Prince-which reads "L-essential est invisible pur les yeux." (What is essential is invisible to the eyes). In this case, unwavering hope, constant determination, and luck.

On December 15, 2005, the Ohio Innocence Project/Rosenthal Institute for Justice, led by the clinic's lead counsel and Director, Professor Mark Godsey,won its first exoneration?a rare legal miracle. Clarence Elkins walked free from the Mansfield Correctional Institution after serving nearly eight years of a life sentence for a double rape and murder that he didn't commit.

Elkins was convicted in 1998 based solely on the testimony of the surviving victim, his six-year old niece, who thought her attacker may have "looked like her Uncle Clarence." The case's first major development broke in 2002 when newly available DNA testing of the victims' rape kits showed that the male DNA collected from both victims matched one another and excluded Mr. Elkins. Despite the strength of the DNA evidence, and the victim's recantation, the Summit County Court denied Mr. Elkins' new trial motion.

The OIP began working on Elkins' case in the spring of 2004 with UC Law students David Laing and Scott Evans. In summer 2005, I along with fellow UC Law students Meghan Anderson and Un Kyong Ho took over the case. And after these combined 18 months of trial, error, dead ends, frustrations, undying determination, and luck-the stars finally aligned.

After investigating several leads to identify the true criminal, the OIP learned that an inmate named Earl Mann not only was in prison for attacking other young girls, but also had gone missing from a treatment facility only days before the attack. He even was living in the same Barberton, Ohio neighborhood where the attacks took place, on that very June night. Amazingly, Earl Mann was assigned to the same cell block with Mr. Elkins, who covertly procured one of Mann's cigarette butts for DNA testing. In September 2005, DNA testing of the cigarette butt showed that Mann's DNA matched the DNA extracted from the victims' rape kits.

When Attorney General Jim Petro learned that the prosecution still refused to drop all charges against Mr. Elkins, in the face of undeniable scientific evidence of his innocence, he announced his public support of Elkins, Mark Godsey and the OIP, Pierre Bergeron and the attorneys at Squire Sanders & Dempsey, and Weil Gotshal & Manges?all who provided pro bono assistance in the case.

On December 15, 2005, after initially refusing to temporarily release Mr. Elkins on bond for the holidays, the prosecution announced that it had dropped all charges against him. Mr. Elkins walked free, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The most amazing part of the story isn?t even the miraculous string of destiny, coincidence, and legal expertise that fell into harmony at just the right time. Instead, the most amazing part of the Clarence Elkins story is the simple enduring truth that as human beings, our job is to help each other with that something inside of us that makes us each unique.Anyone who has met Clarence Elkins knows that he will go on-at length-thanking the people who helped him along the way. But at the same time, people who meet Mr. Elkins can't help but be inspired by his remarkable spirit in spite of an experience-horrific beyond comprehension. But it's an inspiration that I'm truly blessed to have experienced, one that I've deeply internalized and will carry with me as I begin my legal career, all the way until I retire, and beyond.

Funded in part through generous grants from foundations such as the Seasongood Good Government Foundation and the Estabrook Foundation, the RIJ brings a number of important scholars with national reputations to the law school each year to speak and educate on issues affecting urban justice. The RIJ also brings many local politicians and civic leaders to speak to the RIJ Fellows and provide their perspectives on justice issues in Cincinnati.