Law school students help to free wrongfully convicted

By Tracy Chan

Students at the University Law School are getting a first-hand taste of justice, and freeing the wrongfully convicted one semester at a time.

The Hawaii Innocence Project, in conjunction with the California Western School of Law in San Diego, is part of a nonprofit group of clinics all over the U.S. that have successfully proven over 200 inmates innocent. The Hawaii branch was established in 2005 and is funded by donations and grants.

Nationally, the Innocence Project's most recent success story was in early 2007, when James Tillman, an African American convicted of raping a white woman in Connecticut, was proven innocent by DNA testing. After serving 18 years of a 45-year sentence, Tillman was released.

Law professor Virginia Hench, who teaches the Innocence Project seminar class (listed as Law 520C) for second-year law students, said that the ultimate goal of her class and the Innocence Project is to try to make the legal system better. "Any system designed and carried out by humans is going to make mistakes," she said. "That's exactly why we exist, and that's why we need to go back and re-examine convictions."

Hench said that although the class is only a semester long, it is common for the investigations to take years. "We try hard to tailor the tasks so students have a sense of accomplishment," she said, noting that even after they've graduated, she has many students who return to check up on cases they worked with.

Edward Hu is one such student. With an active interest in philosophy and social justice, this is his third semester of taking the HIP seminar class. "It's where the theory of school meets the real life application," he said. "I can't think of a more effective model for turning studentsinto attorneys."

Hu said that the students participate in investigation and hands-on research, including testing DNA, tracking down witnesses, and re-analyzing documents. "Some people who are convicted are victims of a criminal justice system gone horribly awry," he said. "It was this sentiment that drove me to action, to participate in this clinic at the law school."

Hench said she makes her students role-play scenarios to brainstorm what might have happened. Since so many false convictions are based on faulty eyewitness accounts, she said, it gives students an opportunity to see how cases have gone wrong in the past based on a few key details.

For inmates to be considered candidates of the Innocence Project, they have to meet several criteria. The Law School only accepts people who have been convicted in the state of Hawaii. They must fill out an application claiming total innocence, and then wait to have their case reviewed. They must be serving a lengthy sentence, and not be scheduled for release or parole. "If someone is close to their release date, they don't qualify," said Hench, who also explained that often there's just not enough evidence to take the case, even if the convicted person's argument is credible.

Hench said that her students are involved in a number of local cases right now, however, due to the sensitive nature of the cases in progress, she could not comment on them.

In 2005, the Hawaii State Senate passed a bill requiring DNA testing of all felons, which made the HIP's job easier. According to Hench, as many as one in 10 people convicted may be innocent, but DNA testing can greatly increase the accuracy of a conviction. Still, she said, the system will never be foolproof. "We are trying to serve the people who are not being served," she said.

For more information, you can visit the Hawaii Innocence Project's website at http://www.cwsl.edu/main/default.asp?nav=hip.asp&body=hip/home.asp