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The People Behind <strong>OIP</strong><br />
Saving Lives Takes Passion;<br />
Hard Work, Idealism Will Follow<br />
Record Year for Exonerations<br />
Recantations Lead<br />
to Freeing Six<br />
Grooming a New Life<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> Gives Nancy Smith<br />
a Dog-Grooming Career,<br />
Puts Her on Path of Peace<br />
S E C O N D E D I T I O N<br />
<strong>OIP</strong><br />
REVIEW<br />
Ohio Innocence Project | UC College of Law<br />
University of Cincinnati College of Law 27
Table of Contents | Published in 2015<br />
Key Moments in 2014-15................................................................................................2<br />
Saving Lives Takes Passion — Hard Work and Idealism Will Follow...............6<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> By the Numbers..................................................................................................... 12<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> Board of Advocates............................................................................................... 14<br />
Rosenthal Award-Winning Attorneys Say <strong>OIP</strong> Work Most Meaningful...... 15<br />
Lois Rosenthal’s Purpose in Life: To Create Justice, Care for the Lowly<br />
and Share Art with the World......................................................................... 16<br />
Recantations Lead to Freeing Six............................................................................. 18<br />
Ricky Jackson Impacts <strong>OIP</strong> Students, Inspires Them To Get Involved........ 21<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> Honor Roll of Donors........................................................................................... 22<br />
Grooming a New Life................................................................................................... 24<br />
Litigation Update on Kevin Thornton.................................................................... 25<br />
Cover Illustration: Keith Negley<br />
Design: Parkey Design<br />
Editor: Deb Rieselman<br />
Contributors:<br />
Lisa David<br />
Liza Dietrich<br />
Sherry English<br />
Mark Godsey<br />
Jodi Shorr<br />
Photographers:<br />
Mark Bealer<br />
Kamron Khan<br />
Jay Yocis<br />
University of Cincinnati<br />
College of Law<br />
Ohio Innocence Project<br />
P.O. Box 210040<br />
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0040<br />
513-556-0752<br />
What is the <strong>OIP</strong>?<br />
The Ohio Innocence Project Team 2015-16<br />
Left to right — Top row: John Elleman, Andrew Hakala-Finch, Alex Barengo, Chris Collman. Second row: Maxel Moreland, Christopher Diedling,<br />
Stephen Otte, Kendall Jent, Stephen Kelly. Third row: Jennifer Bergeron (staff attorney), Sam Dixius, Jack Duhan, Shellby Allen, Miranda<br />
Anandappa, Jodi Shorr (administrative director). Fourth row: Mark Godsey (director), Brian Howe (staff attorney) Liza Dietrich (research<br />
and writing assistant), Kathryn Lucas, Mallorie Thomas, Rebecca Brizzolara, Jordan Blake (intern), Donald Caster (staff attorney). Not pictured:<br />
Joe Wambaugh.<br />
Notice of Non-Discrimination<br />
The University of Cincinnati does not discriminate<br />
on the basis of disability, race, color, religion,<br />
national origin, ancestry, medical condition,<br />
genetic information, marital status, sex, age, sexual<br />
orientation, veteran status or gender identity and<br />
expression in its programs and activities. The following<br />
positions have been designated to handle inquiries<br />
regarding the University’s non-discrimination policies:<br />
The Ohio Innocence Project is Ohio’s only nonprofit organization<br />
dedicated to freeing innocent people in prison and preventing wrongful<br />
convictions. To achieve this, the <strong>OIP</strong> informs the public of criminal justice<br />
system flaws, works to improve the system and educates law students<br />
to be sensitive to systemic problems. To fulfill its mission, the <strong>OIP</strong> must<br />
build a sustainable organization.<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> values include: 1) honesty; 2) leadership to shape a better future;<br />
3) passion, demonstrated through a commitment in the heart<br />
and mind; 4) respect that honors the dignity of others; 5) teamwork;<br />
and 6) excellence that strives for the highest level of professionalism.<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> will work only on cases where new evidence supports an<br />
inmate’s claim of innocence.<br />
Section 504, ADA, Age Act Coordinator<br />
340 University Hall, 51 Goodman Drive<br />
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0039<br />
513-556-6381; hronestp@ucmail.uc.edu<br />
Title IX Coordinator<br />
3115 Edwards 1, 45 Corry Blvd.<br />
Cincinnati, OH 45221<br />
513-556-3349; title9@ucmail.uc.edu<br />
For further information on notice of nondiscrimination,<br />
visit http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/<br />
CFAPPS/OCR/contactus.cfm for the address and phone<br />
number of the office that serves the University, or call<br />
1-800-421-3481.<br />
Improving the criminal justice system 20 lawyers at a time<br />
Thanks to the support of those who<br />
are reading this magazine, the <strong>OIP</strong>, in<br />
its first decade, has become one of the<br />
preeminent innocence organizations<br />
in the world. Since our founding in<br />
2003, the <strong>OIP</strong> has freed more innocent<br />
people than any other state-based<br />
innocence organization in the country.<br />
To date, we have freed 23 Ohio inmates<br />
on grounds of innocence, who have<br />
jointly served more than 425 years in<br />
prison for crimes they did not commit. We have also drafted and<br />
helped pass ground-breaking legislative reforms to decrease the<br />
chance that innocent Ohioans will be wrongfully convicted in<br />
the future.<br />
Still, much work remains to be done. Large bureaucracies<br />
such as our criminal justice system are slow to change. Our work<br />
has demonstrated serious flaws in eyewitness identification<br />
evidence, a surprisingly high rate of false confessions and the<br />
unreliability of the forensic sciences. Yet shockingly few steps<br />
have been taken to improve the state of evidence used to convict<br />
our own citizens. Indeed, even if all possible improvements were<br />
someday adopted, human error will always exist as long as<br />
humans are in charge.<br />
Thanks to the work of all the innocence organizations<br />
around the country and around the world, <strong>OIP</strong> is now widely<br />
recognized as a “backend check” on the system and a means to<br />
search for innocent prisoners who fell through the cracks of the<br />
criminal justice machinery. Primarily, it needs to be a permanent<br />
part of our criminal justice landscape. And thanks to your ongoing<br />
support, the <strong>OIP</strong> will be here to fill that crucial need going forward.<br />
But the <strong>OIP</strong> does more than free the innocent and fight for<br />
reforms to decrease wrongful convictions. It trains law students<br />
and exposes them to the problems in the system. Each year,<br />
approximately 20 law students spend a full year working in the<br />
trenches — digging through files, interviewing witnesses and<br />
applying their knowledge of forensic techniques like DNA testing,<br />
as well as so many other things that make up the work we do.<br />
They learn in a hands-on fashion how to build a case and<br />
what can make a case go wrong, resulting in a tragic injustice.<br />
They learn to question, to never accept the easy answer and to<br />
keep digging with an open mind to finding the truth.<br />
By sending 20 new lawyers out into the world each year,<br />
each of whom has gone through this eye-opening experience, we<br />
hope to help make the criminal justice system more open-minded,<br />
more questioning, more tolerant, more unbiased and, ultimately,<br />
more truth-seeking. And most important, we are supplying our<br />
community with 20 new lawyers who know that even the smallest<br />
among us — such as a law student — can take on the system and<br />
correct an injustice that the system has refused to recognize.<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> is pleased to present you with this publication,<br />
updating you on our important work.<br />
Thank you for your ongoing support.<br />
Mark Godsey<br />
Daniel P. and Judith L. Carmichael Professor of Law<br />
Director and Co-Founder, Ohio Innocence Project<br />
University of Cincinnati College of Law 1
Key Moments in 2014-15<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> Honors Its First Decade of Progress<br />
On Oct. 25, 2014, alumni, staff, donors, exonerees<br />
and friends of the Ohio Innocence Project joined<br />
together to commemorate <strong>OIP</strong>’s first decade<br />
of battling injustice and freeing the wrongfully<br />
convicted in Ohio. The 10th Anniversary Gala was<br />
hosted by Cincinnati Mayor and <strong>OIP</strong> co-founder<br />
John Cranley.<br />
Attendees were welcomed by Santa J. Ono,<br />
University of Cincinnati president and an avid<br />
UC President Santa supporter. Exoneree Nancy Smith and former <strong>OIP</strong><br />
J. Ono<br />
fellow Eva Hagar provided special commentaries,<br />
reflecting on their individual experiences with <strong>OIP</strong>,<br />
emphasizing the depth of the program’s impact and its importance.<br />
The event celebrated five honorees whose contributions have<br />
helped <strong>OIP</strong> quickly become one of the most successful Innocence<br />
Projects in the nation.<br />
First, exoneree Robert McClendon presented a special award to<br />
Peter Vitulli, president and CEO of the DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC).<br />
DDC has generously provided <strong>OIP</strong> with free forensic DNA testing<br />
since 2005. This testing has been instrumental in four of <strong>OIP</strong>’s<br />
exonerations, including McClendon’s exoneration in 2008.<br />
The next two honorees, Jim and Nancy Petro, received<br />
recognition from exoneree Dean Gillispie for their continued support<br />
of the <strong>OIP</strong>. Jim helped <strong>OIP</strong> secure the freedom of exoneree Clarence<br />
Elkins and later worked pro bono for the organization, helping free<br />
Gillispie. Jim was also instrumental in the passing of Senate Bill 77,<br />
a reform package that offered strong new protections for avoiding<br />
wrongful convictions and made it easier to exonerate innocent<br />
prisoners through DNA testing. Nancy is nationally recognized for<br />
her literary contributions to the innocence movement.<br />
Louis Bilionis (dean at the time) honored the two people who<br />
have been <strong>OIP</strong>’s biggest benefactors — Dick and Lois Rosenthal,<br />
who together helped build <strong>OIP</strong> from the ground up. The “backbone”<br />
of <strong>OIP</strong>, the Rosenthals are largely responsible for the program’s<br />
substantial advancement in such a short period of time.<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> director and co-founder Mark Godsey remarked that in<br />
just 10 years the <strong>OIP</strong> secured the freedom of 17 individuals, who<br />
combined served nearly 300 years in prison. Without the <strong>OIP</strong>’s<br />
efforts, these individuals would likely have spent the night of the<br />
gala in prison cells, doing time for crimes they did not commit.<br />
Watch the moving video about the first 10 years of <strong>OIP</strong>.<br />
https://youtu.be/buNbARJQQU8<br />
Robert McClendon (exoneree),<br />
Peter Vitulli<br />
Jim Petro, Nancy Petro, Dean Gillispie (exoneree)<br />
Molly Elkins, Clarence Elkins<br />
(exoneree)<br />
Justin Jennewine (<strong>OIP</strong> Class of 2014-15), Mason<br />
Kelly, Melissa Kelly, Nancy Smith (exoneree),<br />
Jon Kelly (<strong>OIP</strong> Class of 2014-15), Courtney Smith,<br />
David Breedon, Kimberly Breedon<br />
Lynn Chabris, Anne DeLyons,<br />
Paula Muething<br />
Chick Dorfman, John Isidor<br />
Jim Helmer, Dick Rosenthal<br />
Rebecca Zemmelman (<strong>OIP</strong><br />
Class of 2014-15) and Hon.<br />
Marianna Brown Bettman<br />
From the left — Top row: Bridget Cameron, Scott Hasson, Judy<br />
Mincy, Brendan O’Reilly (<strong>OIP</strong> Class of 2011-12), Aimee Wallace<br />
Bottom row: Jodi Shorr, Greg Moredock (<strong>OIP</strong> Class of 2011-12),<br />
Annie Paul<br />
Mark Godsey, then-dean<br />
Louis Bilionis, Dick Rosenthal,<br />
Mayor John Cranley<br />
James Fondriest, Sarah Topy, Cliff Schecter,<br />
Curtis Scribner (<strong>OIP</strong> Class of 2005-06),<br />
Aftab Pureval<br />
2 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 3
Key Moments in 2014-15<br />
Cognitive Neuroscience Researcher<br />
from London Visits College of Law<br />
Last November, the Ohio Innocence Project<br />
and UC Law’s Criminal Law Society invited<br />
Dr. Itiel Dror to speak at the University of<br />
Cincinnati College of Law. Dr. Dror is the<br />
senior cognitive neuroscience researcher<br />
at University College London. Dr. Dror<br />
addressed a packed lecture hall made up<br />
of students and members of the Cincinnati<br />
legal community.<br />
He discussed his groundbreaking research, which included<br />
findings revealing the effect of cognitive bias on crime-scene<br />
expert testimony. Dror explained that cognitive bias renders<br />
expert testimony far less reliable than both the criminal justice<br />
system and the public generally believe. Dror explained that the<br />
way experts think and the way the brain works makes scientific<br />
testimony highly prone to human error.<br />
Left to right — Terry Gilbert, Mark Godsey, Brian Howe, Wiley<br />
Bridgeman, Ricky Jackson, Kwame Ajamu, David Mills<br />
Professor and Ohio Innocence Project director Mark Godsey,<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> attorney Brian Howe and three exonerees were recognized<br />
with the “Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award”<br />
at the 24th Annual Death Penalty Focus Awards dinner, held<br />
May 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Death Penalty Focus is an<br />
organization committed to the abolition of the death penalty.<br />
The award recognizes individuals whose actions and stories<br />
bring to light the flaws in the U.S. judicial system.<br />
The organization’s president, Mike Farrell, wrote about the<br />
honorees, “Your efforts, which resulted in the exoneration of<br />
these men for a crime they did not commit, are an incredible<br />
accomplishment. It is cases like these which further illustrate<br />
the importance of our work to end the death penalty.” Farrell,<br />
an actor and activist, is well-known for his role as B.J. Hunnicutt<br />
from the hit TV show “M.A.S.H.”<br />
Ricky Jackson, exoneree, shares his experiences with the community.<br />
‘Art After Dark’<br />
Sheds Light on <strong>OIP</strong><br />
Death Penalty Advocacy Group Honors Ohio Innocence Project and Its Exonerees<br />
Event attendees included:<br />
• Ed Asner, known for his Emmy Award-winning role as<br />
Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and for his<br />
starring role on the spin-off “Lou Grant,” as well as his<br />
role as Ed Wunclear on “The Boondocks”<br />
• Actress Amy Brenneman, known for her roles in the<br />
TV series “Judging Amy,” as Violet Turner in “Private<br />
Practice” and as Laurie Garvey in HBO’s “The Leftovers”<br />
• Larry Flynt, Jr., Larry Flynt Publications president<br />
Godsey and Howe were recognized for their representation<br />
of Ricky Jackson, who was freed. The <strong>OIP</strong>’s investigation<br />
ultimately freed Jackson’s co-defendants, too: Wiley Bridgeman<br />
and Kwame (Bridgeman) Ajamu (both represented by Terry<br />
Gilbert and David Mills) — who, along with Jackson, were<br />
honored for their courage and commitment. Together the men<br />
served more than 100 years in prison — many of those years on<br />
death row — for a crime they did not commit.<br />
Jackson has the tragic distinction of setting the record for<br />
the longest-serving person to be exonerated in U.S. history,<br />
39 years. The men were exonerated after a key prosecution<br />
witness recanted his story that he saw the men shoot and kill a<br />
Cleveland businessman in 1975.<br />
Three more awards: <strong>OIP</strong> also received the Champions for<br />
Connecting Cultures & Communities award from the Cincinnati<br />
Human Relations Commission in July 2015. By the end of the<br />
year, <strong>OIP</strong> will also have won the Outstanding Program Award<br />
from the Ohio State Bar Foundation and the 2015 Rescuer of<br />
Humanity Award from Values-in-Action for its commitment to<br />
improve humanity.<br />
On July 31, 2015, the Ohio Innocence<br />
Project partnered with the Cincinnati<br />
Art Museum’s “Art After Dark” event.<br />
The event featured a beer garden in the<br />
museum courtyard, music and a VIP room<br />
with appetizers for <strong>OIP</strong> guests.<br />
The general public was invited to<br />
meet and hear Ricky Jackson share his<br />
story as the longest-serving person to be exonerated in history.<br />
Mayor Cranley, <strong>OIP</strong> director Mark Godsey and exonerees<br />
Robert McClendon and Dean Gillispie were among the 150<br />
in attendance.<br />
Mr. Jackson graciously fielded questions from the<br />
audience, talking about his experience serving time in prison.<br />
While there were many emotionally driven moments to Mr.<br />
Jackson’s story, his most insightful explanation of his life after<br />
being wrongfully convicted and freed was summed up with<br />
this final thought about what most people take for granted,<br />
like walking under the stars: “What you may consider ordinary,<br />
I consider extraordinary.” After spending the majority of his life<br />
incarcerated, Mr. Jackson said he fully appreciates everything<br />
that freedom has to offer.<br />
The “Art After Dark” event was just one of several domestic<br />
public speaking appearances by Mr. Jackson as he uses his<br />
own story to draw attention to the impact the Ohio Innocence<br />
Project has made<br />
and the shortfalls<br />
of our criminal<br />
justice system.<br />
Ricky Jackson (left), Robert McClendon<br />
Mark Godsey speaking in Beijing in 2013<br />
Ohio Innocence Project Leads<br />
International Innocence Movement<br />
Mark Godsey and the Ohio Innocence Project, through its<br />
international component called the Center for the Global Study<br />
of Wrongful Convictions, have been leaders in helping the<br />
Innocence Movement spread around the world.<br />
In the past decade, Mark has helped establish innocence<br />
organizations throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, while<br />
regularly consulting on such cases around the world. He has<br />
spoken about the movement to the Supreme Courts of China<br />
and Poland, and has given public lectures on the subject in<br />
India, South Africa, Ireland, the Netherlands, Wales, the Czech<br />
Republic and Italy, among others.<br />
Mark is co-chair of the Innocence Network’s international<br />
committee and is part of a working group dedicated to<br />
establishing the right for prisoners to seek their release through<br />
new evidence of innocence as an international human right.<br />
Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck has recognized<br />
the Ohio Innocence Project as one of the organizations at the<br />
forefront of the International Innocence Movement.<br />
In 2011, the <strong>OIP</strong> hosted the first International Innocence<br />
Conference at the Freedom Center in Cincinnati. Scheck<br />
referred to the conference as groundbreaking, noting that <strong>OIP</strong><br />
has taken the lead in doing international work.<br />
To stay updated on wrongful convictions news,<br />
check out Mark Godsey’s blog www.wrongfulconvictionsblog.org.<br />
Little known fact: <strong>OIP</strong> frequently hosts international<br />
visitors who fly all the way to Ohio to spend a summer<br />
working as fellows. During the summer of 2015, <strong>OIP</strong> had<br />
visitors from Ireland and Italy.<br />
4 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 5
assion<br />
Saving Lives Takes Passion —<br />
Hard Work and Idealism Will Follow<br />
by Deb Rieselman<br />
“When I was in prison, seeing<br />
how hard the <strong>OIP</strong> students<br />
worked on my case inspired me<br />
and gave me hope, something<br />
I had not had for years.<br />
Whenever they came to visit<br />
me in prison, it was a blessing.<br />
“I’m not much on words, but<br />
I speak from the heart. They<br />
changed my life.”<br />
— Clarence Elkins, freed from<br />
prison in ’05 after serving 7.5 years,<br />
speaking at the UC College of Law in ’06<br />
“It’s absolutely intriguing how<br />
these skilled and remarkable<br />
law students so immerse<br />
themselves in these cases.<br />
For them, they have no bias,<br />
no baggage, no paying clients.<br />
They can look at things through<br />
untainted lenses.<br />
“It’s not just a matter of<br />
enforcing the law for them, but<br />
fighting for justice. The fight for<br />
justice is the higher ideal.”<br />
“ So many students through the<br />
years have poured their hearts<br />
and souls into this case. So<br />
many of them have cried with<br />
Dean (Gillispie) and his mother,<br />
or held their hands. Without<br />
their passion and inspiration,<br />
this victory would not have<br />
happened.<br />
“Student idealism and passion<br />
is the lifeblood of the <strong>OIP</strong>.<br />
The students are what make<br />
us better than other legal<br />
organizations that aren’t run<br />
by students.”<br />
— Jim Canepa, chief deputy<br />
attorney general, whose office<br />
intervened to get Elkins a new trial<br />
when <strong>OIP</strong> found DNA evidence<br />
that excluded Elkins from the case,<br />
speaking at UC with Elkins in ’06<br />
— <strong>OIP</strong> director Mark Godsey,<br />
speaking after the December 2011<br />
release of Gillispie, who had served<br />
20 years in prison<br />
“Student idealism and<br />
passion.” That’s how director<br />
Mark Godsey sums up the lifeblood<br />
of the Ohio Innocence Project, and no one<br />
would argue — neither the prisoners nor<br />
the state attorney general’s office.<br />
That passion is what leads UC law<br />
students to labor an entire 12 months,<br />
even full time during the summer term.<br />
That passion keeps them from shirking<br />
any responsibilities when 20 cases are<br />
handed to them as soon as they walk<br />
through the door. Sometimes, they will<br />
work evenings and travel out of town.<br />
Rarely, will they see a case through to<br />
the end.<br />
And it takes both passion and<br />
idealism to keep them focused on the<br />
fact that <strong>OIP</strong> has freed 23 prisoners over<br />
the last 12 years, rather than dwelling on<br />
the reality that the vast majority of their<br />
efforts will fail, based upon the numbers.<br />
“There’s an emotional toll to that,” says<br />
administrative director Jodi Shorr.<br />
But the encouraging aspect is that<br />
when Godsey said, “The students are<br />
what make us better than other legal<br />
organizations that aren’t run by students,”<br />
he meant those last three words. These<br />
students are doing real work.<br />
Right from the start, they make case<br />
presentations to the <strong>OIP</strong> staff and other<br />
fellows regarding which cases they should<br />
take. During the course of a one-year<br />
fellowship, they will conduct research,<br />
knock on doors, visit inmates, meet<br />
families, request public records, study<br />
cases down to the tiniest minutia, meet<br />
with staff attorneys nearly daily and try as<br />
hard as possible to uncover new evidence.<br />
“We throw them in,” Shorr admits,<br />
“and they’re holding someone’s life in<br />
their hands. It’s overwhelming.”<br />
“Well, it’s reasonably overwhelming,”<br />
clarifies current <strong>OIP</strong> student Max Moreland<br />
at about six weeks into the job. “It’s a great<br />
opportunity to see what a lawyer can do,<br />
and it’s a really good cause — having the<br />
ability to change someone’s life.”<br />
From the left — <strong>OIP</strong> staff Jennifer Paschen Bergeron,<br />
Brian Howe, Mark Godsey, Liza Dietrich, Jodi<br />
Shorr, Donald Caster<br />
His <strong>OIP</strong> partner, Jack Duhan, adds,<br />
“We get good experience — hands-on<br />
stuff that people usually don’t get at our<br />
age. It’s a positive experience that has me<br />
thinking more and more about working in<br />
the area of criminal defense.”<br />
By the end of the academic year, each<br />
student will have handled about 60 cases.<br />
Shorr’s database of all cases, in which<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> had at least done some research or<br />
made some phone calls, totaled 7,684 by<br />
mid-July.<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> was born in 2003, and today<br />
the workload is handled by one director,<br />
one administrative director, two full-time<br />
6 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW<br />
University of Cincinnati College of Law 7
The <strong>OIP</strong> office is often full of fellows working on different cases — some working silently<br />
while trying to discover valuable research and others debating strategies with co-fellows<br />
and staff.<br />
staff attorneys (Brian Howe and Donald<br />
Caster currently), one part-time staff<br />
attorney (Jennifer Bergeron at present),<br />
one research and writing assistant (Liza<br />
Dietrich currently), no more than 20<br />
student “fellows,” as they are called, and a<br />
few summer interns (undergraduates).<br />
Attorney Howe, JD ’10, knows what<br />
it’s like. Not only does he supervise<br />
current students working on cases, but he<br />
also spent a year as an <strong>OIP</strong> fellow.<br />
Brian Howe, JD ’10, is the only current <strong>OIP</strong><br />
staff attorney who has previously been an<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> fellow.<br />
“They are lucky to get entrusted with<br />
a lot of responsibility so quickly,” Howe<br />
says. “This was one of the most fun and<br />
exciting experiences I had as a student.<br />
“I really liked the day-to-day work of<br />
reviewing boxes of old documents and<br />
being the underdog in litigation. Students<br />
get to track down witnesses from 20 years<br />
ago. They get to do fun stuff like finding<br />
new evidence. By fall, they are assisting<br />
staff attorneys with writing briefs.<br />
“By the spring, the students are<br />
the ones guiding cases. The difference<br />
between where they are now and<br />
where they will be in the spring will<br />
be astounding.”<br />
Unfortunately, at the end of the day,<br />
no one can go home and talk about what<br />
kind of day it’s been. That’s because all the<br />
stress, strain and occasional satisfaction<br />
surrounding legal cases are, of course,<br />
confidential.<br />
So each student selects a peer<br />
partner to work with at the beginning of<br />
the <strong>OIP</strong> fellowship. “It’s important to have<br />
someone who understands how hard the<br />
work is and what you’re going through,”<br />
explains Shorr.<br />
“It’s an emotionally heavy job. This<br />
helps ease the burden.”<br />
The partners share the same<br />
caseloads. They analyze cases together,<br />
compare results on the work they’ve done<br />
and check each other’s work.<br />
As they proceed, they report their<br />
findings and strategies to Shorr and the<br />
staff attorneys assigned to the cases.<br />
Shorr trusts their work and says with total<br />
honesty, “We listen to their opinions. No<br />
one knows the case files better than the<br />
fellows. We change each other’s minds all<br />
the time.”<br />
The three staff attorneys have a<br />
heavy workload due to their dual roles<br />
— being counselors good enough to<br />
stand up to the judicial system and being<br />
instructors good enough to teach law<br />
students to save lives.<br />
“I have about 60 cases in my head at<br />
all times,” Howe points out, “and they are<br />
never the same 60 cases from week to<br />
week. Only about 10 to 12 of them will be<br />
in active litigation. The rest are in various<br />
stages of investigation.<br />
“If we do a job well, that’s great, but<br />
if we make a mistake, an innocent person<br />
could die in prison. That is a huge amount<br />
of pressure.”<br />
The pressure of teaching may be less,<br />
but he takes it just as seriously. “We really<br />
care about the students understanding all<br />
of this,” he says. “Once you pour all of your<br />
time and energy into making sure they<br />
can handle these situations, you watch<br />
them become so competent at this niche<br />
job … then they leave us. Then we get 20<br />
more students.”<br />
Caring so much about justice being<br />
done seems to create an environment<br />
with lots of respect and camaraderie<br />
among students, staff and attorneys. Like<br />
most <strong>OIP</strong> fellows, Howe has remained in<br />
contact with people he knew from his<br />
fellowship year. “I was even a groomsman<br />
for the staff attorney who was here when I<br />
was a student,” he adds with a smile.<br />
The friendship in the office certainly<br />
serves a crucial function in helping to<br />
relieve stress. But Shorr has another<br />
avenue available. Once or twice a week,<br />
she brings in her two dogs.<br />
“Having dogs around can be very<br />
calming,” she states. “They were rescue<br />
dogs, and we rescue people.”<br />
By the time <strong>OIP</strong> fellows graduate,<br />
they can’t remember every name<br />
affiliated with every case they worked<br />
on. But they do try to follow up on some<br />
particular ones. Cases take years, if not<br />
decades, to be resolved. Consequently,<br />
different students over many years will<br />
work on the same cases.<br />
Such was the situation with Ricky<br />
Jackson, exonerated in November 2014<br />
after being sentenced to death for a<br />
murder he did not commit. Serving 39<br />
years in prison made Jackson the longestserving<br />
person to be exonerated in<br />
U.S. history.<br />
Staff attorney Howe investigated<br />
and litigated the case, which involved<br />
Howe and his fellows finding three new<br />
witnesses for the case by literally knocking<br />
on doors in the neighborhood where it<br />
happened and asking, “Were you around<br />
in 1975? Do you know anyone who knows<br />
anything about this case?”<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> fellows Stephen Kelly and Mallorie Thomas<br />
Originally, <strong>OIP</strong> fellow Scott Crowley,<br />
JD ’11, took particular notice of the case<br />
in 2010. He pressed the attorneys to keep<br />
the case open and to continue digging<br />
because he had a feeling something<br />
wasn’t quite right, Shorr explains. His<br />
persistence paid off.<br />
The next year, undergraduate<br />
intern Gretchen Schrader, was assigned<br />
the Jackson case as a special project.<br />
Frustrated that the city of Cleveland<br />
wasn’t responding to public records<br />
requests, Schrader continued to dig<br />
until she got all of the records needed.<br />
“It was Gretchen who obtained the vital<br />
information that would eventually break<br />
open the case,” Godsey says.<br />
A year later, fellow Sierra Merida,<br />
JD ’14, followed up on Schrader’s work,<br />
spending hours on the phone talking<br />
to potential witnesses. Eventually, she<br />
developed a strong rapport with a<br />
community of witnesses and got them to<br />
speak openly about the case.<br />
Godsey recalls when <strong>OIP</strong><br />
was working on the case for<br />
Douglas Prade, who served 15<br />
years before getting released<br />
in 2012. Through the years,<br />
Prade had carefully recorded<br />
the names of each student<br />
who had worked on his case.<br />
“Each year, when new<br />
students took over his case, he<br />
crossed out the names of the<br />
outgoing students and wrote<br />
in the new names,” Godsey<br />
says. “Doug told me that this<br />
Exoneree Dean Gillispie talks to <strong>OIP</strong><br />
administrative director Jodi Shorr.<br />
was among the most important pages in<br />
his personal diary.”<br />
Innocence Project founder Barry<br />
Scheck recognizes <strong>OIP</strong> as one of the most<br />
active and successful projects in the<br />
country. “The Ohio Innocence Project has<br />
become one of the premier projects,” he<br />
said on the group’s 10th anniversary. “The<br />
number of people they have freed and<br />
the legislative reforms they have been<br />
able to get passed in Ohio have made<br />
them a national model — actually, an<br />
international model — for success.”<br />
And maybe that is because the<br />
students and staff who interview students<br />
for the next year look for three things:<br />
the best combination of skills, varying<br />
personalities and passion. “Passion. That’s<br />
what we want,” Shorr firmly states. The<br />
rest naturally follows.<br />
8 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 9
<strong>OIP</strong> Staff Profiles<br />
Jodi Shorr trades FBI for <strong>OIP</strong><br />
Initially, the prospect of working for an organization like the<br />
Ohio Innocence Project was not on Jodi Shorr’s radar. As an<br />
undergrad at Indiana University, Jodi majored in applied health<br />
science and minored in psychology, sociology and public<br />
health. After college while living in New Jersey, she worked<br />
in publishing.<br />
Then later when living in Washington, D.C., she worked<br />
at a health-outcomes research organization before making<br />
the decision to get her master’s. Intrinsically interested in the<br />
criminal mind and what motivates<br />
criminal behavior, Jodi planned<br />
to earn a master’s degree in<br />
criminology and eventually work in<br />
the FBI.<br />
Jodi attended Northern<br />
Arizona University, a decision she<br />
owes in part to director of the<br />
Arizona Innocence Project (AIP)<br />
Professor Rob Schehr. Schehr<br />
introduced Jodi to the concept of<br />
wrongful conviction and offered<br />
her the opportunity to work for the<br />
Arizona Innocence Project. Jodi<br />
worked as a graduate assistant for<br />
the AIP for two years, as well as a<br />
volunteer investigator for the AIP.<br />
While finishing her master’s degree in 2009, she did a summer<br />
internship at <strong>OIP</strong>.<br />
Less than a year later, <strong>OIP</strong>’s administrator left the position,<br />
and Jodi interviewed for and received the role. Over time,<br />
her job duties expanded, and in 2012, she became the<br />
administrative director for the Ohio Innocence Project.<br />
The Ohio Innocence Project has a dual purpose to serve<br />
those who have fallen through the cracks of the criminal justice<br />
system, as well as to help train future lawyers. When it comes<br />
to fulfilling these purposes, Jodi is a force to be reckoned with.<br />
She has played a significant role in making <strong>OIP</strong> the organization<br />
it is today.<br />
Students help motivate Donald Caster<br />
Donald Caster was born and raised in Buffalo, New York.<br />
Donald’s mother supported the family as a full-time<br />
administrative professional, while his father attended seminary.<br />
Donald was raised in an environment that valued religious<br />
principles. As he and his sister became adults, they both<br />
pursued different forms of human rights advocacy. While<br />
Donald’s sister joined the Peace Corps, Donald took a more<br />
traditional route and entered the legal profession.<br />
A 2003 graduate of the University of Cincinnati College<br />
of Law, Donald practiced law in many forms before coming to<br />
work for the Ohio Innocence Project. Right out of law school,<br />
Donald clerked for a federal judge in West Virginia, then joined<br />
a renowned civil-rights firm as an associate attorney. Next,<br />
Donald opened a solo practice, focused toward criminal defense<br />
and then worked as a Butler County prosecutor.<br />
In 2012, Donald learned of an opening at <strong>OIP</strong> and<br />
immediately applied. He was drawn to the challenging nature<br />
of post-conviction litigation and the unique opportunity to<br />
work with innocent clients.<br />
Three years later, Donald has come to appreciate another<br />
aspect of <strong>OIP</strong> — working with law students. Not only do the<br />
students help Donald stay motivated, but they have also<br />
proven to be an invaluable resource.<br />
When Donald was hired he had only six weeks to prepare<br />
for a hearing that would determine whether Glenn Tinney<br />
would be released from prison. By then, the fellows assigned to<br />
Tinney’s case had worked<br />
on it for several months.<br />
They helped bring Donald<br />
up-to-date on years<br />
of litigation and postconviction<br />
developments.<br />
Thanks to the students,<br />
Donald became familiar<br />
enough with the case to<br />
argue successfully for<br />
Tinney’s release.<br />
Foreign affairs led Jennifer Paschen<br />
Bergeron to law degree<br />
Prior to attending law school, Jennifer Paschen Bergeron<br />
studied international affairs and French at Centre College in<br />
Danville, Ky. She received<br />
a master’s in foreign affairs<br />
from the University of<br />
Virginia. After graduate<br />
school, Jennifer decided to<br />
study law at the University<br />
of Cincinnati College of Law.<br />
She graduated in 2002<br />
and became a member of<br />
the Ohio Bar the following<br />
November.<br />
As a new attorney,<br />
Jennifer worked in the<br />
litigation and employmentlaw<br />
department of Vorys’<br />
and Sater. She later left<br />
Vory’s and Sater to work as an associate for the firm of Ulmer<br />
and Berne.<br />
Jennifer was hired as a staff attorney with <strong>OIP</strong> in 2007. Less<br />
than a year later, she helped exonerate Robert McClendon.<br />
McClendon’s case was highlighted in the Columbus Dispatch,<br />
calling for the re-examination of several questionable<br />
convictions. Following the publication, Jennifer filed an<br />
application for DNA testing on McClendon’s behalf. Expecting<br />
a lot of pushback from the prosecutor’s office and a lengthy<br />
court battle, Jennifer was pleasantly surprised when the<br />
application went unopposed.<br />
Testing was conducted on evidence left over from the<br />
rape that led to McClendon’s conviction. The results proved<br />
McClendon innocent. Using the results, Jennifer helped<br />
overturn McClendon’s conviction. McClendon had served 18<br />
years prior to being released.<br />
Jennifer takes pride in knowing that <strong>OIP</strong> represents hope<br />
to thousands of wrongfully convicted inmates across Ohio. She<br />
often receives letters of gratitude from clients.<br />
A surprising number of these letters come from clients<br />
whose cases have been closed. This means a lot to Jennifer,<br />
especially when circumstances force her to close a case<br />
she truly believes in. It’s what she focuses on during the<br />
inevitable long stretches of time between court decisions<br />
and exonerations.<br />
New attorney Brian Howe once an<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> fellow<br />
In addition to being the newest attorney at <strong>OIP</strong>, Brian Howe<br />
is currently the only attorney on staff who was once a fellow<br />
with the project. During his second year as a student at the<br />
University of Cincinnati College of Law, Brian participated in<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> under the direction of then-staff attorney David Laing.<br />
Returning to <strong>OIP</strong> has given Brian the opportunity to review<br />
some of the same cases he had worked on in 2008-09. Not only<br />
is it interesting to view cases at two widely different stages in<br />
development, but he even saw some of the cases through to<br />
the end.<br />
Between November 2014 and March 2015, Brian secured<br />
the release of six of his clients. One of these clients was Ricky<br />
Jackson, who holds the record for the longest time served of<br />
any exoneree. Ricky was in<br />
prison for 39 years, which<br />
includes years before his<br />
attorney was even born. Yet<br />
Brian had worked on the<br />
case while a student.<br />
Prior to law school,<br />
Brian studied philosophy<br />
and Russian at the Ohio<br />
State University. As an<br />
undergrad, he spent a<br />
semester abroad in St.<br />
Petersburg, Russia. After<br />
earning his bachelor’s<br />
in 2003, he entered the<br />
workforce, negotiating<br />
ad rates for advertising<br />
agencies. Brian attended UC Law from 2007-10, during which<br />
time he became a fellow with <strong>OIP</strong> and interned at Legal Aid.<br />
After law school, Brian worked for Legal Aid as an Equal Justice<br />
fellow, litigating foreclosure and housing-related issues.<br />
Brian really likes the challenge of representing the<br />
underdog. At Legal Aid, he represented individuals who were<br />
facing eviction at the hands of large corporations and banks.<br />
Although he and his colleagues had high success rates, each<br />
case was an uphill battle.<br />
10 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 11
Why were<br />
they convicted?<br />
{<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> by the Numbers<br />
2003-15<br />
Innocents released<br />
8<br />
Witness<br />
misidentifications<br />
12<br />
Official<br />
misconduct<br />
23<br />
False<br />
testimonies<br />
9 5<br />
Cases in which DNA was<br />
used to prove innocence<br />
10<br />
2<br />
False<br />
confessions<br />
Faulty<br />
science<br />
A Review of 2014-15<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> had<br />
6 exonerees released<br />
between November 2014 and March 2015,<br />
an <strong>OIP</strong> record.<br />
Client highlight<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> client Ricky Jackson holds the national<br />
record for longest time served by an exoneree<br />
Cases <strong>OIP</strong><br />
opened in 2014<br />
500<br />
39 years<br />
1975-2014<br />
20 <strong>OIP</strong> fellows worked on Ricky’s case for more than 9 years before his exoneration.<br />
Letters sent<br />
regarding cases in 2014<br />
2,755<br />
Among those released this year,<br />
3 served time on<br />
death row.<br />
Time on phone<br />
with inmates<br />
6,361<br />
minutes<br />
Academic year 2014-15<br />
To put this into perspective,<br />
Ricky first entered jail the same year<br />
the Vietnam War ended.<br />
Current staff<br />
Director: 1<br />
Administrative director: 1<br />
Full-time staff attorneys: 2<br />
Part-time staff attorney: 1<br />
Research and writing assistant: 1<br />
Fellows: 17<br />
For more information and to connect with <strong>OIP</strong>:<br />
Follow us on Facebook<br />
facebook.com/OhioInnocenceProject<br />
or visit us at www.law.uc.edu/oip.<br />
Average number of years Total amount<br />
425.5<br />
Cases <strong>OIP</strong> actively<br />
Letters received<br />
worked on cases before of prison time<br />
worked on in 2014 regarding cases in 2014<br />
innocents released<br />
served<br />
years<br />
250 1,943<br />
6 years<br />
Approximately 22 of them are<br />
currently being litigated.<br />
12 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 13<br />
Support <strong>OIP</strong> efforts<br />
Donate by mobile phone: www.uc.edu/give (Specify <strong>OIP</strong> under “other.”)<br />
Donate online: www.uc.edu/give (Select <strong>OIP</strong> from the dropdown menu.)
<strong>OIP</strong> Proudly Recognizes Its Board of<br />
Advocates and Their Achievements<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> Board of Advocate Members<br />
Steve Black<br />
Board President,<br />
Attorney<br />
Rosenthal Award-Winning Attorneys<br />
Say <strong>OIP</strong> Work Most Meaningful<br />
by Deb Rieselman<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> Board, formed in 2013, is responsible for the integrity<br />
and growth of the organization. The <strong>OIP</strong> Board meets regularly,<br />
helping to advance <strong>OIP</strong>’s mission.<br />
During Andy Cassady’s first case files with real victims on<br />
Each board member has an annual commitment to raise<br />
semester at UC’s College the other side.<br />
funds for <strong>OIP</strong>. Since 2014, the board had provided additional<br />
John Isidor<br />
of Law in 2011, the Ohio<br />
“Learning to manage<br />
support with Development, Marketing and PR efforts, helping Board Vice President,<br />
Innocence Project had just client expectations was<br />
the organization gain additional awareness in the community Human Subject Protection Consulting, LLC<br />
freed Dean Gillispie from 20 probably the most important<br />
and increased publicity of <strong>OIP</strong>’s successes and mission.<br />
Greg Bell<br />
unjust years in prison. Cassady thing I learned. I always<br />
Also, the board, along with the help of volunteer<br />
President, KCB Capital Partners<br />
attended a large seminar wanted to express my<br />
consultants, revised the mission, vision and values, as well as Joe Brant<br />
about the case, where <strong>OIP</strong> hopefulness to clients, but<br />
developed a strategic plan that identifies specific objectives, Of Counsel, Katz Teller Brant & Hild<br />
director and Professor Mark you have to be realistic, and<br />
goals, strategies and measures for the organization.<br />
Kathy Brinkman<br />
Godsey played a video of him you have to be very careful to<br />
Through events, project efforts, donors and sponsorships, Of Counsel, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur<br />
telling Gillispie’s mom that not give clients false hope.”<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> has raised more than $5.2 million from over 600 donors. In Dena Cranley<br />
her son would soon be home. Cassady passed the bar<br />
October 2014, <strong>OIP</strong> celebrated its 10th anniversary with its first Community Advocate<br />
“She cried and cried,” exam after being hooded Andy Cassady<br />
Scott Crowley<br />
dinner gala, which netted $152,169.<br />
Anne Levin DeLyons<br />
Cassady clearly remembers. in 2014 and landed a job<br />
Community Advocate<br />
“As soon as I saw that, I knew at Dinsmore, Cincinnati’s<br />
What surprised him<br />
that’s want I wanted — to do largest law firm. Despite his<br />
Dean Gillispie<br />
most in his <strong>OIP</strong> days were the<br />
What is the<br />
Exoneree<br />
work that meaningful.”<br />
employer’s prestige, Cassady clients. “They were always<br />
The following summer, claims that the <strong>OIP</strong> work very, very humble, as well as Rosenthal Award?<br />
Mark Godsey<br />
Professor, UC College of Law<br />
he applied to work with the “will probably be the most charismatic, interesting and<br />
Each year, the Lois Rosenthal<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> Forms Northeast Ohio<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> for a year as a “fellow,” important work I ever do in<br />
Paul Heldman<br />
without any hard feelings<br />
Award is given to the two<br />
Board of Advocates<br />
Retired Executive Vice President & General Counsel<br />
the designation given to my entire legal career.”<br />
toward anyone. I don’t know<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> fellows who exhibit<br />
accepted students. He clearly He explains why: “We<br />
Through the efforts of <strong>OIP</strong> supporter<br />
of The Kroger Co.<br />
how they do it.”<br />
the highest level of skill,<br />
arrived with a passion for the were our clients’ last line<br />
Jim Petro, an <strong>OIP</strong> Board of Advocates has been<br />
Hon. Nathaniel Jones<br />
And what was the hardest determination and passion for<br />
work, which helped him win of defense. They had been<br />
formed in Northeast Ohio to provide regionally focused<br />
Of Counsel, Blank Rome LLP<br />
part of the job? “We poured<br />
justice. Since 2003, 24 fellows<br />
the Lois Rosenthal Award, unsuccessful at every stage<br />
support for <strong>OIP</strong>.<br />
Cliff Schecter<br />
our heart and soul into these<br />
have received this honor.<br />
a scholarship “awarded to of the game. And if we didn’t<br />
The Executive Committee comprises many individuals<br />
President, Libertas LLC<br />
cases and got setback after<br />
fellows exhibiting the highest take the case, there was no<br />
who have helped support <strong>OIP</strong> in the past:<br />
Curtis Scribner<br />
setback after setback. It was<br />
level of skill, determination one behind us. They put all<br />
• Alec Berezin serves as NE Board President<br />
Senior Counsel, The Procter & Gamble Company<br />
difficult to get used to. We<br />
and passion for justice.” their trust and hope into<br />
• Terry Gilbert and Mark Devan, criminal defense<br />
Mandy Shoemaker<br />
were trying to be a voice<br />
Immediately upon<br />
our hands.”<br />
lawyers who have been actively involved in working<br />
UC University Honors Program<br />
for our clients, and no one<br />
reporting to <strong>OIP</strong>, he was given Scott Crowley, A&S ’08,<br />
with <strong>OIP</strong> in its cases<br />
Dick Weiland<br />
was listening.”<br />
a stack of 20 cases. That stack JD ’11, worked on <strong>OIP</strong> from<br />
• Judy Lipton and Carmen Naso of the Case Western<br />
Richard Consulting Corporation<br />
Technically, Crowley’s<br />
grew to roughly 60 cases 2009-10 and was also a Lois<br />
Reserve Law School Clinic<br />
military title was “judge<br />
during the year, with 20 cases Rosenthal Award winner. He<br />
• Robert Tobik, chief Cuyahoga County public<br />
the inner workings of the Cleveland and Northeast Ohio<br />
advocate.” (San Diego was<br />
active at a time.<br />
says it was great hands-on<br />
defender<br />
courts. The board will also educate the community about<br />
his last location.) He explains<br />
“One of the great things training for his career as a<br />
• Phil Calabrese and Michael Meuti, attorneys at<br />
the Ohio Innocence Project through educational seminars,<br />
it simply, “Did you see the<br />
about the <strong>OIP</strong>,” Cassady says, prosecutor in the Marines.<br />
large corporate firms who have volunteered their<br />
training programs and judicial conferences. It also hopes<br />
movie ‘A Few Good Men’? I<br />
“is the amount of work you “<strong>OIP</strong> taught me hard work<br />
expertise to <strong>OIP</strong><br />
to tap into the philanthropic spirit of Cleveland to expand<br />
am Kevin Bacon.” The job had<br />
get to do — writing motions, and persistence. I needed<br />
• Gordon Friedman, Andrea Whitaker and<br />
<strong>OIP</strong>’s capacity via fundraising efforts in the northeastern<br />
consisted of a wide variety of<br />
trying to find evidence<br />
to do research to find new<br />
Jacqueline Greene from the criminal defense bar<br />
part of the state.<br />
legal work, but he completed<br />
and witnesses, making<br />
evidence, suppressed<br />
• Jim Petro, former Ohio Attorney General<br />
The Northeast board held their first fundraiser at Lolita<br />
his service in August and<br />
recommendations. It was an evidence and new witnesses.<br />
• Raymond Towler, exoneree representative<br />
in Cleveland on June 15, 2015, raising more than $14,000<br />
returned home to work at<br />
eye opening experience. I needed to know the facts of<br />
As a local resource, the board will support <strong>OIP</strong>’s<br />
thanks in part to a matching gift of $5,000 by Terry and<br />
the City of Cincinnati Law<br />
“We honed our legal skills the case inside and out.”<br />
litigation efforts in Northeast Ohio and provide insight into Robin Gilbert.<br />
Department as an assistant<br />
on some seriously heinous<br />
city solicitor.<br />
crimes. We were reviewing<br />
14 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 15
ibute<br />
Lois Rosenthal’s Purpose in Life:<br />
to Create Justice, Care for the Lowly<br />
and Share Art with the World<br />
by Deb Rieselman<br />
W<br />
hen Lois Rosenthal<br />
passed away in<br />
July 2014 at age 75,<br />
Cincinnati lost a<br />
benefactor who changed thousands<br />
of lives and helped save the lives of at<br />
least 23 people — wrongfully convicted<br />
individuals who had been rescued from<br />
death row or near life sentences through<br />
the Ohio Innocence Project. Lois and her<br />
husband of 54 years, Richard, virtually<br />
created <strong>OIP</strong> in 2003.<br />
Richard and Lois (a 1960 economics<br />
alumna at UC and an ’08 Honorary<br />
Doctorate recipient) started donating<br />
to the College of Law in 2003, then gave<br />
a $1 million gift in 2004 to endow the<br />
Lois and Richard Rosenthal Institute<br />
for Justice, which operates the Ohio<br />
Innocence Project. Their total gifts to the<br />
college totaled more than $2.5 million.<br />
An Institute for Justice is what one<br />
would have expected out of Lois, who<br />
was always taking care of the oppressed,<br />
hungry and disadvantaged of Cincinnati,<br />
where she had been born and raised.<br />
She began the Rosenthal Fresh<br />
Foods Initiative at Cincinnati’s Freestore<br />
Foodbank, where food was collected<br />
from companies and distributed to those<br />
in need. Lois and Richard instituted the<br />
Rosey Reader Program to foster a love<br />
of reading in Cincinnati Public Schools<br />
by providing free books to more than<br />
30,000 young children.<br />
To bring art to the less fortunate, the<br />
couple founded Uptown Arts in Over the<br />
Rhine to offer free classes in performing<br />
and visual arts to children aged 5 to 10.<br />
Plus, the Rosenthal Next Generation<br />
Theatre Series introduced more than<br />
76,000 children and their parents to live<br />
performances at Cincinnati Playhouse in<br />
the Park.<br />
The couple also established the<br />
Playhouse’s Rosenthal New Play Prize,<br />
which produced 15 world premiere<br />
productions — several nominated for<br />
Pulitzer Prizes — from 1988-2003.<br />
Museums were a passion of theirs.<br />
In 2003, the Rosenthals donated enough<br />
money to the Cincinnati Art Museum<br />
to ensure free admission in perpetuity.<br />
As a National Underground Railroad<br />
Freedom Center trustee, Lois was<br />
instrumental in bringing to life “Invisible:<br />
Slavery Today,” the world’s first museumquality,<br />
permanent exhibition dealing<br />
with modern-day slavery and human<br />
trafficking.<br />
As a Cincinnati Zoo trustee, she<br />
helped create a high-school program,<br />
worked to halt animal entertainment<br />
acts and was instrumental in beginning<br />
an artificial-insemination program for<br />
endangered species.<br />
The couple’s 1999 gift of $6 million<br />
toward the Contemporary Arts Center’s<br />
new home remains one of the largest<br />
one-time gifts to a Cincinnati institution.<br />
From 1985-99, Richard owned F&W<br />
Publications, a specialty-book and<br />
magazine publisher, where Lois became<br />
the editor of the literary magazine<br />
“Story,” which was nominated five times<br />
in the prestigious National Magazine<br />
Awards’ short-fiction category and<br />
won twice.<br />
“What the Ohio Innocence Project<br />
is today came from Lois Rosenthal,”<br />
says <strong>OIP</strong> director and Professor Mark<br />
Godsey. “John Cranley (<strong>OIP</strong> co-founder<br />
with Godsey) and I were a couple of<br />
lawyers who could work cases, but we<br />
didn’t know how to build an institution.<br />
Fortunately, Lois took us under her<br />
wing early on, and it was her vision, her<br />
involvement, that showed us what this<br />
organization could become.<br />
“Twenty-three wrongfully convicted<br />
Ohioans — and many more in the future<br />
— can thank Lois and Dick Rosenthal for<br />
their freedom.”<br />
Lois is survived by her husband,<br />
Richard; their two children, Jennie and<br />
David; four grandchildren; and her<br />
brother, Harvey Reis.<br />
“Hers has always been<br />
a hands-on philosophy<br />
of serving — not from<br />
afar but up close where<br />
it all counts.”<br />
— former Cincinnati City Council<br />
member Marian Spencer<br />
16 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 17
Amid the media frenzy surrounding Ricky Jackson’s release from 39 years of<br />
wrongful imprisonment are <strong>OIP</strong> exonerees Dean Gillispie (in light blue shirt<br />
behind Jackson), Clarence Elkins (smiling in upper right corner) and Raymond<br />
Towler (bearded man in a black cap behind Jackson). Between Towler and<br />
Gillispie is <strong>OIP</strong> director Mark Godsey. Below are the two innocent men who<br />
served time with Jackson: Kwame Ajamu (left) and Wiley Bridgeman (right,<br />
both represented by Terry Gilbert and David Mills).<br />
reedom<br />
Recantations Lead to Freeing Six<br />
The Ohio Innocence Project celebrated six victories this year. In November 2014, the Cuyahoga County<br />
Prosecutor dropped charges against Ricky Jackson, Kwame Ajamu and Wiley Bridgeman, 39 years after<br />
the men were convicted of murder. Just four months later, Derrick Wheatt, Laurese Glover and Eugene<br />
Johnson experienced freedom for the first time in 20 years after Judge Nancy Russo threw out their 1996<br />
murder convictions.<br />
18 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW<br />
Opposite page: Derrick Wheatt hears his conviction<br />
being thrown out of court after being unjustly<br />
imprisoned for nearly 20 years. Below him are Eugene<br />
Johnson (left) and Laurese Glover (right), both of<br />
whom also spent nearly two decades in jail.<br />
University of Cincinnati College of Law 19
Derrick Wheatt (left), represented by <strong>OIP</strong>, and<br />
Eugene Johnson (right), represented by Brett<br />
Murner and Jim Valentine, celebrate their<br />
freedom. Inset photo: Laurese Glover, also<br />
represented by <strong>OIP</strong>, hugs his mother.<br />
Jackson,<br />
Bridgeman<br />
and Ajamu<br />
In 1975, Ricky Jackson, Wiley<br />
Bridgeman and Kwame Ajamu<br />
were convicted of murder and<br />
sentenced to death based<br />
on the trial testimony of a<br />
12-year-old boy named Eddie<br />
Vernon. Vernon’s eyewitness<br />
testimony was compelling,<br />
but it was a lie. Vernon told<br />
the police a story he made up<br />
about Jackson and his friends<br />
being involved.<br />
When the boy tried to<br />
back out from testifying, the<br />
police threatened to arrest<br />
his parents. (Read more<br />
details on page 9.)<br />
After decades of silence,<br />
Vernon, now in his 50s, came<br />
forward with the truth.<br />
First, he admitted the<br />
truth to his pastor, who<br />
advised him to tell the<br />
authorities. Then, last<br />
November, Vernon recanted<br />
his prior testimony in the<br />
Cuyahoga County Common<br />
Pleas Court. Vernon’s<br />
recantation proved so<br />
compelling that it prompted<br />
the Cuyahoga County<br />
Prosecutor Tim McGinty to<br />
drop all the charges against<br />
Jackson, Ajamu and<br />
Bridgeman.<br />
Jackson and Bridgeman<br />
were released from prison<br />
the same day after spending<br />
39 and 38 years in prison,<br />
respectively. Ajamu, who was<br />
released a decade earlier,<br />
came to greet the men.<br />
The three men were later<br />
fully exonerated and declared<br />
officially innocent of the<br />
crime that resulted in several<br />
decades of incarceration.<br />
They are now entitled to<br />
receive compensation from<br />
the state for the time they<br />
spent incarcerated.<br />
On May 7, 2015, Jackson,<br />
Bridgeman, Ajamu, <strong>OIP</strong><br />
staff attorney Brian Howe<br />
and <strong>OIP</strong> Director Mark<br />
Godsey received the Rose<br />
Elizabeth Bird Commitment<br />
to Justice Award at the 24th<br />
Annual Death Penalty Focus<br />
Awards. (See story on page<br />
4.) Jackson, Bridgeman and<br />
Ajamu spent several years<br />
on death row before Ohio’s<br />
death penalty was ruled<br />
unconstitutional.<br />
Wheatt, Glover<br />
and Johnson<br />
In March 2015, Cuyahoga<br />
County Judge Nancy Russo<br />
threw out the 1996 murder<br />
convictions of Derrick Wheatt,<br />
Laurese Glover and Eugene<br />
Johnson, granting each man a<br />
new trial.<br />
Wheatt, Glover and<br />
Johnson were convicted of<br />
the 1995 shooting death of<br />
19-year-old Clifton Hudson.<br />
Their convictions were<br />
based on three things: 1)<br />
an identification made by<br />
14-year-old Tamika Harris,<br />
2) faulty scientific evidence<br />
involving gunshot residue<br />
(GSR) and 3) the presence of<br />
the three teenagers near the<br />
scene of the murder.<br />
A decade later Harris<br />
admitted that she did not<br />
actually see the faces of<br />
the men who shot Hudson.<br />
In 2009, <strong>OIP</strong> filed a motion<br />
for new trial based on<br />
the recantation and new<br />
information debunking the<br />
prosecution’s GSR evidence.<br />
Unfortunately the motion<br />
was denied.<br />
Four years later, <strong>OIP</strong><br />
got a break in the case<br />
when, in 2013, it obtained<br />
police reports containing<br />
exculpatory information<br />
that was withheld during<br />
trial. The reports included<br />
information that was not<br />
raised at the original trial,<br />
including the existence of<br />
two witnesses who confirmed<br />
that the shooter came from<br />
a nearby post-office lot, not<br />
the defendants’ truck. One of<br />
those witnesses even claimed<br />
he recognized the shooter<br />
as a sibling of one of his<br />
classmates.<br />
The reports also showed<br />
that unknown people in a<br />
different car had shot at the<br />
victim’s brother just days<br />
before the crime and that<br />
someone had threatened<br />
the victim himself the day<br />
before the murder. No known<br />
connection between any<br />
of those threats and the<br />
defendants existed.<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> filed another new<br />
trial motion on the basis that<br />
this information was never<br />
disclosed to the defense. On<br />
March 26, after reviewing<br />
the evidence, Judge Russo<br />
granted the motion and threw<br />
out the murder convictions.<br />
Glover, Wheatt and Johnson<br />
were released that day after<br />
making bail. The men served<br />
18 years for the crime they did<br />
not commit and spent their<br />
entire adult lives incarcerated.<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> represented<br />
defendants Wheatt and<br />
Glover; attorneys Brett<br />
Murner and Jim Valentine<br />
represented Johnson.<br />
Additionally, co-counsel on<br />
this case was Carmen Naso,<br />
senior instructor of law, and<br />
law students at the Milton<br />
A. Kramer Law Clinic, Case<br />
Western Reserve School of<br />
Law in Cleveland, Ohio.<br />
Ricky Jackson Impacts <strong>OIP</strong> Students,<br />
Inspires Them to Get Involved<br />
Past and present fellows react to hearing<br />
Ricky Jackson speak at UC<br />
Stephen Otte, current fellow: “After hearing<br />
Ricky tell his story, I felt inspired. It was<br />
empowering. I knew right then that I<br />
wanted to work for <strong>OIP</strong>. That I wanted to<br />
do something that significant.”<br />
Kathryn Lucas, current fellow: “I was struck<br />
by Ricky’s mental strength, how he was<br />
able to persevere and not let his spirit<br />
break through 39 years of imprisonment.”<br />
Rebecca Brizzolara, current fellow: “Ricky is such a good person. He holds no<br />
grudges and refuses to dwell on things. He is so positive and has such a good<br />
sense of humor.”<br />
Brian Howe, <strong>OIP</strong> staff attorney, ’08-09 fellow: “I know<br />
that innocent people accept guilty pleas with<br />
time served. Ricky, for instance, was in shackles<br />
with a high likelihood of dying in prison when<br />
he had to make the decision: ‘Are you willing to<br />
gamble with what’s left of your life based only on<br />
principle?’ He did. And he won.”<br />
Catlin Wells, ’14-15 fellow: “I watched Ricky<br />
Jackson walk out of jail. Surrounded by a sea of<br />
microphones, he shrugged off questions about<br />
systematic injustice and the 12-year-old whose<br />
testimony led to his incarceration. ‘I’m just glad<br />
to be out. I’m glad to be free.’ A few hours later, Dayton exoneree Dean Gillispie<br />
looked at Ricky, gestured towards a line of exonerees and said, ‘We’ll take care of<br />
you. You’re our brother now. You’re one of us.’<br />
“My job is not about accumulating credentials, but about a man who, after<br />
almost four decades in jail, had the compassion to forgive the kid who put him<br />
there. It’s about Dean, his line of brothers and the other innocent men and women<br />
who still sit behind bars waiting until they too can throw their hands up and say,<br />
‘I’m free.’”<br />
From the left — <strong>OIP</strong> exonerees: Robert McClendon, Ricky Jackson, (attorney) Brian Howe ’10, Ray<br />
Towler, Dean Gillispie and Clarence Elkins<br />
20 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 21
<strong>OIP</strong> Honor Roll of Donors<br />
January 1, 2012-September 30, 2015<br />
Professor Marjorie Aaron and<br />
David H. Aaron, PhD<br />
David B. Alden<br />
Andrew C. Allen<br />
Eli Amstadter<br />
Marty Anderson<br />
Dr. and Mrs. David B. Argo<br />
Mary Armor<br />
Timothy Armstrong and<br />
Eisha Tierney Armstrong<br />
Susan G. Arruda<br />
Joyce W. Asfour<br />
Martin R. Baach<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Barrett<br />
Honorable Michael R. Barrett<br />
Amira Beer<br />
Pat Daulton Belanoff, PhD<br />
Gregory Bell and Kathleen<br />
Conway Bell<br />
Jennie Rosenthal Berliant and<br />
Allan Berliant<br />
James A. Berns<br />
Professor Marianna B. Bettman<br />
Jeanne Bishop<br />
Mrs. Helen C. Black<br />
Marnie C. Black<br />
Steve and Susan Black<br />
Interested in Donating?<br />
Donate by mobile phone: www.uc.edu/give<br />
(Specify <strong>OIP</strong> under “other.”)<br />
Donate online: www.uc.edu/give<br />
(Select <strong>OIP</strong> from the dropdown menu.)<br />
Donate by calling <strong>OIP</strong> at 513-556-0752.<br />
Leslie C. Blade<br />
Lucas Blocher<br />
Laura A. Bolduc<br />
Bill and Mary Bonansinga<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Keith G. Bootes<br />
James D. Brady<br />
Joseph A. Brant<br />
Professor Kimberly M. Breedon<br />
Dr. Craig J. Brenner<br />
BRG Apartments<br />
Kathleen and George Brinkman<br />
Miss Agnes M. Brockman<br />
Deborah Brooks<br />
The Otto M. Budig Family<br />
Foundation<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Steven M. Bulloff<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Steven C. Burgess<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. Burke<br />
J. Philip Calabrese and Mary<br />
Rebecca Bynum<br />
Camden Foundation<br />
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Campbell<br />
Michael T. Cappel<br />
Judith L. and Daniel P. Carmichael<br />
Alexander H. Caron<br />
Andrew B. Cassady<br />
Donald R. Caster<br />
Alan H. Channing<br />
Dean Emeritus Jay Chatterjee<br />
Gabriel J. Chin<br />
Cincinnati Bar Association<br />
Honorable Margaret A. Clark and<br />
Mr. Patrick Hornschemeier<br />
Jason M. Cohen<br />
Lauren Chesley Cohen<br />
Megan R. Collard<br />
Joseph A. Conway, PhD<br />
The Ruth J. and Robert A.<br />
Conway Foundation<br />
Margaret M. Conway<br />
David M. Cook<br />
Barbara A. Cook-Hamp<br />
Deborah K. Cooper<br />
Cors & Bassett, LLC<br />
Ashley N. Couch<br />
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Courter<br />
Dena and John Cranley<br />
Jay and Susan Cranley<br />
Grace I. Crary-Kearney<br />
Robert D. Cribbin<br />
Mr. Robert F. Croskery and<br />
Ms. Melinda E. Knisley<br />
Scott J. Crowley<br />
Edla Cusick<br />
Levi J. Daly<br />
Mrs. Donna W. Dansker and<br />
Emil Dansker, PhD<br />
Jennifer and Eric Dauer<br />
Louis M. Dauner<br />
Lisa B. David<br />
Rajah B. David<br />
Nathaniel D. Davis Foundation<br />
Kathy Daw<br />
Alison A. De Villiers<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Dehner<br />
Anne and Ron DeLyons<br />
Angela Denov and Mr. Jonathon<br />
C. Blickenstaff<br />
Cynthia Dewar<br />
Mr. and Mrs. David B. Dillon<br />
DNA Diagnostics Center<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel F. Dodd<br />
Charles F. Dorfman<br />
Shirley A. Duffy<br />
James B. Dworkin, PhD<br />
John W. Eilers, Jr.<br />
Clarence and Molly Elkins<br />
Katherine Elwood<br />
Hubert A. & Gladys C. Estabrook<br />
Trust<br />
Richard F. Evans<br />
Irene M. Ewing<br />
Robert and Karen Faaborg<br />
Kelly Farrish, Jr.<br />
Priscilla Faux<br />
Federal Bar Association<br />
Richard Fencl<br />
E. Thomas Fernandez<br />
Frederick A. Fink<br />
Chip Finke<br />
Focused Capitol Solutions<br />
Terri L. Foote<br />
Frame USA<br />
Marjorie Frank<br />
Freking & Betz, LLC<br />
Susan and Bill Friedlander<br />
Saranne Funk<br />
William R. Gallagher<br />
Ruben Galle<br />
Melanie A. Garner<br />
Mr. and Mrs. James S. Gastin<br />
Gerhardstein & Branch Co. LPA<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Gerson<br />
Marcheta L. Gillam<br />
Professor Mark Godsey and<br />
Michele Berry-Godsey<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Godsey<br />
The Gould Family<br />
The Greater Cincinnati<br />
Foundation<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Michael B. Green<br />
Linda J. Greff and Chuck Joffe<br />
Beatrice B. Griffin<br />
Mary Ann and Davis Griffin<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Scott S. Grigsby<br />
Anne K. Guinan<br />
Thomas D. Hadley, PhD and<br />
Ms. Pamela J. Luttmers<br />
Karla and Adam Hall<br />
Patricia D. Harris<br />
Susan C. and Jeffrey P. Harris<br />
Family Foundation<br />
Arity and Scott Hasson<br />
Hawley Law Co., LPA<br />
Dale C. Hayes<br />
Lynette M. Heard<br />
Dr. Henry J. Heimlich<br />
Anne P. Heldman<br />
Fred and Patti Heldman<br />
Liana Heldman<br />
Paul Heldman and Deborah<br />
Kirshner<br />
Roger and Julie Heldman<br />
Helmer, Martins, Rice & Popham,<br />
Co., LPA / Top Gun<br />
Publishing, LLC<br />
Dave Herche and Wendy Thursby<br />
Lawrence Herman<br />
John D. Hill, Jr.<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W.<br />
Hirschhorn<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Ray R. Hobson<br />
Kathryn A. Hollister<br />
Bruce T. Hopple<br />
Jane M. Howington<br />
Mrs. Carol and Carl Huether, PhD<br />
David M. Hundley II<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Brian H. Hurst<br />
John M. Isidor and Sandy P.<br />
Kaltman<br />
Shirley M. Jaeger<br />
Diane M. James<br />
Francoise R. Johnson<br />
Lisa M. Johnson<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Johnstone<br />
Gerri A. Jones<br />
Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Joy<br />
Mr. and Mrs. David P. Kamp<br />
Mr. and Mrs. James A. Katsanis<br />
Katz Teller<br />
Bernadette Kearney<br />
Cynthia W. Kelly, PhD<br />
Ryan R. Kelsey<br />
Crystal L. Kendrick<br />
Richard S. Ketcham<br />
Kathleen A. Kinsey<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Kleinknecht<br />
KMK Law<br />
Carol W. Kortekamp<br />
Pranav G. Kothari<br />
Dr. and Mrs. Mark B. Kuby<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Larkins<br />
LaRosa’s, Inc.<br />
Bea V. Larsen<br />
Patricia L. Larsen<br />
Adam G. Latek<br />
Joyce C. Lavender-Che<br />
Margaret A. Leech<br />
Kate Levin and Robin Shapiro<br />
The Levin Family Foundation<br />
Cynthia S. Lewis<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel F. Lewis<br />
Karen G. Lewis, PhD<br />
Robert D. Lewis, Jr.<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan R.<br />
Lippincott<br />
Dr. Mitchel and Ms. Carol<br />
Livingston<br />
Phil Locke<br />
Loevy & Loevy<br />
Elizabeth S. Loring<br />
LQ Consulting, LLC<br />
Deborah R. Lydon<br />
Macy’s Foundation<br />
Eva and Lynn C. Maddox<br />
Malcolm Hewitt Wiener<br />
Foundation<br />
Timothy S. Mangan<br />
Michael H. Marchal<br />
Melvin E. Marmer<br />
Jason R. Masterson<br />
Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson<br />
Foundation<br />
Jeanette L. McClellan<br />
Emily and Dustin McClimon<br />
Julie A. McConn-Pirman<br />
Robert P. Mecklenborg<br />
Mediation & Dispute Resolution<br />
Services<br />
Rudy L. Megowen<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher M.<br />
Mekus<br />
Janet K. Melcher, PhD<br />
Michael D. Meuti<br />
Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Meyer<br />
Penny Friedman Meyer and<br />
Ron Meyer<br />
James A. Miller<br />
Ralph Miller<br />
Danute M. Miskinis<br />
Professor Janet Moore<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick M. Morgan, Jr.<br />
Marjorie Motch<br />
Paula and Brian Muething<br />
Patrick T. Murphy<br />
Thomas E. Murphy<br />
Tim Musser<br />
Honorable Beth A. Myers<br />
National Association of Criminal<br />
Defense Lawyers<br />
A. Ralph Navaro, Jr.<br />
Kay C. Nelson<br />
Robert Newman and Mary<br />
Asbury<br />
Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Buck Niehoff<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph G. Nunn, Jr.<br />
Darrin E. Nye<br />
Stephen J. O’Bryan<br />
Kathleen F. Olberding<br />
Marilyn Z. Ott<br />
Honorable Mark P. Painter<br />
Martin L. Palmerton<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Roberto Pasquier<br />
Paul K. Penniman<br />
Francie and John Pepper<br />
Jim and Nancy Petro<br />
Charles W. Pirman<br />
Sandra L. Pond<br />
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur<br />
Michael D. Privitera, MD<br />
Doreen Quinn<br />
Ann Ramsey-Hill<br />
Nancy L. Rascov<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Louis L. Rauh<br />
Richard Consulting Corporation<br />
Robert E. Richardson, Jr.<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin J. Rigaud, Jr.<br />
Cynthia Ris, PhD<br />
Rittgers & Rittgers<br />
Mr. and Mrs. J. David Rosenberg<br />
Lois and Richard Rosenthal<br />
Peter Rosenwald<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene M. Rothchild<br />
Kathye Lewis E. Rowe<br />
Matthew Rucker<br />
Ann Hess Rundle<br />
Jerome E. Ruthman<br />
Helen Samuels<br />
Paul J. Samuels, MD and<br />
Ms. Lisa M. McMillan<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Santen<br />
Christine R. Scheadler<br />
Cliff Schecter and Anne Luecke<br />
Marc J. Scheineson<br />
Glenn L. Schilling<br />
Michael G. Schrader<br />
Dolores C. Schuessler<br />
Betsy K. Schwartz<br />
Curtis and Ashley Scribner<br />
The Murray and Agnes<br />
Seasongood Good<br />
Government Foundation<br />
John M. Shepherd<br />
Amanda N. Shoemaker<br />
Jodi Shorr<br />
Sidley Austin LLP<br />
Karen Sieber<br />
Brent W. Sigg<br />
Beth I. Silverman & Associates LLC<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Murray Sinclaire, Jr.<br />
Matthew C. Singer<br />
David A. Singleton and Professor<br />
Verna L. Williams<br />
Mr. and Mrs. H. Louis Sirkin<br />
David C. Sirlouis<br />
Trish and Walter Smitson<br />
The Spahr Foundation<br />
David M. Sparks<br />
William C. Spaulding<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis M. Spencer<br />
Margaret Springer-Lobes<br />
Squire Patton Boggs<br />
St. Andrew Presbyterian Church<br />
Lauren M. Staley and David C.<br />
Kruska<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred I. Straus III<br />
Subpoena Service Plus<br />
Sycamore Presbyterian Church<br />
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP<br />
Alison Tan<br />
Ann C. Taylor<br />
Dennis G. Terez<br />
Jeffrey W. Thomas<br />
Ruth A. Thomas<br />
Professor Suja A. Thomas and<br />
Mr. Scott Bahr<br />
Thompson Hine LLP<br />
Neil and Sally K. Tilow<br />
James Timmerberg<br />
Dr. and Mrs. Howard Tolley, Jr.<br />
Dean Emeritus and<br />
Mrs. Joseph P. Tomain<br />
Limor Tomer<br />
Burr J. Travis<br />
Christopher M. Trimbach<br />
Katherine Vaughan Ellwood<br />
Veritable, LP<br />
Caroline Idinopulos Vigran<br />
Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP<br />
Jessica Voveris<br />
Sara M. and Michelle Vance<br />
Waddell<br />
Steve F. Warkany<br />
Mr. and Mrs. John F. Washko<br />
David C. Watkins<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Wayne<br />
Gerald V. Weigle, Jr.<br />
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP<br />
Dick Weiland<br />
Robert G. Welbaum<br />
Bill C. Wells<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Phelps Wilkins<br />
Penny D. Winkle<br />
Martha J. Wolf<br />
Frank and Karen Wood<br />
William H. Wood<br />
Martin D. Yant<br />
Donald G. Yelton and<br />
Ann Saluke, MD<br />
Young Presidents Organization<br />
Jessica Zeller<br />
Barry Zucker<br />
22 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 23
Grooming a New Life<br />
<strong>OIP</strong> gives Nancy Smith a dog-grooming career,<br />
which puts her on a path of peace and joy<br />
by Deb Rieselman<br />
by Deb Rieselman<br />
strength in that dark and lonely place. It<br />
took me 14 1 /2 years to realize that I was<br />
never alone.”<br />
In 1993, Smith had been totally<br />
shocked when she was arrested on<br />
charges of molesting preschoolers<br />
(age 3 and 4) who rode on the Head Start<br />
bus she drove. Her case was part of what<br />
is now known as the “Daycare Hysteria<br />
Cases,” where copycat molestation<br />
allegations were made at daycares<br />
across the country after a story aired<br />
on 60 Minutes about molestation<br />
that had allegedly occurred at a daycare<br />
in California.<br />
In the California case, the families<br />
of the children were awarded large<br />
settlements, and similar claims soon<br />
arose across the country. It is now known<br />
that many of the individuals convicted<br />
were innocent victims. Like in other<br />
cases, Nancy Smith’s accusers obtained<br />
large cash settlements from Head Start<br />
after she was declared guilty.<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> and others amassed<br />
evidence over the years that proved that<br />
Nancy Smith was innocent. This evidence<br />
included records which showed that<br />
Nancy was at her other job on the day<br />
the molestation allegedly took place,<br />
and evidence — including video<br />
evidence — showing that the children<br />
had been coached and told what to say<br />
by their parents.<br />
The evidence of Nancy’s innocence<br />
was detailed in a “Dateline NBC” episode<br />
that aired on April 9, 2012. Haunted<br />
Memories (Parts 1-6) are available at<br />
http://goo.gl/2i1iaX.<br />
In 2009, a new judge ruled that<br />
Nancy was innocent and acquitted her.<br />
At that point, she was released. That<br />
decision was later overturned by the<br />
Ohio Supreme Court on jurisdictional<br />
grounds (the Ohio Supreme Court did<br />
not challenge the trial court’s finding<br />
that she was acquitted, but merely held<br />
the trial court did not have jurisdiction<br />
to reopen the case). But the prosecutors,<br />
fortunately, recognizing the problems<br />
with the case, agreed to drop the<br />
remaining charges against Nancy so that<br />
she could remain free.<br />
Regaining a normal life was difficult.<br />
”I stayed away from crowds,” she says.<br />
“I was afraid someone would recognize<br />
me. I refused to look at cops because I<br />
don’t trust them.<br />
“I babysat for my daughters, which<br />
was safe. I didn’t have to go out into<br />
public and deal with anybody.”<br />
In 2014, she realized that although<br />
she had been free for nearly six years, she<br />
had remained in her own prison. “I had<br />
no social life. I was stuck. I needed to get<br />
a job and get on with my life.”<br />
After praying about it, she decided<br />
she wanted to be a dog groomer, but<br />
financing the education and equipment<br />
was a problem. Once again, <strong>OIP</strong> took<br />
care of her, helping pay for her education<br />
and equipment through the Phoenix<br />
Initiative, a sub-component of <strong>OIP</strong> that<br />
helps exonerees get back on their feet.<br />
Last fall, she became certified and is<br />
working at Amherst Animal Hospital. “I<br />
love it,” she says excitedly. “It gets easier<br />
every time.”<br />
Something else is getting easier —<br />
being in public.<br />
“I’ve come a long way,” she says<br />
with a quiet sense of pride. “I like being<br />
out amongst adult people. We have a<br />
little concert area in town where I would<br />
never go, but I’ve gone a few times now.<br />
“I’m finally coming into my peace of<br />
mind since I started dog grooming.”<br />
Litigation Update on<br />
Kevin Thornton<br />
Courts rule new evidence likely to have led jury<br />
to different verdict, but too late now<br />
In 2007, Kevin Thornton was convicted of robbing a checkcashing<br />
store in Milford, Ohio. After an investigation, the Ohio<br />
Innocence Project asked the trial court in 2010 to overturn his<br />
conviction, as two crucial pieces of evidence proved he had not<br />
committed the crime.<br />
That evidence consisted of 1) photogrammetric analysis<br />
of the store’s video surveillance, which proved that Kevin was<br />
too tall by four inches to have been the perpetrator, and 2)<br />
the results of DNA testing conducted on the zip-ties used to<br />
bind the hands and feet of the cashier. While the trial court<br />
agreed that had the evidence been presented at trial, the jury<br />
probably would have reached a different verdict, the court<br />
also unfortunately ruled that it was procedurally barred from<br />
considering this evidence and declined to grant relief because,<br />
the court believed, the evidence of innocence could have been<br />
presented at Thornton’s original trial. The Twelfth District Court<br />
of Appeals affirmed, and the Ohio Supreme Court, over the<br />
dissent of two justices, declined to hear the case.<br />
On Kevin’s behalf, <strong>OIP</strong> has now sought habeas relief in<br />
federal court. Based on language in recent U.S. Supreme Court<br />
decisions, <strong>OIP</strong> also filed an additional post-conviction petition<br />
in state court based on Kevin’s actual innocence. The <strong>OIP</strong> has<br />
asked the Ohio Supreme Court to hear an appeal regarding<br />
the lower courts’ refusal to grant relief on this claim. In the<br />
meantime, the habeas case is pending before the United States<br />
District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.<br />
Kevin Thornton has been proven innocent but remains<br />
behind bars. “<strong>OIP</strong> will not give up on Kevin’s case despite the<br />
refusal of the courts thus far to do anything about it,” <strong>OIP</strong><br />
director Mark Godsey says. “We will see that someday he can<br />
walk free as an exonerated man.”<br />
In 1994, when Nancy Smith<br />
Seven years<br />
was unjustly locked behind<br />
bars for nearly 15 years, her<br />
worst pain came from being separated<br />
from loved ones — four children and a<br />
and counting...<br />
fiancé. Family members watched over<br />
Six years<br />
the 12- to 18-year-olds, but Smith missed<br />
two graduations, two marriages, a<br />
divorce, the birth of eight grandchildren,<br />
being able to marry her fiancé and her<br />
daughter’s grief over stillborn twins.<br />
Five years<br />
Her heart ached to celebrate with<br />
them, cry with them and simply hold<br />
them. When the Ohio Innocence Project<br />
helped free her in 2009, she finally got to<br />
cry in their arms.<br />
Four years<br />
Of course, she had to get to know<br />
them all over again, but everyone was<br />
patient. That’s the miracle that can<br />
bloom with love and constant faith in<br />
God, she says.<br />
Three years<br />
“There were times I got angry at<br />
God,” she admits. “But I never lost that<br />
faith and hope. I refused to let my life<br />
drift off from God.”<br />
In prison, Smith painted a<br />
Two years<br />
meaningful work that continues to<br />
comfort her — a Michelangelo-inspired<br />
piece that resembles the Sistine Chapel’s<br />
“Creation of Adam.” “I always had to<br />
remember that God was only a fingertip<br />
away,” she explains. “This was truly my<br />
One year<br />
24 Ohio Innocence Project Second Edition <strong>OIP</strong> REVIEW University of Cincinnati College of Law 25
UC College of Law<br />
Ohio Innocence Project<br />
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Cases from 14<br />
Different Counties<br />
Being Reviewed<br />
The <strong>OIP</strong> is currently reviewing cases of<br />
inmates housed in 14 state correctional<br />
institutions. Their cases come from 14<br />
Ohio counties.<br />
As a result of the wide distribution of<br />
inmates and cases around the state, <strong>OIP</strong><br />
fellows and staff spend many hours reading<br />
and writing letters and speaking with<br />
inmates about their cases.<br />
Prior to actively taking on a case, the <strong>OIP</strong><br />
staff and fellows will meet the inmate in<br />
person to discuss the case, the plan for<br />
litigation and all expectations of the case.<br />
For more information, connect with us online:<br />
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OhioInnocenceProject<br />
UC website<br />
www.uc.edu<br />
Blog<br />
www.wrongfulconvictionsblog.org<br />
UC College of Law website<br />
www.law.uc.edu/oip