LANSING, Mich. – On Thursday, Oct. 2, the Cooley Law School Innocence Project recognized National Wrongful Conviction Day with a free panel discussion at the law school’s Lansing campus.
The event featured exoneree Gilbert Poole Jr., as well as author, legal scholar, and Cooley graduate Nathan Goetting, who is now director of the George Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy at Adrian College. The event also included Ohio Magistrate and Court Administrator Christy Cole and Cooley Law School Innocence Project attorneys.
“The biggest surprise is just how hard it is to convince judges about the magnitude of this problem,” Goetting said.
During the event, Cole shared she was surprised to hear how preventable a lot of issues are in trying to clear someone’s name and criminal charges.
Poole, who was represented by Cooley and exonerated in 2021, remains active in the Innocence movement, working with those who remain incarcerated as well as other exonerees.
“I've been advocating for all the people I left behind,” he said. “You just need to be persistent.”
Established in 2001, the Cooley Law School Innocence Project is the only post-conviction DNA innocence organization in the state. Since its inception, the office has screened over 6,000 cases and is responsible for the exoneration of nine individuals: Kenneth Wyniemko (2003), Nathaniel Hatchett (2008), Donya Davis (2014), LeDura Watkins (2017), Corey McCall (2021), Kenneth Nixon (2021), Gilbert Poole (2021), George DeJesus (2022), and Louis Wright (2023). It also helped to exonerate Lacino Hamilton and Ramon Ward, both in 2020, Terance Calhoun in 2022, and Crystal Mulherin and Duane Williams, both in 2024.
The project is staffed by Cooley Law School students, who work under the supervision of Cooley Innocence Project attorneys. Those interested in donating and supporting the work of the Cooley Innocence Project can do so at cooley.edu/academics/experiential-learning/innocence-project.
In its 12th year, Wrongful Conviction Day began as an effort of the Innocence Network, an affiliation of organizations dedicated to providing pro-bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted, working to redress the causes of wrongful convictions, and supporting the exonerated after they are freed.
The Cooley Law School Innocence Project recognized National Wrongful Conviction Day on Thursday, Oct. 2, with a free panel discussion at the law school’s Lansing campus. Pictured from left to right are: Exoneree Gilbert Poole Jr.; Ann Garant, co-director, Cooley Innocence Project; Ohio Magistrate and Court Administrator Christy Cole; and Cooley graduate Nathan Goetting, director of the George Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy at Adrian College.
Ann Garant, co-director, Cooley Innocence Project, speaks during the Cooley Innocence Project’s National Wrongful Conviction Day panel discussion on Thursday, Oct. 2, at the law school’s Lansing campus.