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On February 15, Great North Innocence Project Managing Attorney Jim Mayer joined friends and family of his very first innocence client, Michael Wearry, to experience the height of any innocence attorney’s career: watching his client walk free from incarceration.
Read more about Michael's case and how Jim's experience working to free an innocent man from death row catalyzed his eventual career as a full time innocence attorney.
Read moreMaren Reeder is a dedicated and hardworking volunteer who supports the Great North Innocence Project in administration and community outreach work. We sat down with Maren to learn more about her volunteer experience so far.
Read moreJon Hopeman, longtime Great North Board member, has seen the Great North Innocence Project through numerous stages of organizational development; worked on innocence case litigation, including helping to free innocent Great North client Javon Davis from prison in 2020; and provided critical leadership during times of organizational transition.
We spoke with John about his time on the Great North Board and what he hopes for the future of innocence work.
Read moreElissa Mautner is an energetic, dedicated, and passionate volunteer with the Great North Innocence Project. She supports our work in numerous ways as an administrative and events volunteer including fielding inquiries about our work, checking and logging Great North mail, keeping tabs on innocence-related news stories, and providing event support before and during the Benefit for Innocence.
We sat down with Elissa to learn more about why and how she got involved with the Great North Innocence Project.
Read moreWatch the livestream of our conversation with Rabia Chaudry, advocate, attorney, producer, and author.
Read moreFrom the 1950s and during several decades onwards, investigators used hair microscopy to connect hair samples found during the course of a criminal investigation to hairs taken from suspects.
Read moreWatch the full program & client video now!
Read moreBloodstain-pattern analysis (BPA) is the analysis of blood stains, used in criminal investigations, providing information based on the size and shape of the stain. The bloodstains are interpreted by analysts to determine the distance and speed the blood traveled, the force used, the type of injury (and whether the blood was from a vein or an artery), the position of the body when the injury occurred, and any subsequent movements. However, this so-called “science” has proved to be problematic in criminal legal spaces.
At this year’s Benefit for Innocence, the Great North Innocence Project is debuting a new award, the Pro Bono Champion(s) of the Year Award, to recognize an individual pro bono volunteer or a pro bono team that have contributed significant time, expertise, resources, and passion towards investigating and litigating innocence cases in partnership with our organization.
This year, we’re honored to recognize the pro bono team representing GN-IP client Robert Kaiser with this award. Megan Christner, Alex Olson, and Sam Lockner of Carlson Caspers law firm, and Mark Bradford of Bassford Remele PA, have and continue to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring Robert Kaiser’s freedom after nearly 8 years of wrongful incarceration with passionate zeal.
We chatted with two of the awardees, Sam and Mark, to hear about their experiences as pro bono attorneys on a case whose outcome remains to be seen, but whose progress has been energizing and inspiring for all involved.
Bite mark analysis relies on two assumptions: humans have unique bite patterns, and human skin is able to preserve these unique bite marks for comparison, neither of which have been scientifically proven.
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