Experiential Experience Blurb: The Wrongful Conviction Clinic

By: Ayomide Olusanya

The legal system gives the promise of justice in the pursuit of equality and fairness to all. It does so by constantly ensuring that those who commit crimes will be punished for the crimes they have committed. However, the existence of wrongful conviction rates across the United States at any capacity is a scourge on this so-called tapestry of justice that the legal system wishes to weave. A past research study has identified Cuyahoga County as the leading county for wrongful conviction rates in Ohio and has identified Ohio among an estimated top ten to thirteen states in wrongful conviction rates in the United States.  

   The increasing rates of wrongly convicted individuals have given birth to organizations hoping to aid in exonerating innocent individuals and restoring justice to those deprived of it. A few of those groups include the Innocence Project, the Exoneration Project, and clinics such as the Wrongful Conviction Clinic and the Reentry clinic. 

   As a student participating in the Wrongful Conviction Clinic during the fall semester and now spring semesters, I have been able to get further insight into ongoing claims of individuals who have been wrongly convicted. The majority of the work I’ve done in the clinic involved case studies and research on materials available from previous trials. I spent time with my case partner looking into substantial and procedural facts of the case to account for any wrongdoing in the process of the proceedings both in trial court and at the appellate levels. I participated in reaching out to parties of interest in the case to request documents that might help provide a better overview of how the case unfolded in court, ranging from transcripts to documented evidence used by both the prosecutors and the defendant counsel. I have also participated in visiting and interviewing a wrongly convicted individual.  

   From my time in the clinic, I have confirmed what has been mentioned multiple times about contributing factors to wrongful conviction and seen them to be so. Ranging from false confessions, outdated forensics, prosecutorial and police misconduct and so on. 

   I have learned a lot from my time at the clinic both from the hands-on approach and the research. It has provided me with a lot more exposure to the approaches of case development, substantive procedure, and more comprehensive communication skills from speaking to clients, to speaking to prosecutors, prior attorneys, and police departments.  

   My time at the clinic has been very impactful in my understanding of the justice system, especially from working on cases of wrongfully convicted individuals. It has shown that the system, while varied, is rigid in its operation. It leads to these gaps that don’t care about the actual happenings but about the convictions. In the prison system, there are those that are innocent and those that are guilty, that is it. There’s no in-between. I am not advocating for an in-between, but I am pointing out that it is flawed for such injustices to be so prevalent to have such extreme rates of wrongful convictions. I believe the experience that the clinic has provided me with to be very helpful and eye-opening. It has helped me to understand that while the work is difficult, both academically and mentally; it still needs to be done for the innocent and the never-ending pursuit of Justice.