Ohio Innocence Project

06/02/2026

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King has spoken twice at OIP events in recent years. The case at the heart of the book which won him his , "Devil In The Grove," has now resulted in the State of Florida approving for the descendants of the Groveland Four, young victims from a notorious case from the 1940s. King's efforts helped renew interest in the case, and led to the state in 2021 overturning the convictions in the case.

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06/01/2026

Weddings are natural times for reunions, and here's one from Saturday that brought to mind events that literally changed the lives for all involved. From left in the first photo are OIP co-founder and director Mark Godsey, former Columbus Dispatch reporters Geoff Dutton and Mike Wagner and OIP client Raymond Towler. They were gathered at the reception to celebrate the marriage of Raymond to his long-time girlfriend Kelly McLaughlin, which took place late last fall.

Raymond served 29 years for a crime he did not commit until being in 2010. testing showed he was not the perpetrator of the crime. He was legally entitled by Ohio law to such testing all along, but the state wasn't processing such requests. Learning of that became the seed for an award-winning five-part series produced by Geoff and Mike called "Test of Convictions" where they examined cases of many Ohio inmates and came up with a list of 30 who were entitled to such testing whose cases looked most promising. OIP brought its expertise in helping partner with the reporters on the series. Of those 30, the tests proved seven had been wrongfully convicted, including three that were OIP clients. Another one of those three men, OIP client Robert McClendon, was also at Saturday's reception. It has been nearly 20 years since their project began, making Saturday's reunion a great opportunity for catching up and remembering all the hard work years ago that helped make such an evening possible in 2026.

06/01/2026

Deserving of special mention in a separate post from Sunday's OIP festivities in Euclid were moments of recognition and true appreciation by OIP clients on hand for, at top, Dr. Donna Mayerson, and in the second photo, Sarah Nix, who both do so much to help in so many ways with our client community. Dr. Mayerson serves as OIP's Clinical Director and through her experiences has made herself into one of top experts in the country in understanding and treating the issues that all individuals who have endured it face after . Sarah Nix joined OIP in 2024 as our Client Support Specialist, and very quickly became a resource that our clients knew they could rely on to help deal with a broad range of issues.

Clients pictured here that joined in celebrating the difference these two professionals make in their lives included Dean Gillispie, Raymond Towler, Al Cleveland, Robert McClendon, Willie Knighten, Lorenzo Vasquez, Chris Miller, Charles Jackson, Eric Brunner, Marty Levingston and Eugene Johnson.

A broad range of emotions are represented among our client experiences, and Donna and Sarah are key components in helping everyone with matters both big and small. Most of all, though, Sunday was about an expression of sheer joy and appreciation for what these two professionals have done to help so many!

06/01/2026

What a terrific early summer day was enjoyed by a number of OIP clients, staff, supporters and their families on Sunday at Sweet Roz's Ice Cream Shop in , Ohio, now open for its second year of operations under OIP client Charles Jackson and his wife Roz. Charles really rolled out the red carpet to maker sure everyone was well-fed and well-entertained. Among the reasons behind celebrating the day were recent within the OIP community between OIP client Raymond Towler and his wife Kelly, OIP client Lorenzo Vasquez and his wife Danielle, and Charles and his wife Roz. If you find yourself with a sweet tooth in northeast Ohio this summer, stop by and visit Charles and Roz at their shop on E. 260th St., just a little more than half a mile south of Lake Erie and 10 miles northeast of downtown Cleveland.

05/30/2026

The three men in Philadelphia this week after nearly 30 years of were interviewed Friday by ABC News. Hear what they had to say about their experiences and what's ahead in the link here.

After spending nearly 30 years in prison, three men in Philadelphia were exonerated in a 1997 murder case and released after a judge vacated their convictions.

05/29/2026

OIP co-founder and director Mark Godsey is one of 24 leading figures in the movement featured in a new book, "Champions of Innocence: Inside the Fight Against Wrongful Convictions," edited by Saul Kassin, perhaps the leading expert on the subject of false confessions. The chapter written by Godsey deals with the mental health strains that come with those involved in battles to help the .

Others featured in the book include Innocence Project co-founders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, exoneree-turned-organizational leader Jarrett Adams, CBS "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty and exoneree Amanda Knox. Best-selling author John Grisham provides the book's introduction.

The book is published by Globe Pequot Publishing Group, with more information directly accessible at: https://www.globepequot.com/9781493093823/champions-of-innocence/

05/28/2026

Seems simple enough: "Jurors are not scientists. And because they rely on experts to translate complex evidence into clear conclusions, it is essential that any presented evidence is grounded in sufficient facts, reliable principles and sound methodology." This expert column explains the dangers of junk science, a leading contributor to . It particularly makes the point of why it is essential that the Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which bars many disproven methodologies of the past, needs to be mandated in all state court proceedings, as well.

The lessons of the FBI failures in microscopic hair and bloodstain pattern analyses are clear.

05/28/2026

Congratulations to our friends up in at the Cooley Law School Innocence Project on celebrating their 25th . This story does an excellent job demonstrating the kind of impact they've made.

The first thing Dell Crawford did when he got out of prison in March was go to the gas station and pick up a Milky Way candy bar. He had been serving a 20 to 40-year sentence for a murder he did no…

05/27/2026

Huge news out of , as work by the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and the Conviction Integrity Unit of the district attorney's office has led to three men being and freed after nearly 30 years in prison. Rasheed Turner and Jermal Shuler were freed Tuesday and Marc Brittingham was released this morning.

No physical or forensic evidence tied the men to the crime. They were convicted on the testimony of a lone eyewitness with credibility problems, with the medical examiner's office also presenting testimony that the murder of the elderly victim took place 24 hours earlier than testing now shows that it did. "They were robbed of a fair trial. Their conviction has no integrity," Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said. "The only witness in the case, who actually put these men close to this woman who was murdered, is a known liar."

Three men are being released from prison after a judge overturned their convictions for the 1997 murder of 73-year-old Essie May Thomas.

05/27/2026

Please join us in sending along best wishes to our OIP client Nancy Smith, who is celebrating a birthday today.

This touching photo comes from a visit several years she made to Ohio University and our OIP-u Ohio University Chapter there. After speaking, the woman on the right, a retiree from Ohio U., came up to Nancy to talk about how moved she was by her story. Nancy's was one of those cases that prove that a can happen to anyone -- in her case, a bus driver for the Head Start program who fell victim to false accusations by parents ultimately looking for a lawsuit payout. She lost 15 irreplaceable years of her freedom at a time when she should have been home with her own kids.

From all of us at OIP, , Nancy!