Innocence Program
In the Boston College Innocence Program, students study the problem of erroneous convictions and work to remedy and prevent these injustices. Clinic students and faculty represent individuals wrongly convicted in Massachusetts for crimes they did not commit and collaborate with public, private, and nonprofit partners in litigation and public policy reforms.
Our Clinic focuses on cases involving complex factual investigation as well as work with scientific and forensic experts. We co-counsel with the Committee for Public Counsel Services Innocence program and with other attorneys and we also accept cases even where no other counsel is appointed and even if no DNA evidence is available to prove factual innocence.
As part of the Innocence Program, students:
- Evaluate cases of individuals who maintain they did not commit the crimes for which they were convicted and punished
- Represent individuals seeking relief from wrongful conviction or access to scientific testing of physical evidence to prove their innocence
- Plan and conduct factual investigations, including witness interviews
- Work with scientific experts, forensic witnesses, and crime labs
- Draft motions, supporting affidavits, and memoranda in support of motions for forensic testing and post-conviction relief
- Prepare for and participate in judicial proceedings
- Write amicus briefs on issues relating to wrongful convictions
- Engage with faculty and graduate students from Psychology and Social Work on breaking edge on multidisciplinary research to inform public policy
The BC Innocence Program's experiential placements are enriched by two classroom components:
- A weekly experiential seminar devoted to skills training and ethical and professional discernment
- The Wrongful Convictions Seminar, in which students study the problem of erroneous convictions from academic and multidisciplinary perspectives and write and present their own research papers
The BCIP also provides undergraduate internships and public education and attorney training programs highlighting the latest in the field.
Featured Stories
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The Innocence Whisperers
The BCIP and co-counsel Chauncey Wood successfully moved to vacate Christopher “Omar” Martinez's murder conviction and secure his release from wrongful incarceration after 20 years.
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Public Education & Legislative Reform
Professor Sharon Beckman and BCIC students from the Law School and the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work did research, legislative drafting, and public education that helped amend MGL 258D to expediate and increase the compensation for the wrongly convicted in MA. They highlighted these efforts on Wrongful Convictions Day.
Read the story in BC Law Magazine
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Darrell Jones
Jones was released in 2017 and exonerated in 2019 after serving 32 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. BC Innocence Clinic students helped to vacate Jones’s conviction.
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Frederick Clay
Clay was released and exonerated in 2017 after serving 38 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. BCIP externs worked with the CPCS Innocence Program on an effort that led to the Suffolk County DA’s office agreeing to move to vacate the conviction and dismiss the case.
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"I've Already Forgiven You"
Thanks to the Innocence Program, exonerations are becoming commonplace, but there is nothing at all common about the relationship between wrongly convicted Dennis Maher and the prosecutor who put him behind bars.
“ The BC Innocence Clinic was by far the most gratifying educational and professional opportunity I have ever had. ”