Duke Law Innocence Project

02/22/2022

Voices of Innocence, the official podcast of the Duke Law Innocence Project, tells the stories of the wrongfully convicted. On our first episode, 26 Years of College, we sit down with Dontae Sharpe, who was convicted of a murder he did not commit as a young man and spent 24 years in prison before being exonerated, as well as Theresa Newman, a co-director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke. We discuss Dontae’s early life in Greenville, North Carolina and his experience with the criminal justice system, as well as what drew Professor Newman to Dontae’s case. Episode 1 is out today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts!

04/14/2021

Check out the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic on "Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 101: Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic – Case of Junior Chandler"! Listen as five students and faculty members from the Clinic discuss "massive injustice and the efforts underway to free Mr. Chandler."

It was the 80s, and child s*x cases and ritual cult cases were the paranoia. As the petitioners put it, at "the time in which the allegations arose - what

01/21/2021

Fantastic news! Willie George Shaw, wrongfully incarcerated for nearly six years for a crime he did not commit, has been exonerated and released from prison! This is the Wrongful Conviction Clinic’s 10th exoneration. Check out the article below!

News PUBLISHED:January 19, 2021 SHARE THIS STORY Exoneration of Willie Shaw marks 10th secured by Wrongful Convictions Clinic Heading Willie George Shaw was released on Jan. 19 after serving nearly six years in prison following an Alford plea for a crime he didn’t commit. Steven Dallas ’21, Mega...

10/01/2020

Join us TODAY at 12:30pm for Wrongful Convictions Day: The Exoneration of Ronnie Long with Professor Jamie Lau. Ronnie Long himself will be joining us on Zoom to discuss his wrongful conviction and the Duke Law Innocence Project's role is his release 44 years later.

Zoom link: https://duke.zoom.us/j/93644012673

07/30/2020

Check out this new podcast about Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic client Ronnie Long

07/17/2020

Be sure to check out Professor Jamie Lau on CBS This Morning tomorrow at 7:30am, when he will discuss the Ronnie Long case

07/15/2020

An op-ed written by the faculty advisors of the Duke Law Innocence Project demands that the governor of North Carolina take actions that reflect his words

In a few months, Gov. Roy Cooper could set an unfortunate record. Unless he takes action soon, he will become the first North Carolina governor in more than 40 years to complete a term without granting clemency to a single person, which includes sentence commutations and pardons of forgiveness or in...

04/21/2020

This is the official YouTube Channel for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

12/05/2019

A federal lawsuit filed in Raleigh seeks damages for Charles Ray Finch, who spent 43 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit in 1976 during the corruption of Sheriff Robin Pridgen and his deputies.

11/17/2019

Today we held our annual Thanksgiving celebration with Duke Law Innocence Project and Wrongful Convictions Clinic student members and attorneys, as well as some of our incredible clients and their families and friends. We were blessed to have two of Duke Law Innocence Project's newest exonerees, Mr. Charles Ray Finch and Mr. Dontae Sharpe, with us. Mr. Scott Pierpoint, a 2010 Duke Law Innocence Project exoneree, and Mr. Darryl Howard, a 2016 Innocence Project exoneree, also joined us for the occasion.

11/12/2019

Duke Law Innocence Project client Ronnie Long has been wrongfully incarcerated for more than 43 yrs. He's missed birthdays, weddings, graduations, and funerals all because the State will not admit it was wrong.

This is from the Generation Why Podcast: "Ronnie Long. April 25, 1976. Concord, North Carolina. A man enters a home through an upstairs window and rapes

09/12/2019

So happy that Dontae Sharpe is finally free, but his recognition as the 2,491st exoneree is staggering. So much injustice and loss. We have to do better.

2491st EXONERATION: “My momma always told me if you didn't do something, don't own up to it. Don't say you did it."

Dontae Sharpe spent over 24 years in prison for a 1995 murder in NC that he did not commit. Sharpe rejected several plea offers that would have given him a lesser sentence. He was exonerated in Aug. after the principal witness recanted and a medical examiner said the victim's wounds weren't consistent with the trial testimony. —w/ Duke Law Innocence Project. Continue reading: http://bit.ly/2khAvhZ

📸 Deborah Griffin/The Daily Reflector