Ohio Innocence Project

OIP's annual fundraiser was last night, featuring special guest speaker Sister Helen Prejean. Here's a nice pre-dinner group shot outside the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati that includes 12 of the 43 clients OIP has helped free in our 22 years of existence, with Sister Helen near the center in front in the white top with a black jacket. From left are: Richard Rosenthal, who with his late wife Lois gave the founding gift for the Rosenthal Institute for Justice, the umbrella organization that OIP is part of; OIP clients RuEl Sailor, Michael Sutton, Robert McClendon and Laurese Glover; Sister Helen Prejean; OIP clients Larry Vasquez, Marty Levingston, Nancy Smith, Marcus Sapp, Karl Willis and Al Cleveland; University of Cincinnati College of Law Dean Haider Ala Hamoudi; and OIP clients Richard Horton and Dean Gillispie. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last night’s dinner and to our OIP supporters everywhere!

We hope to see you there! Go to https://lnkd.in/g2SzAyGN to register.

It is with deep sadness we share the news of the passing of our OIP client Jerry McMeans on Thursday evening. Jerry lost 31 years before being freed in 2020. In prison, he had become friends with OIP client Dean Gillispie, who shared the details of Jerry's conviction with OIP. Former OIP staff attorney Jennifer Bergeron took the lead in the fight to free Jerry, who also gained an ally in OIP client Robert McClendon, who was from Jerry's hometown of Columbus and who was able to make then-Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien aware of the many problems in Jerry's case. In the years since his release, Jerry was surrounded by a strong support system anchored by the OIP community, especially Dean and Robert. He was able to attend the national Innocence Network conference in 2022. Rest in peace to a good man who endured so much.

We are looking for a Program Coordinator to join our team! https://lnkd.in/gkWhvsKA

News about Alfred Cleveland! https://lnkd.in/enSPMFiy

Today is the 10th anniversary of Nov. 21, 2014, a day that it's no overstatement to call one of the most significant days for #justice in #Ohio legal history. It was the day that OIP client Rickey Jackson once again became a free man after serving more time in #wrongfulimprisonment -- 39 years, three months and nine days -- than anyone in known U.S. legal history to that point. Rickey and his friends, brothers Wiley and Ronnie Bridgeman, were all #wrongfullyconvicted of murder in #Cleveland and sent to #deathrow in 1975 on coerced witness testimony from a scared 12-year-old kid. Their death sentences were later commuted. Ronnie, who changed his name to Kwame Ajamu while in prison, was paroled in 2003. Wiley was paroled in 2002, but a fluke run-in with the witness from the case was deemed a parole violation, and he was returned to prison after a few weeks of freedom, where he remained until also gaining his release on Sept. 21, 2014. OIP's investigative work into the case helped set the stage for freedom for the brothers, as well. (Tragically, Wiley Bridgeman passed away in 2021 at age 66.) It's almost impossible to imagine what the ordeal was like for Rickey, Wiley and Kwame. In the decade since his #exoneration, Rickey has continued to amaze those around him with his grace and strength. He married and became stepfather to the three children of his wife, Clarissa, and then on Father's Day 2020, Rickey and Clarissa became parents of a daughter they named Lovely Jackson. Theirs is a case that should never be forgotten about when discussing how and why cases of injustice can happen in our state. With that in mind as a goal, all of us at OIP join with so many other friends and well-wishers in sending out our warmest thoughts to Rickey on this, the 10th anniversary of his Freedom Day.

Congrats to OIP Clinical Professor of Law Brian Howe, whose 10-year anniversary with the project was celebrated today! An OIP Fellow himself while a student at the University of Cincinnati College of Law , he has worked tirelessly on dozens of cases in the name of #justice for OIP clients in the last decade. On behalf of so many, thanks for all you do, Brian! #Ohio #innocence

The digital version of the OIP Annual Review magazine is now available for online access! Check out feature stories about our project, including a cover story on the efforts of OIP client Willie Knighten, Jr., to help his hometown of Toledo. Read online: https://lnkd.in/gcCqyHN2

Today is a bittersweet day at OIP, as we bid farewell in working for the project to our friend and colleague Jennifer Bergeron. Read the tribute below from OIP co-founder and director Mark Godsey and take five minutes to watch the video tribute from all the clients she has freed, the OIP Fellows she has influenced and friends she has made to get even a small sense of the kind of impact she has made over the last 16 years of what is truly a never-ending battle. Jennifer is transitioning to another role on the University of Cincinnati College of Law faculty, so it's not truly saying goodbye, but no mere post in words could do justice in fully expressing our project's gratitude for everything she has accomplished for us. Thank you, Jennifer! From Mark Godsey: Jennifer Bergeron spent more than 16 years at OIP fighting uphill to free innocent men and women from Ohio's prisons. She was an inspiration to and example for all of us, particularly her students. Today is her last day at OIP, but luckily for our students she is staying at UC Law as a Professor of Practice. Please watch the video below to experience some of the highlights of Jennifer's career and the impact she has had on so many. Jennifer, thank you for your years of effort fighting gut-wrenching injustice. You made a huge difference in the lives of many. You will be missed. 😭 https://lnkd.in/gbZ5H6XF

As we await the next edition of the OIP Review, we thought we would share the edition that celebrated our 20th anniversary! https://lnkd.in/gztnjvCC