The State
JUSTICE
Mission: Exoneration The Oklahoma Innocence Project works countless hours – for free – to reverse wrongful convictions.
W THE NIGHT OF INNOCENCE FUNDRAISER AT OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY’S SCHOOL OF LAW INCLUDED GUEST SPEAKERS PERRY LOTT (LEFT) AND DE’MARCHOE CARPENTER, BOTH ASSISTED BY THE OKLAHOMA INNOCENCE PROJECT. PHOTO COURTESY THE OKLAHOMA INNOCENCE PROJECT
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rongful convictions are not easy to overturn, even when the defense has DNA evidence on its side. Five to seven years is a typical timetable for working toward exoneration, says Vicki Behenna, executive director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project, which tries to reverse wrongful convictions in the state. “We call it the innocence movement,” says Behenna, who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. “It has
OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | APRIL 2019
gained traction over the past five years. People are beginning to be educated and understand there are innocent people in prison.” Founded in 2011, the Oklahoma Innocence Project is affiliated with the Oklahoma City University School of Law and receives private donations. Students enrolled in the project’s clinic classes are assigned cases, and the nonprofit relies on about 160 volunteers, including practicing attorneys and laboratory specialists. Undergraduate and law school students from the University of Oklahoma also help.
“Since it opened, we’ve had over 1,500 requests for assistance,” says Behenna, adding that as of February, “we have 460 pending review and four in active litigation.” Some students, such as Gunner Briscoe, choose the law school because of the clinic. “After learning about how people who don’t have a lot of money get screwed in the justice system, I felt called to help them,” says the Bixby native, a second-year law student. Briscoe’s assignments include researching courthouse and police records; he is assigned to two murder
