UC Law Students Celebrate Release of Innocent Prisoner

The Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) today earned the first exoneration in its young history, helping Clarence Elkins gain freedom after seven years in state prison and in time to spend Christmas 2005 with his family.

The OIP, staffed by University of Cincinnati law students and based out of the Rosenthal Institute for Justice at the UC College of Law, learned today that the prosecutor in Summit County, Ohio, has decided to dismiss all charges against Elkins, who had been serving a life sentence in a 1998 murder/rape case in Barberton, Ohio.

He is scheduled for release from the penitentiary in Mansfield, Ohio, this afternoon.

"As you can imagine, everyone is ecstatic about this," said Un Kyong Ho, one of the students who worked on Elkins’ case. "This couldn’t come at a better time, right before the holidays."

"The chance to work on the Innocence Project was something that actually drew me to Cincinnati in the first place," added Megan Anderson. "To know we took part in freeing an innocent man is just an amazing feeling."

The OIP first began reviewing cases at the UC College of Law in the fall of 2003. It took on Elkins’ case in the spring of 2004, and now, 18 months later – after an appeal and then development of new DNA evidence – he will be a free man.

"This is a phenomenal thing that has happened today," said Jenny Carroll, staff attorney for the OIP. The average time nationally for an exoneration process to play out in an Innocence Project case is more than five years, she said. "With the amount of cases that are reviewed and the time that requires, things rarely move quickly. Ironically, this took 7-and-a-half years (from imprisonment) to reach this point, yet this was a quick result."

It was nice too, because it allowed the students who started work on the case last year to still be around to witness its conclusion.

"The opportunity the Innocence Project and the university provides these students to do this work, and see this outcome, is amazing," Carroll said. "I can’t think of any other word that really describes it."

Students Scott Evans and David Laing initially worked in reviewing Elkins’ case last year. They helped review evidence in looking for DNA opportunities that might allow for opportunities for Elkins to clear his name.

Un Kyong Ho and Megan Anderson worked in helping to prepare an appeal of Elkins’ conviction that was argued last spring. Another current law student, Michele Berry, has been working on the case as part of UC's Appellate Law clinic. Also gaining experience from the Elkins case were two 2005 graduates, Andy Thompson and Carrie Chavez Thompson, who have since married and are now working in Missouri as judicial clerks. 

"The whole thing was really great," said Evans of his experience. "We had the experience of meeting with Clarence, and saw his religious transformation while in prison. He’s a great guy, as is his wife and two sons. They’re all great people."

"This is why the support of donors like the Rosenthals is so important," said Carroll. "In an era when budget cuts are hurting public defender staffs and cutting back the number of investigators working in police departments, efforts like the Innocence Project take on even greater importance in the pursuit of justice."

A large number of contributors from the legal community also worked to help with the Elkins case. Lead counsel for the case were Mark Godsey, associate professor of law and faculty director of UC's Innocence Project, and attorney Jana DeLoach of Akron. 

Many members of the legal field provided pro bono assistance on the case, including lawyers from Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, led by Pierre Bergeron, who also leads UC's Appellate Law clinic, and attorneys from the New York firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Significant investigative work for the case was contributed by Columbus-based private investigator Martin Yant.