Course Details

Description:

Students in the Innocence Project Clinic will work in conjunction with the Innocence Project of Minnesota. In the clinic, students will investigate claims of actual innocence being made by inmates in Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. Students begin working a claim by obtaining primary source material—police reports, forensic reports, court pleadings, transcripts, appellate briefs, and opinions. At that point, many students will have the opportunity to talk to the trial and appellate attorneys who had previously worked on the case.

After reviewing all of the source material, if the case still appears to be a viable one, the students will often visit the inmate in prison, giving them an opportunity to meet the inmate in person and question them about their claim. Students will also search for new evidence, and may visit crime scenes and interview witnesses. Students will be expected to prepare written summaries of what they do, and to present and discuss those experiences during class.