What We Do
Case memos are presented during case review sessions attended by school faculty advisors, Center representatives, and project students. Case disposition (to close the case or continue the investigation) is determined at these meetings.
The Center receives an average of 1,000 inmate inquiries each year and carries an average active case load of 130 cases.
I. Cases We Take
To qualify for review by the Center, an inmate’s claim must meet the following criteria:
1. Claimant was convicted of a felony that was committed in North Carolina.
2. Claimant is asserting a credible claim of innocence.
3. Claimant is claiming complete actual innocence, i.e. they did not commit or have any involvement in the crime.
4. Claimant is currently incarcerated.
5. Claimant no longer has an appeal of right.
6. Claimant is not serving a sentence for any other conviction for which they are not claiming innocence.
7. Claimant is currently unrepresented.
8. There is the possibility of some new evidence that has not previously been presented at trial or heard in a post-conviction motion that can be uncovered through investigation.
The Center can not expend our limited resources to assist inmates with legal research or appeals
II. Submitting Cases to the Center
Claims of innocence can be submitted by anyone – family members, attorneys, friends, witnesses, a private citizen, etc. If you know of an inmate who is claiming innocence or may have been wrongfully convicted, please write the Center or print out the questionnaires and release below and forward them to the inmate for completion and mailing to:
The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence
PO Box 52446 Shannon Plaza Station
Durham, North Carolina 27717-2446
All inmates making an innocence claim must fill out the Case, Police, and Physical/Biological Evidence questionnaires. In addition, all inmates must fill out the Consent for Release of Information Form.
Additional forms must be filled out if the inmate took a Guilty Plea and/or if his or her conviction(s) involved Child Abuse.
Note: The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence (including all its affiliated Innocence Projects® and individuals) reviews cases for the sole purpose of investigating claims of actual innocence. The Center does not act as legal counsel to any person whose case is being investigated, until and unless the Center, through its legal counsel or her designees, specifically agrees in writing to take on such representation. The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence is a separate entity from the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
III. Review & Investigation of Cases
If the information presented in the questionnaires and initial supplemental materials meets the screening criteria, the case is assigned to student volunteers at one of the Innocence Projects®. The volunteers analyze the information provided and other information that may be accessible through research and write a detailed memo summarizing the case. The case is then one of many discussed with faculty advisers and fellow students at a case review meeting. Many points are considered at these meetings, but two questions underlie all discussions: “Is there credible evidence of innocence?” and “Are there avenues we can pursue to prove his or her innocence?” At least ninety percent of the cases we look at fail to answer “Yes” to both of these questions.
If both answers are affirmative for a particular case, a team of student volunteers joins with a faculty adviser to begin an exhaustive investigation of the innocence claim. We counsel patience to inmates and their families during the investigative phase as the process of gathering additional documentation; identifying, locating and interviewing witnesses; and completing many other investigative tasks can take several years.