May 24, 2006

Cooley Innocence Project Earns CDAM Award

(from left) Staff Atty Donna McKneelen, Professor Kathy Swedlow, Professor Norman Fell, and Professor Marla Mitchell-Cichon holding the Justice for All Award given to the Cooley Innocence Project the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM).

Lansing, Michigan — On Friday, May 19, The Thomas M. Cooley Law School Innocence Project was awarded the Justice for All Award by the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM). The award was given to the project for the work associated with the June 2003 DNA exoneration of Kenneth Wyniemko, a Detroit-area man falsely imprisoned in a sexual assault case, and for the project’s continuing work on behalf of Michigan prisoners.

Individuals recipients of the award include Professor Norman Fell, director of the Innocence Project; Professor Kathy Swedlow, former co-director of the Innocence Project; Donna McKneelen, former Innocence Project student and its current staff attorney; and Marla Mitchell-Cichon, Innocence Project faculty supervisor. Other recipients include F. Martin Tieber, who helped to co-found the Innocence Project with Professor Fell, and Jim Samuels, current president of the Innocence Project Commission.

According to Professor Swedlow, "The Cooley Innocence Project provides important assistance for Michigan prisoners who claim factual innocence, and also serves the general public by screening cases and only bringing the appropriate ones to court. In addition, our students learn that wrongful convictions can and do occur, and it's our hope that this training will have an effect on reducing wrongful convictions in the future. We are thrilled and grateful that CDAM has chosen to honor us for our work.”

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan: its campus in downtown Lansing, its downtown Grand Rapids campus in west Michigan and its Rochester/Oakland University campus in southeast Michigan. In addition to the Juris Doctor program, students at Cooley can also pursue a Master of Laws degree in taxation or intellectual property. Find out more about Cooley Law School by visiting the Cooley Web site at www.cooley.edu.