In January 2001, the Thomas M. Cooley Law School initiated an Innocence Project for the State of Michigan. The mission of the Project is to identify , obtain legal assistance for, and secure the release of persons who are wrongfully imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. Presently the Project is focusing on and giving first priority to those cases in which DNA test results could establish a person's innocence.

The Cooley Innocence Project operates as a law school clinic in which the students work with practicing criminal defense lawyers to seek the release of wrongfully convicted prisoners in the State of Michigan. The Project screens post-conviction cases for strong evidence of factual innocence and assigns appropriate cases to volunteer criminal defense attorneys. The Cooley Project has organized a group of over 160 criminal defense practitioners state-wide to take Project cases into court on a pro bono basis. Cooley Law School students, under faculty supervision, work directly on the Project and are intricately involved in various aspects of the program such as creating screening procedures, reviewing case files, applying screening devices, investigating facts, interviewing involved persons, writing case histories, doing case analysis and preparing written case evaluations. Then, as cases are selected for assignment, students are assigned to assist attorneys in the form of a blended intern/externship program.

The Innocence Project has established case intake criteria. We are seeking to assist those persons:

• who claim actual innocence in that they did not commit the crime for which they were convicted
• are serving a substantial sentence in prison in the State of Michigan and,
• whose innocence could be established by DNA testing of biological evidence that was collected during the course of the criminal investigation of their case, or whose conviction would be materially affected by newly discovered evidence which was not known and not available through due diligence at the time of trial and which would likely result in exoneration.

If a person meets these criteria, a simple letter to The Cooley Innocence Project requesting our assistance is all that is necessary to begin the process. At this stage, no other court papers, documents, transcripts, or other written material should be sent. We will review each request for assistance and contact the applicant when we are able to proceed on their matter. Because of the large number of requests for assistance, it may take some time for our response.