OK- Oklahoma City University Law School will work to free not guilty

10-18-2009 Oklahoma:

Students to get court experience in exoneration cases

The Oklahoma City University School of Law is working on an endeavor to help free the wrongly convicted and give its students practical experience in the criminal justice system.

The clinical program will allow law students to work on cases of imprisoned, convicted criminals whom they believe may be not guilty.

The clinic will be patterned after about 30 others that already exist at law schools nationwide, said Lawrence Hellman, dean of the university’s law school.

Hellman said the need is great in Oklahoma for this type of work.

"Between 1996 and 2003, there were 10 exonerations in this state based on DNA evidence,” Hellman said.

"Oklahoma ranks in the top 10 for exonerations nationwide, which means we rank in the top 10 for wrongful convictions.”

Law students are offered classes that are theory driven, but clinics like this one give students an opportunity to experience practicing law, said Josh Snavely, president of OCU’s student bar association.

"I think any student would benefit from this, no matter what kind of law they intend to practice when they graduate,” Snavely said.

"Clinics like this give us a chance to get our feet wet and see how the law actually impacts people’s lives.”

Students would earn course credit for their work and be supervised by a licensed attorney, Hellman said. They would solely consider Oklahoma cases that have exhausted their appeals, and likely take on a few each year, he said.

University officials say the clinic will not be launched until they’ve raised enough proceeds to operate it for five years.

Their fundraising effort included a public appearance this week by best-selling author John Grisham. Grisham spoke about his nonfiction work "The Innocent Man,” the story of Ron Williamson, a former Ada resident who spent more than a decade on death row for a murder he didn’t commit.

The clinic is expected to cost about $250,000 annually to operate. It would include the salary for an instructor and expenses such as court costs and investigator fees incurred when taking on cases of this magnitude, Hellman said. Hellman said their intention is not to shut down the criminal justice system, but find ways to improve it.

"We don’t believe the system is bad or evil, but we know, like any human institution, it is imperfect,” Hellman said. "We want to help correct the few but still significant mistakes that occur.” ..Source.. by ANN KELLEY