It is with great sadness that MAIP announces the death of Larry Fowlkes in his prison cell on Saturday, May 10, 2008.  Mr. Fowlkes died, apparently of natural causes, after waiting four long years for Governor Warner, then Governor Kaine, to act on his clemency petition, filed on his behalf on May 18, 2004, by lawyers recruited by the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (“MAIP”).     In 1995, Mr. Fowlkes was convicted of murder, attempted murder, and robbery, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.  No physical evidence or eyewitness connected Mr. Fowlkes to the crime.  Moreover, thirteen witnesses – including…

On April 22, 2004, former prosecutor and current University of Richmond School of Law professor Corinna Lain published a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch urging the release of the Norfolk Four.  Drawing from her own experience in unwittingly persuading an innocent defendant to plead guilty to a crime he had not committed, Ms. Lain asks not only that the Norfolk Four be released, but that we as a society learn from their experience and implement reforms, such as the videotaping of police interrogations, designed to reduce the possibility of wrongful convictions.  To read the piece, click here.  

On April 13, 2008, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article discussing the progress of Virginia's Old Case Testing Project.  MAIP Executive Director Shawn Armbrust is quoted in the article.  To read it, click here.

On July 15, MAIP will host its first annual Awards Luncheon. We will be honoring former Virginia Governor and current Senate candidate Mark Warner for his extraordinary contribution to the cause of justice. The event will be held at a downtown DC hotel. We expect that this will be an exciting event for lawyers and summer associates to attend. For more information, please follow the link below.