Before contacting the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project about your case, please take a look at these frequently asked questions and determine if you think you are an appropriate candidate.

1. What exactly does the Innocence Project do?

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project is a non-profit organization that provides investigation and legal assistance to incarcerated people that have claims of innocence. The Project was founded in 2000 and is run through a network of attorneys and law students in the DC area. Under the supervision of attorneys, students investigate claims of innocence from prisoners. There is no cost to the prisoner for the Project’s services, although inmates may be asked to contribute to expenses related to investigation or testing. Please note the Project is not a law firm and will not act as a prisoner’s direct legal representative. Rather, the Project refers cases that meet its screening criteria to law students and/or volunteer attorneys; and, if the Project determines that the case meets its screening criteria and a voluntary attorney agrees to accept the case, then such volunteer attorney will become his or her counsel.

2. What kind of cases does the Innocence Project Take? We only investigates cases where the inmate claims to be actually innocent of the crimes for which they are incarcerated. We are a very small organization and because of our limited resources, the Project is unable to accept or represent all claims of innocence, despite their merits. In the past, cases that we have accepted are those in which there appears to be a significant chance that substantial new evidence can be found to prove one’s innocence. Typically, the best type of evidence for this purpose is new physical evidence, such as blood, hair, semen, saliva, or prints, which can be subjected to scientific testing. Other types of new evidence may be eyewitness accounts, or recantations from a victim, if such a recantation can be supported by other new evidence.

Our criteria for selecting cases include the following:

• Case Location - We take cases only from individuals wrongly convicted of a felony in state and federal courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
• New Evidence - The inmate must be making a claim of innocence based on substantial new evidence that has not been considered previously by a court. The new evidence does not have to involve DNA.
• No Other Counsel - The inmate must not be currently represented by another attorney in his of her criminal case, nor have the right to appointed counsel in the case.

3. What kind of cases does the Innocence Project NOT take?

We do not accept cases in which a person has not yet been convicted or sentenced. We do not accept cases that are still in the appeals process: direct appeals must have ended or the time for filing a direct appeal must have passed. Simply, the Project cannot provide assistance to individuals who are awaiting trial or are still pursuing their direct appeals. The Project also is unable to assist inmates who are currently represented in their criminal case by another attorney or still have access to a public defender. The Project does not take cases in which a person is only claiming that his or her rights were violated–there must be a possibility of developing evidence that can actually prove innocence. Because of the difficulty of proving innocence in certain types of cases, the program usually cannot help in the following situations: (1) where a defendant admits to killing (or assaulting) someone, but claims that it was done in self-defense; (2) where a defendant admits to sexual contact with a person, but claims that the person consented to the contact; (3) where a defendant was convicted as an accessory (or as a party-to-the-crime) and seeks to show that he or she did not play a major role in the crime. The Project does not assist inmates in filing civil suits, gathering legal research, appealing to the parole board, provide attorney referrals, or any other issues unrelated to their actual innocence.

4. What if my case is not from Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia?

Unfortunately, we are unable to assist inmates from any other jurisdictions. There is, however, a network of similar Innocence Projects across the country. However, not all Innocence Projects have the same criteria for new cases. You should either visit their websites or contact them directly to determine whether your case would meet their qualifications. To find an Innocence Project that most directly serves a particular state, please see list of Innocence Projects by state . Although not every state is served by a specific innocence project (and some projects serve multiple jurisdictions), The Innocence Project at the Cardozo School of Law in New York City considers cases from all states where DNA evidence may be used to prove one’s innocence.

5. What if my case involves DNA testing?

DNA test results can provide strong evidence of one’s innocence. HOWEVER, DNA test results can also provide additional proof of one’s guilt. If DNA tests are performed in your case and they fail to exclude you as the perpetrator of the crime, that evidence may hurt your chances on direct appeal or on a post-conviction relief (habeas) motion. Further, DNA test results that fail to exclude you may have very negative consequences if and when you appear before a parole board. We encourage you to honestly evaluate your case as you complete this questionnaire. Consider whether, by asking for DNA testing, you could be creating additional evidence that may hurt rather then help your chance for exoneration and release.