INJUSTICE SYSTEM
More than 3,300 innocent Americans have been imprisoned unjustly, then exonerated, since 1989. Some spent decades behind bars. Lawyers’ work in one such case led to the California Innocence Project being founded in 1999 to help support and free people who
I’ll never forget sitting across the table from Guy Miles in the visitation room at San Quentin State Prison. It was Oct. 27, 2016, and I was a law student interning for the California Innocence Project, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to getting innocent people out of prison.
Guy told me the story of the trial that led to his wrongful conviction on a robbery charge. He told me how every day he rode the jail bus to and from court, he would think to himself, “Today they’ll figure it out. Today the jury will see that it wasn’t me.” The jury never did.
Next to Guy on that bus and throughout the court proceedings was a co-defendant who had told Guy he was innocent, too. He was not.
At the time of our San Quentin meeting, Guy had been incarcerated — and trying to prove his innocence — for 18 years. The California Innocence Project had begun working on Guy’s case long before I got there, and it had just obtained conclusive evidence of his innocence. Dozens of students had been assigned to his case prior to my arrival. I had the honor of being the last.
When I saw Guy walk out of prison after serving 18 years for a crime he did not commit,
my life changed, too.
After law school, I became an attorney at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office. My involvement with the California Innocence Project, and in Guy’s case in particular, profoundly impacted the way I look at cases as an attorney. As a public defender, I am in the trenches, and my main priorities are to ensure my clients receive a fair trial and to prevent wrongful convictions such as Guy’s.
Defense attorneys always say the hardest clients to have are the innocent ones. That is where the stakes are much higher. One is not simply trying to make sure the prosecution does not overcharge or overprosecute the person, but is trying to make sure people never get convicted of something they didn’t do in the first place. Their literal lives are in our hands.
At the California Innocence Project, I was also able to see firsthand how important a trial is and the aftermath it can have on innocent clients and their families. Guy’s case specifically taught me to look at every case with an open mind. It taught me that a witness identifying a person does not mean that person committed the crime. It taught me that having a previous criminal record does not make a person guilty. It taught me that the repercussions of sending someone to prison, especially for a life sentence, are immeasurable for those who are convicted and their families.
Many times in cases involving co-defendants, the prosecutor relays a plea offer that is a “package deal,” meaning that all co-defendants must plead guilty or the prosecution will not accept a plea from anyone. With this type of offer, the message is clear — the prosecution believes that if one co-defendant is guilty, then the rest are as well. I saw firsthand in Guy’s case that this is not always the case.
Throughout Guy’s case, his co-defendant claimed he was innocent, knowing he was not and that Guy was. He let Guy go down for a crime he knew Guy didn’t commit. Now, whenever I can, I argue against “package deals” or argue to sever co-defendant trials because they can cause unfair prejudice to a client.
The impact that the California Innocence Project had on me not only as an attorney but as a person will stay with me forever. One day I hope to go back to working on wrongful conviction cases because it is one of the most rewarding experiences to see an innocent person walk out of prison. For now, I use my experience and education from my internship to defend those accused of a crime, innocent or not. I stand confident every day in the trenches knowing I have the tools the California Innocence Project taught me in my back pocket.