Students at the University of Illinois Springfield have helped a southern Illinois man, who was convicted murder in 1988, get a new trial.
The students, who are part of the Illinois Innocence Project, reviewed Anthony Murray's case, interviewed him, and attended a June 2012 hearing challenging his conviction. A judge has since ruled Murray's conviction be vacated due to ineffective representation. That means his conviction has been overturned and a new trial will take place.
"This is something not a lot of undergraduate students get to do," Rebecca Jo Luke, a UIS Student said. "We are one of the only projects that allows undergraduates to get involved in investigation, I've had the opportunity to go with an investigator and talk with witnesses, working with legal documents gives me a lot of hands on experience."
The Innocence Project is currently reviewing 25 cases to see if evidence points to a wrongful conviction.
The case was featured by WICS-TV on September 6, 2012.
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