UIS Innocence Project gets pardon for client from Pritzker

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield announced that one of its clients, who was wrongfully convicted twice, has been pardoned by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Norman Propst, formerly of Chicago, was convicted of robbery in 1990 and of retail theft from a Borders bookstore in 1997.

“We are thrilled that the governor has granted clemency to Norman Propst for these wrongful convictions,” said John Hanlon, executive director of the Illinois Innocence Project. “So many unjust convictions have occurred to innocent young Black men in Chicago. Unfortunately, Norman suffered for that reality. We are, however, so proud of the unselfish and successful way that he has devoted himself to his community since he left Chicago."

Propst pleaded guilty in the 1990 case to avoid a possible 15-year prison sentence as his mother's health was worsening. In 1997, he pleaded guilty also to avoid prolonging the court proceedings.

Hanlon said the false convictions on Propst's record have been a barrier to Propst moving forward in his life.

This story was published in The State Journal-Register on Feb. 19, 2021.

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Amanda Knox On Access To Justice Ahead Of Headlining Innocence Project Event

The Illinois Innocence Project will host Amanda Knox at a virtual fundraiser for the organization on Thursday evening in an event billed as “Guilty Until Proven Innocent.”

The Illinois Innocence Project, based at the University of Illinois Springfield, is part of a larger network of Innocence Project organizations throughout the U.S., which aims to free the wrongfully incarcerated and prevent wrongful convictions in the first place. The Illinois Innocence Project has helped release 17 innocent men and women in Illinois, including five in 2020.

In the nine years since Amanda Knox was acquitted on appeal after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the murder of her roommate in 2007, Knox has cleared her name and now works as a journalist and speaker.

Knox’s 2013 memoir, Waiting to be Heard, details her experience with the Italian criminal justice system, including early missteps and eventually abuse in police and prosecutor conduct in the investigation into the brutal murder of Knox’s study abroad roommate Meredith Kercher.

This story aired appeared on NPR Illinois on December 9, 2020.

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Celebrate Exonerees

The Illinois Innocence Project, based at University of Illinois Springfield, is celebrating that four of its clients who began 2020 in prison will be home for Thanksgiving. Collectively, they spent 111 years wrongfully incarcerated. 

The four clients include a woman who was released in response to a plea for an expedited clemency petition ruling from the governor, which the project had requested due to the pandemic. One man was released early after the project advocated that he be set free due to good time credits. The project's longest-serving client went home after being imprisoned for 40 years. He was granted compassionate release in June due to being at high risk for COVID-19 complications. The fourth client had been convicted of killing his child in 2007. The infant was born prematurely and the project said the death was due to health issues. The man's conviction and sentence were vacated.

This story appeared in the Illinois Times on November 25, 2020.

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Illinois Innocence Project at UIS educates public on International Wrongful Conviction Day

Oct. 2 is International Wrongful Conviction Day, and the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield is raising awareness for the causes of wrongful conviction.

The Executive Director of the Illinois Innocence Project at UIS, John Hanlon, said members of the organization created a flag display on the campus quad to make a statement.

"It has a very kind of in your face, symbolic representation," Hanlon said.

The flags are more than pieces of fabric. Hanlon said they represent the lives of people who have been wrongfully imprisoned.

According to Hanlon, the black flags represent the 2,662 people who have been exonerated in the United States since 1989, while the blue flags represent the 336 people who have been exonerated in Illinois.

"The flags represent those people, who are breathing, living and moving, and who had to spend years in a box," Hanlon said.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, the people these flags represent collectively lost nearly 24,000 years of lives.

"We have more people in prison than any other country in the world," Hanlon said. "That's 2.2 million plus. If 4 percent of those people are innocent, that's a lot of people."

A student employee for the Innocence Project at UIS, Taryn Christy, said there are many causes behind wrongful imprisonment.

"I believe somewhere around 70 percent of wrongful incarcerations include some form of eyewitness misidentifications," Christy said. "False confessions are one of the biggest causes of wrongful incarceration. People always think, I would never confess to something I didn't do, but all kinds of circumstances lead people to falsely confess."

This story aired on WAND on October 2, 2020..

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Coal Valley man has murder conviction vacated thanks in part to the Illinois Innocence Project

A Coal Valley man’s 2008 murder conviction was vacated Tuesday, thanks in part to the work of the Illinois Innocence Project.

Newly discovered evidence showed that Nathaniel Onsrud was not responsible for the death of his four-month-old son. Onsrud was released from the Illinois Department of Corrections Tuesday.

Onsrud is the 15th Innocence Project client to be released or exonerated. The project, founded in 2001, is housed at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Exculpatory documents were not disclosed to defense counsel. The Rock Island County State’s Attorney’s Office supported the request of the Innocence Project and a Chicago law firm to vacate Onsrud’s conviction, though the State’s Attorney cautioned that charges against Onsrud have not been dismissed.

“Our client maintained from day one he had nothing to do with the tragic death of his infant son,” said Innocence Project Chicago Legal Director Lauren Kaeseberg. “For the past 13 years, Nathaniel has fought to clear his name and has been through the unimaginable ordeal of losing his baby and then being wrongfully convicted of murdering him.”

This article was published in The State Journal-Register on June 24, 2020.

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Innocence Project’s Hanlon named to governor’s task force

John Hanlon, the executive director of the University of Illinois Springfield’s Illinois Innocence Project, was one of 15 members named to the Governor’s Task Force on Forensic Science.

The task force was created by Gov. JB Pritzker in August. The group is tasked with analyzing the operations and oversight of critical Illinois State Police laboratories, ensuring they use the latest forensic technologies to solve crimes and protect the public, and make recommendations to the legislature and other stakeholders as forensic science continues to evolve.

 UIS is one of just two higher education institutions represented on the task force. “John Hanlon’s input on this task force will help to bolster the important work already being done by the Illinois Innocence Project,” UIS Chancellor Susan Koch said. “The project is an important part of UIS’s commitment to providing students with real-world experiences and to serving the public good.” Illinois State Police (ISP) Director Brendan Kelly will chair the task force.

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on Feb. 19, 2020.

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Indiana exoneree to speak at UIS

An Indiana woman who was convicted in 1996 of murder and arson for allegedly setting a fire that killed her three-year-old, but later had her case overturned, will speak at the University of Illinois Springfield this week.

Kristine Bunch will speak at the UIS Student Ballroom as a guest of the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) at noon on Wednesday. Bunch spent 17 years in prison until her conviction was reversed in 2012.

Two arson investigators concluded that the fire in the trailer had started in two places and that a liquid accelerant had been used to start the fire at both locations. Bunch was ultimately sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 60 years for murder and 50 years for arson. Attorneys from the Center on Wrongful Convictions later discovered that evidence about the fire being intentionally set had been fabricated.

The IIP has played a significant role in 12 exonerations since its founding as the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project at the university in 2001.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 20, 2019.

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Illinois Innocence Project case gets clemency hearing

A Chicago woman whose 1992 double murder conviction was taken up by the Springfield-based Illinois Innocence Project will have a clemency hearing before the Prisoner Review Board at the Thompson Center on Wednesday.

Marilyn Mulero’s co-defendant in the case has repeatedly confessed to being the sole murderer of Jimmy Cruz and Hector Reyes, both members of the Latin Kings gang.

Mulero originally was sentenced to death, though that sentence was later reduced to life without parole.

There have been 19 exonerations to date involving the two Chicago police detectives, Reynaldo Guevara and Ernest Halvorsen, who arrested Mulero.

The Illinois Innocence Project (IIP), which is based at the University of Illinois Springfield, has been joined by The Exoneration Project and the California Innocence Project in representing Mulero.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 8, 2019.

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As UIS marks wrongful convictions, exoneree says the fight continues

On Wednesday morning, students involved with the Illinois Innocence Project planted 2,492 small flags on the University of Illinois Springfield quad representing the number of men and women who have been exonerated of crimes since 1989.

In the middle of the display were 304 “UIS blue flags,” signifying the number of Illinois exonerees from that time.

“For me (this day) is a reminder of where I was years ago,” said Angel Gonzalez of Waukegan, who gained his freedom with the help of the Illinois Innocence Project after spending nearly 21 years in prison.

“It’s also a reminder that there are still a lot of men and women fighting to prove their innocence. It’s a joyful day, but at the same time it keeps me connected to what’s going on.”

The Illinois Innocence Project, which was founded at UIS in 2001, was one of about 50 or so innocence organizations marking International Wrongful Conviction Day, first started in 2014. 

Gonzalez, who was convicted of sexual assault 25 years ago before gaining the help of the New York-based Innocence Project and the IIP, spent Tuesday and Wednesday on campus speaking to students and staff members.

“Talking to the students is always great,” said Gonzalez. “I feel like they’re the ones who will eventually take over and make the system work and be a benefit for everybody. It brings me to meet face-to-face with those who have helped me and those who are continuing to help me.”

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 2, 2019.

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Joye Williams Endows Scholarship

In January 2019, barely seven months after completing her master’s degree in Legal Studies, Joye Williams created an endowed fund at the University of Illinois in Springfield.

The scholarship is called the Lawrence E. Williams/Dr. Larry Golden Illinois Innocence Project Scholarship Fund.

The scholarship is for individuals who were victims of a wrongful conviction, who have a felony who want to reintegrate into society by furthering their education, and /or who work with the Illinois Innocence Project.

Joye, a Waukekgan resident, works as an Ombudsman in the Public Benefits Practice Group of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago where she helps protect the rights of residents in assisted living and long-term residential care facilities.

Joye says that she was inspirited to create the scholarship because her son who has a felony record, is currently experiencing major difficulties and such a scholarship would benefit other young men and woman like him.

This story appeared in Chicago Peoples Voice in May 2019.

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Man wrongfully convicted of attempted murder exonerated after death

A wrongfully convicted Illinois man will be exonerated decades after he died in prison.

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield said the person granted clemency will be Grover Thompson, who was convicted after the 1981 death of a Mount Vernon woman.

Grover decided to rest in the lobby of a Mount Vernon post office during a bus journey to see family in Mississippi while, at the same time, a man broke into the home of 72-year-old widow Ida White, hid in her shower and stabbed her.

The Innocence Project says Lt. Paul Echols, a now-retired member of Carbondale’s police department, ended up getting a confession to the crime from Tim Krajcir, who it says was “sometimes mistaken for a dark-complexioned man”.

Krajcir has a history of sex crimes dating back decades and admitted to killing nine people, police say.

This is the first posthumous exoneration in Illinois history and the 21st nationwide.

This story aired on WAND on January 14, 2019.

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Wrongful Conviction Day

Tuesday was Wrongful Conviction Day. One of the places taking note was the quad on the University of Illinois Springfield campus.

“Sometimes there was evidence that should have been looked at that wasn’t,” says Lauren Myerscough-Mueller, a staff attorney with the UIS-based Illinois Innocence Project.

“Sometimes there’s evidence that was hidden that could have exonerated someone, but sometimes it’s very simple that there is DNA that can be tested. We have had a few exonerations based on DNA, and it’s kind of the gold standard in our kind of work.”

Black and blue flags formed a bullseye on the quad, the blue for Illinois exonerations (more than 200) and the black for those elsewhere in the U.S. (more than 2,000).

Myerscough-Mueller says the Illinois Innocence Project claims credit for eleven exonerations, with more attempts in the works.

This story was published online at WTAX News Radio on October 2, 2018.

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Making a Murderer attorney speaks at Innocence Project Fundraiser

The University of Illinois Springfield held its 11th annual Defenders of the Innocent fundraiser.

The Illinois Innocence Project thanked the University and supporters for all they do to help those who have been wrongly imprisoned.

The fundraiser also featured attorney Jerome Burting from the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer. “I'm really pleased that this is the largest turnout that they've ever had,” said Burtling, “I'm really happy for that and I’m glad for whatever part I’ve played in that. And I’m amazed at the work they do on a shoestring budget.”

Organizers say on average it takes 7 to 10 years to free an innocent person from prison, and hundreds of thousands of dollars per case.

This story aired on Fox 55 Illinois on April 28, 2018.

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Free after 22 years: Man visits UIS to thank those who exonerated him

A 61-year-old man who spent more than 22 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit said he doesn’t see any reason to be angry.

“I’m overwhelmed. I don’t think being bitter is going to help me,” William “Bill” Amor said Friday during an interview at the University of Illinois Springfield, home of the Illinois Innocence Project. 

Amor was convicted of arson and murder in connection with a Sept. 10, 1995, fire in Naperville that killed his mother-in-law.

The fire occurred in an apartment that Amor and his wife shared with his wife’s mother.

Attorneys at the Illinois Innocence Project say Amor gave a false confession after 15 hours of questioning.

Larry Golden, founding director of the Innocence Project, said that in the false confession, Amor said he poured vodka on newspapers and then used a cigarette to light the fire. “At that time, the investigators just concluded that was accurate because that was the confession,” Golden said. “And it turns out, the arson science just conclusively proved that was impossible. Even the state’s science witnesses refuted that as a possible occurrence.”

The scientific testimony resulted in a DuPage County judge vacating Amor’s conviction in April 2017. He was released from custody, but charges were re-filed and he had to sit through another trial. 

Amor was found innocent Wednesday. On Friday, he was at the UIS campus to thank the members of the Illinois Innocence Project for winning his freedom.

“I’m grateful for all the help from everybody. It’s just been wonderful. I wouldn’t be free without their help,” Amor said.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on February 23, 2018.

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Man acquitted in retrial for murder, arson in mother-in-law’s 1995 death

A former Naperville man who spent 22 years in prison for the 1995 death of his mother-in-law was found not guilty in a retrial Wednesday.

Following a seven-day bench trial, DuPage County Judge Liam C. Brennan found 61-year-old William Amor not guilty of murder and aggravated arson in connection with the death of Marianne Miceli, according to a statement from the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“This is the end of a nightmare for me,” Amor said in a statement released by the Illinois Innocence Project, which represented him. “I have fought to clear my name for the last 22 years and I am so grateful that I was able to have my day in court for the truth to be heard,” Amor said. “I am looking forward to starting the next phase of my life as a free man, no longer labeled as a murderer, for the first time in a long time.”

The Illinois Innocence Project is located at the University of Illinois Springfield.

This story appeared in The Chicago Sun-Times on February 21, 2018.

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Illinois Innocence Project Wins Grant For DNA Testing

The Illinois Innocence Project, based at the University of Illinois Springfield, has won a $641,000 grant for DNA testing intended to help exonerate wrongfully convicted inmates.

The grant will be used over the course of two years.

$200,000 of the funds must be used in DNA testing for two types of cases: potential eye witness misidentifications and false confessions.

John Hanlon, Executive Director of the Illinois Innocence Project, says DNA testing is often necessary for the cases he takes on, but also very costly. The most basic test is roughly $1,000.

“The problem is, many of these cases involve evidence that’s degraded," says Hanlon. "It’s very old so it’s degraded. When you’re dealing with degraded evidence you often have to start with the basic kind of procedures to get a DNA profile, but then they often have to go to second and third levels and every level costs more.”

The grant will also be used to pay attorney fees and fund student employment, which is vital for the project.

This story aired on NPR Illinois on November 17, 2017.

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Illinois Innocence Project honors Wrongful Conviction Day

Thousands of flags could be seen on the University of Illinois Springfield campus Monday, one for each solved wrongful conviction case.

"There are 2,096 flags there, and that's a very interesting number because just last week, when we bought those flags that was the number. Now it's over 2,100 and that's just in a few days. Each one of those flags represents a person who has been wrongfully convicted but exonerated in the United States" said John Hanlon, Executive and Legal Director of the Illinois Innocence Project.

The Illinois Innocence Project used International Wrongful Conviction Day to highlight the number of wrongful conviction cases.

"I think the public is not aware of how many people are wrongfully convicted." said Christine Ferree, a former intern, who now works for the Illinois Innocence Project.

Since it's founding, the Illinois Innocence Project has helped exonerate ten people, all with help from undergraduate interns.

"They are the ones who tackle all of that and send out response letters and forms, and all the other things that we do. Without students, we are not here. The experience that they are getting in real legal cases is irreplaceable." said Hanlon.

"It felt like I would be making the most difference here. I could get experience in other internships and might even get paid, but here you can feel like you are actually doing something." said Jaclyn Fabing, an intern at the Illinois Innocence Project.

UIS is one of only two campuses who use undergraduate students to help in exoneration cases.

This story aired on WAND News on October 2, 2017.

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Chicago-area man free on bail, gets new trial in arson case

William Amor has walked out of a suburban Chicago prison after a judge vacated his 1997 conviction on charges of arson and murder in his mother-in-law's death.

Amor, 60, of Naperville, spent the last 22 years behind bars after he was arrested in 1995 accused of intentionally igniting the 1995 Naperville fire that killed Marianne Miceli. But DuPage County Judge Liam Brennan in early April vacated Amor's conviction after considering new advances in fire science.

Amor's new trial date is Sept. 12. He is represented by the University of Illinois-Springfield's Illinois Innocence Project. Lauren Kaeseberg, legal director of the group's Chicago office, said they believe the fire was an accident and he should have never been charged.

"We are ecstatic to be here today looking up at the clouds and breathing the fresh air with Bill," she said Tuesday. "It's really great."

The story was reported by the Associated Press on May 31, 2017.

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Illinois Innocence Project honored by Decatur NAACP

Charles Palmer has thanked members of the Illinois Innocence Project hundreds of times for coming up with the DNA evidence that exonerated him from the murder he'd spent 16½ years in prison for.

On Saturday night, Palmer was present at the Decatur Hotel and Conference Center to see the Decatur community thank the Illinois Innocence Project, which became the first entity outside Decatur to win the Joe Slaw Civil Rights Award, given annually by the Decatur Branch of the NAACP.

Illinois Innocence Project Executive Director John Hanlon called Palmer and his wife Deborah Palmer to the podium as he accepted the award, but Palmer said all the credit should go to the Innocence Project staff, whom he hugged individually before leaving.

"I'm glad they're finally getting the recognition they deserve," Palmer said. "They're out there affecting people's lives for the better. They said they got this award because of me, but it's not because of me, it's because of the fight they put up for justice.

"Just to be a part of seeing them get honored, and being the first from outside of Decatur to win the award, that meant a lot to me."

The Decatur NAACP has been awarding the Slaw award for more than 30 years. Jeanelle Norman, NAACP Decatur Branch president, said it took a special circumstance to give the awards to someone outside Decatur.

"Their work gave us hope and justice, and it moved the Decatur community one giant step forward in criminal justice," Norman said. "The NAACP believes the service of the Illinois Innocence Project was of such magnitude."

Based out of the University of Illinois-Springfield, the Illinois Innocence Project's goal is to bring justice to the wrongfully convicted.

The story was reported by the Decatur Herald & Review on May 27, 2017.

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Innocence Project director to speak in Decatur on Wednesday

John J. Hanlon, executive director and legal director of the Illinois Innocence Project, at the University of Illinois Springfield, is slated to speak at the Macon County Criminal Justice Group meeting Wednesday.

Hanlon's primary duty with the Innocence Project is to work on cases in which it is believed there is a reasonable possibility that DNA testing could lead to a wrongfully convicted prisoner's exoneration. 

He has served as adjunct faculty for the Legal Studies and/or Criminal Justice departments at the University of Illinois Springfield since 2004.

This story appeared in the Herald and Review on April 17, 2017.

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