Lawyer shares stance on Tennessee Innocence Project

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A Tennessee lawyer passionate about freeing people wrongfully convicted of crimes shared her story at the Memphis Rotary Club on Tuesday.

Jessica Van Dyke, executive director and lead counsel for the Tennessee Innocence Project, spoke to Rotarians at the Bluff Restaurant on Highland.

She says nationwide, lawyers have proven more than three thousand people have been wrongly convicted since 1989.

Van Dyke says the Tennessee Innocence Project has an application process that begins online for those who have been saying: “I did not commit this crime; please take a second look at my case.”

“We have an application process where people write to us,” Van Dyke said. “They explain their cases and we do a very intensive investigation of that case to determine whether or not the claims they’re saying have additional work that needs to be done like DNA testing and fingerprint testing.”

The Tennessee Innocence Project will shine a light on wrongful convictions on September 22 at the National Civil Right Museum.

There, death row exoneree Anthony Ray Hinton will share his story.

Learn more about the event and the organization’s work here.

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