Cooley Law School Innocence Project

For 25 years, the Cooley Law School Innocence Project has worked to transform Michigan's legal landscape by exposing wrongful convictions and pushing for reforms in areas like forensic science and eyewitness identification. bit.ly/4g2Hjcx

Join us on Sunday, June 14th at 1:00 p.m.

Staff, students and exoneree, Dell Crawford recently sat down with WLNS to discuss our 25 year milestone

6,000 cases, 10 men freed: The Cooley Innocence Project turns 25 The first thing Dell Crawford did when he got out of prison in March was go to the gas station and pick up a Milky Way candy bar. He had been serving a 20 to 40-year sentence for a murder he did no…

Gala tickets and sponsorship opportunities are now available!

We are excited to celebrate this milestone on September 19th with you!

Cooley Innocence Project 25th Anniversary Cooley Law School will host a 25th Anniversary Gala honoring the legacy and impact of the Cooley Innocence Project on Sat, Sept 19, 2026, at Grewal Hall in Lansing, Michigan.

For 25 years, Cooley Law School’s Innocence Project has been fighting for those who have been wrongfully convicted.

The project started in 2001 and has since screened over 6,000 cases and helped 10 people gain their freedom.

Bobby Cushing TV shows us how the project has changed lives and reunited families:

Michigan bill would fix ‘gap’ in exoneree compensation. Some say it doesn’t go far enough Senate Bill 909, introduced by Detroit Democrat Stephanie Chang and co-sponsored by Harbor Springs Republican John Damoose, would amend Michigan’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act to lo…

We were honored to represent Mr. Crawford and are delighted he is home.

We are proud of the hard work of Cooley Innocence Project staff attorneys Jessa Webber and Niquole Caringi in collaboration with the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit.

In 2008, Dell Crawford was convicted of second-degree murder in Detroit, Michigan and sentenced to 20 years and 10 months to 45 years in prison. He was on March 24, 2026, after DNA testing of the victim's fingernail scrapings excluded him.
Read this case's full history at: https://exonerationregistry.org/cases/19621. You can also use the Explore Exonerations tool found on our home page, exonerationregistry.org, to browse through nearly 3,800 cases in our database.

The Cooley Innocence Project is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year and we’ve got a lot of fun stuff in the works. A part of our mission includes community education and outreach to bring awareness to wrongful convictions, and as part of our celebration this summer, we’d love to come to your work, organization, church, school, or group to discuss wrongful convictions, the impact they have on society, and how you can help with this work.

Interested? Please reach out below or to [email protected] and let’s get something scheduled!

Please join us as we take part in this yearly opportunity to raise awareness about the causes and effects of wrongful conviction.