Wrongful conviction investigations

Under Heck v. Humphrey (1994), a person generally cannot bring a Section 1983 claim that would call a conviction into question until the conviction has been overturned. Wrongful conviction work therefore has two stages: the reinvestigation that helps to overturn the conviction, and the investigation of the misconduct that caused it.

What an investigation looks for

• Trial witnesses located and re-interviewed, sometimes decades later
• Alibi and alternative-suspect evidence that was never developed
• Police and prosecution files searched for undisclosed material
• The history of the officers and analysts who built the original case

How these cases are investigated

In wrongful conviction cases, the work most often involves independent case review, witness location and interviews, officer and agency background research, and public records requests. What a particular case needs depends on what evidence already exists and what is at risk of being lost.

Nationwide, and civil rights only

Evidence in wrongful conviction cases is lost quickly. Video is overwritten, records are purged, and witnesses move on. Civil Rights PI accepts these investigations nationwide, and the earlier the work begins, the more there is to find.