Investigating credible claims of innocence in Delaware.
Video Message.
Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, Bethany Hall-Long shares her thoughts on Innocence Project Delaware and our role in seeking justice and reform throughout the State.
Our Mission
We are driven to free the innocent of Delaware and meaningfully reform the system that wrongfully convicted them.
About Us
Innocence Project Delaware was established in 2018 as the only organization focusing on claims of actual innocence for people in Delaware who have been wrongfully convicted. The project provides pro bono services to investigate and seek relief for claims of wrongful conviction. Additionally we will provide post-exoneration support.
We also look to remedy the causes of wrongful convictions: official misconduct, bad science, eyewitness misidentification and prejudice. When not working with specific individuals, the project helps educate the public about potential criminal justice reforms related to wrongful conviction as well as access to justice.
Housed at Widener University Delaware Law School, Innocence Project Delaware is in the advantageous position of having law students eager to work on these important issues in a clinical setting.
HERB MONDROS ESQ.
VICE PRESIDENT
JUDITH RITTER ESQ. PRESIDENT
JAMES MORENO ESQ.
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
“There are innocent people in prison in Delaware and they need a lawyer to help them.”
Our Why
False Witness Identifications
After nearly 38 years, Malcolm Alexander walked away from a place he never should have been to begin with: the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Twenty-one when he was sentenced to life without parole, Alexander had been the victim of what the Innocence Project described as “a deeply flawed, unreliable identification procedure.”
Perjury
In the U.S., perjury/false accusation was a leading factor in the wrongful conviction of those exonerated in 2018.
Coerced Confessions
Police Misconduct in Philadelphia was responsible for keeping innocent man Hassan Bennett in prison for 13 years. The two main witness in Mr. Bennett's case testified they had been coerced into implicating him by Detective James Pitts. Pitts has been accused of coercing witness statements in 10 additional cases.
How to Help?
Delaware is a small state with a big wrongful conviction problem. Innocence Project Delaware is looking to change that.