Law school students and faculty will screen requests and forward promising cases to a team of about 160 defense lawyers around the state who have agreed to work for free. The project is modeled after a New York-based program that has helped free dozens of wrongfully convicted people across the United States since 1992. It's always happened. Now, we have the ability to show that through DNA and other scientific evidence. DNA contains a person's unique, genetic fingerprint.
Investigators can identify DNA through blood, saliva and other bodily fluids and even hair.
In some cases, accused criminals lacked access to DNA testing or were convicted before the tests made large leaps in sophistication. Cooley students and professors will focus on finding hard DNA or other forensic evidence that could prove a client's innocence. They don't plan to contest legal technicalities. If new evidence is found, Cooley will forward the cases to a defense lawyer who will argue the case. It's unclear how many cases will end up being reviewed.