Clinic News

• Professor Mark Rabil presents U.S. death penalty system to various groups in Taiwan
  January 7th, 2015

  Professor Mark Rabil, director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, joined the Honorable Samuel Wilson (’74) on a panel discussion regarding the U.S. death penalty system on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Taiwan National University in Taipei. Also participating on the panel was Wilson’s former law clerk, John Brownlee, a former U.S. attorney in …

• Professor Mark Rabil tells the Winston-Salem Journal death penalty on the way out
  January 1st, 2015

  Juries in North Carolina handed out just three death sentences in 2014, helping contribute to the lowest number of people sentenced to death nationally in 40 years, according to a report from the Death Penalty Information Center. That included Forsyth County, where a jury in March recommended the death penalty for Juan Rodriguez. Rodriguez had …

• Professor Mark Rabil and the Honorable Samuel Wilson (’74) discuss U.S. death penalty at National Taiwan University
  December 10th, 2014

  Professor Mark Rabil, director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, will join the Honorable Samuel Wilson (’74) on a panel discussion regarding the U.S. death penalty system on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Taiwan National University in Taipei. Wilson, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush,  joined the United States District Court for …

• Former Innocence and Justice Clinic students return to present defense in Winston-Salem murder case
  October 13th, 2014

  Wake Forest Law Professor Mark Rabil, director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, says this story in the Winston-Salem Journal showcases the clinic’s work and the fact that the outcome is not always as important as the process. “Jay Kyler (’13) and Kelly Lantz (’13) poured their hearts into the case and returned …

• Professor Mark Rabil’s work as a capital defender featured in Virginia Quarterly Review
  October 7th, 2014

  On Dec. 16, 2007, Jennifer Vincek was pulling another overnight shift at the Shell Food Mart in downtown Statesville, North Carolina, when Jeffrey Peck, a regular at the store, stopped in for coffee and the morning paper. As usual, Vincek was alone, so she and Peck sat together and talked through the final flickers of …

• Innocence & Justice Clinic’s Darryl Hunt reflects on serving 19 years in prison for crime he didn’t commit
  August 18th, 2014

  Darryl Hunt has been a free man for a little more than 10 years now, but he remains guarded. These days, Hunt works with the Innocence and Justice Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law. Through the clinic, he goes to Experiment for Self-Reliance to help people get their criminal records expunged, does public speaking …

• Attend free ‘Evening with Darryl Hunt and Mark Rabil’ on Thursday, May 29, at Hickory Community Theater
  May 27th, 2014

  The Hickory Community Theater and The N.C. Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and The Episcopal Church of the Ascension present “An Evening with Darryl Hunt and Mark Rabil” on Thursday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m. to be held at SALT Block Auditorium located at 243 Third Ave. NE, Hickory, N.C. with FREE admission.  Mark Rabil …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil speaks at UNC Death Penalty Project event
  March 7th, 2014

  The law students sat quietly as capital defense attorney and Wake Forest Law Professor Mark Rabil described the experience of watching one of his clients be executed. Covered in a sheet with IVs trailing from his arms, the man looked around at the roomful of people who would watch him die. His eyes rested on …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil tells Reuters repeal of Racial Justice Act violates due process
  June 20th, 2013

  (Reuters) – North Carolina’s governor, hoping to resume executions in his state, on Wednesday signed the repeal of a law that has allowed death row inmates to seek a reduced sentence if they could prove racial bias affected their punishment. The Racial Justice Act, the only law of its kind in the United States, had …

• Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck visits with Wake Forest Law students
  April 18th, 2013

  The network of legal organizations that works to prove the innocence of people who have been wrongfully convicted of serious crimes is holding a big annual conference in North Carolina.  The Innocence Network’s conference opens today in Charlotte, and some of the expected 500 people attending are dozens of people who were convicted of crimes …

• Wake Forest Law host Dallas’ first black DA as he discusses his crime fighting experiences
  April 12th, 2013

  Craig Wakins made history in 2006 when he became the first African American in Texas history to be elected as a District Attorney. Watkins continues to make waves with his decidedly different approach to prosecution. The Dallas County DA shared his insight and highlighted his office’s approach to battling crime last week as part of …

• Co-founder of Innocence Project Barry Scheck to speak to students, alumni at Charlotte Center on Wednesday, April 17
  April 11th, 2013

  CHARLOTTE — The Wake Forest University School of Law will host Barry Scheck, co-founder and co-director of the national Innocence Project, at a reception beginning at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, at the WFU Charlotte Center. Scheck will speak to students, faculty and alumni about the latest developments in the “innocence movement” followed by …

• Texas district attorney talks security with Wake Forest law students
  April 9th, 2013

  The first black District Attorney in Texas, Craig Watkins, spent Thursday and Friday at Wake Forest University talking about sentencing and security for prosecutors, just days after colleagues in a neighboring Texas community were murdered. Kaufman County, Texas District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife were killed in their home last week. Earlier in the month another …

• Law school to host Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins in a ‘Conversation With’ on April 4
  March 27th, 2013

  The Wake Forest University School of Law will host Dallas-area District Attorney Craig Watkins in a “Conversation With” on Thursday, April 4. The event will be sponsored by the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Innocence and Justice Clinic. The event, which will be held at noon in room 1312 of the Worrell Professional …

• Professor Mark Rabil and Darryl Hunt to speak at Gideon v. Wainwright symposium Friday, March 8
  March 6th, 2013

  RALEIGH, N.C. – Campbell Law School will host a full-day Gideon v. Wainwright Symposium on Friday, March 8, as the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) commemorate the 50thanniversary of the landmark case.  In Gideon v. Wainwright the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment requires state courts to provide counsel in …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic helps clear criminal records
  February 25th, 2013

  After years of worrying about a criminal charge he incurred three years ago, city native Josh Sargent was given a second chance Tuesday afternoon. Sargent, who graduated from Western Carolina University in December, received a DUI and underaged drinking ticket in 2010. Though the charges were dropped, they still appear on his criminal record, and …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Sponsors ‘An Intimate Look at Life on Death Row’ on Tuesday, Oct. 16
  October 8th, 2012

  Two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Joseph Ingle will discuss his new book, “Inferno: A Southern Morality Tale,” at 7 p.m.  on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at the Wake Forest University School of Law’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, 2596 Reynolda Road (at the intersection of Polo Road). The event, which is sponsored by the clinic, is free …

• Wake Forest law school panel calls for elimination of death penalty
  October 3rd, 2012

  A panel of death penalty opponents used the one-year anniversary of the execution of Troy Davis to call for the elimination of a system that they say is broken. Davis’ case attracted international attention. In 1989, Davis, an African American,  was accused of fatally shooting a white police officer in Savannah, Ga., though there was …

• Georgia execution anniversary sparks concerns over N.C. death penalty
  September 27th, 2012

  RALEIGH, N.C. – A year ago this month, Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis was executed for the murder of a police officer. It was a crime he denied up until his death, and his execution sparked protests around the world. Opponents of the death penalty in North Carolina are using the anniversary of Davis’ death …

• Wrongful executions subject of film screening, panel discussions on Sept. 20-21
  September 13th, 2012

  On the anniversary of the Sept. 21, 2011, execution of Troy Davis, whom many believe innocent of the shooting of a police officer in Georgia, several groups at Wake Forest University are joining together to discuss whether innocent people are wrongfully executed in North Carolina and the United States in a series of events to …

• Innocence & Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil publishes Albany Law Review article on Darryl Hunt case
  August 1st, 2012

  Innocence & Justice Clinic Director and Wake Forest University School of Law Professor Mark Rabil has just published an article in the Albany Law Review about his three decades of experience working on the Darryl Hunt Case, which ultimately resulted in Hunt’s release and exoneration after 19 years of incarceration. Rabil had been practicing law for four …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil says new Racial Justice Act will lead to more litigation
  July 9th, 2012

  A new scaled-back Racial Justice Act will lead to more litigation, not less, supporters of the original law say. On Tuesday, attorneys for four death row inmates in Cumberland County filed amended motions arguing that the original Racial Justice Act, not the new one, applies to their cases. In April, a Cumberland County judge ruled …

• Wake Forest law alumnus and former top FBI official to release 16-month independent review of Silk Plant Forest case on May 29
  May 25th, 2012

  Former FBI Assistant Director Christopher Swecker (’81) has completed a 16-month independent review of the Silk Plant Forest case, which he will release at a news conference at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29, at the Wake Forest University School of Law. Mark Rabil, director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, said that …

• Professor Mark Rabil addresses impact of Racial Justice Act ruling
  April 23rd, 2012

  A Cumberland County judge’s ruling Friday that racial bias played a role in landing a black man on death row is one of the most important decisions made about race and the death penalty, according to a Winston-Salem lawyer who handles death penalty cases. But the legal implications of Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks’ decision …

• Cable TV show exploring the Darryl Hunt case features Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil
  April 11th, 2012

  In 1984, the murder of Deborah Sykes shocked Winston-Salem. She was a 26-year-old copy editor at The Sentinel, then the city’s afternoon newspaper. She was on her way to work on the morning of Aug. 10, 1984, when she was raped and stabbed. That case, including the conviction and later acquittal of Darryl Hunt, is …

• Professor Carol Anderson to lecture on Opening Statements at Federal Public Defender’s Conference on Friday, April 6
  April 3rd, 2012

  Professor Carol Anderson, an award-winning teacher and scholar who specializes in litigation and trial advocacy, will present a lecture on “How to Persuade Jurors in Opening Statements and Beyond” at the annual Federal Criminal Practice Seminar hosted by the Federal Public Defenders Office in Asheville on Friday, April 6. She will focus on many of the concepts discussed …

• Wake Forest law alumni honored by ACLU of North Carolina
  February 14th, 2012

  Two alumni of the Wake Forest University School of Law are the recipients of awards from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. Robert “Hoppy” Elliott (’77) has been named the 2012 winner of the Frank Porter Award and Kristin Parks (’95) won the Paul Green Award. An awards ceremony was held on Saturday, …

• Faculty News and Notes Winter 2012
  January 12th, 2012

  Following is the most recent roundup of Wake Forest University School of Law’s faculty research, publications, presentations, honors and awards. Carol Anderson Presentations Along with Peter Hoffman of Elon University conducted an intensive four-day, two-hour course on depositions during the winter break from Jan. 12-15.  Students from both WFU and Elon law schools participated, along with eight other …

• Nobel winner, DNA exoneree meet
  October 13th, 2011

  Darryl Hunt had always wanted to meet Nobel Prize-winning scientist Kary Mullis. In 1983, Mullis developed a process that multiplies a single strain of DNA, allowing investigators to use tiny amounts of DNA to identify suspects in murders, sexual assaults and other crimes, and exclude other suspects. Twenty years later, Mullis’ process was used to …

• Criminal defense lawyers plead their case
  October 11th, 2011

  Working as a criminal defense attorney is some of the most interesting work you’ll ever do, a panel of lawyers recently told Wake Forest University School of Law students. But it can wreak havoc with your personal life and require you to confront the shades of gray in the human character. Three North Carolina lawyers …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil quoted in Associated Press story regarding N.C. Innocence Commission
  September 26th, 2011

  RALEIGH (AP) — Fifteen hours after Troy Davis was executed, two men walked out of a North Carolina prison after being exonerated of a murder they had pleaded guilty to committing more than 10 years ago.N.C. The difference, legal experts and observers say, is largely explained by a one-of-a-kind system for examining innocence claims that …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic director, students react to Troy Davis execution
  September 21st, 2011

  Twenty years ago, in 1991, Troy Davis was convicted of killing a police officer in Savannah, Ga. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011, the Georgia board of pardons denied a bid to delay his execution, and state officials scheduled his death for the following day at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court  granted Davis …

• Wake Forest law students, faculty and alumni travel to Atlanta to protest execution
  September 14th, 2011

  A group of Wake Forest University law students, professors and alumni will join a march on Friday, Sept. 16, in downtown Atlanta to protest the execution of Troy Davis. Members of the Wake Forest School of Law Criminal Law Roundtable have partnered with Professor Mark Rabil, director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil calls for restoring fairness to SBI lab
  August 29th, 2011

  A judge should not have to order a scientist to prepare an accurate report for use in a murder case. That should just come naturally to the scientist. Unfortunately, our North Carolina SBI crime lab does not believe in this basic principle. Our SBI lab believes that prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges should comb through …

• Faculty News and Notes Summer 2011
  August 1st, 2011

  Following is the most recent roundup of Wake Forest University School of Law’s faculty research, publications, presentations, honors and awards. Carol Anderson Publications “The Hierarchy of Juror Decision-Making,” to be published this fall   by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in partnership with Lexis Nexis. Rewriting both North Carolina Trial Practice (originally published in 1994) …

• A tale of two cities and two juries
  June 2nd, 2011

  Mark Rabil, co-director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, had the following guest column run in the Winston-Salem Journal on June 1, 2011. Winston-Salem and Statesville are only 45 miles apart. Yet in two trials last year, they seemed a century apart. In Statesville, an all-white jury sentenced Andrew Ramseur, a 19-year-old black kid, to death for …

• Prosecutors want Innocence Commission to exclude prisoners who pleaded guilty
  May 11th, 2011

  Prosecutors across the state have mounted an effort to block defendants who plead guilty from appealing to the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, a state agency that examines claims that a prisoner may have been wrongly convicted. Since 2007, nearly 30 percent of applicants’ cases involved guilty pleas. “The innocence commission is a very, very unique …

• Professor Carol Turowski invited to present at National Innocence Network Conference on April 7-10
  April 7th, 2011

  Professor Carol Turowski, co-director of the  law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, will speak at the Ohio Innocence Project’s first-ever conference dedicated to cases of wrongful conviction at the international level, called the 2011 National Innocence Network Conference. Based out of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, the Project’s conference will take place at …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic Co-Director Mark Rabil speaks out regarding Racial Justice Act
  April 7th, 2011

  House Republicans filed a bill Monday that would effectively nullify the Racial Justice Act that was signed into law in 2009. The Racial Justice Act allows a death-row inmate or a defendant facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to prove that racial bias was a “significant factor” in his sentence or …

• U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Compensation for Former Death Row Inmate
  March 31st, 2011

  In a 5-4 ruling, the United States Supreme Court on March 29 overturned a jury verdict and lower-court rulings awarding $14 million to a former Louisiana death row inmate who had sued then-New Orleans DA Harry Connick Sr. after prosecutors neglected to turn over evidence that would have been helpful to his defense.  John Thompson was …

• Critics target N.C. bill limiting DAs evidence risk
  March 28th, 2011

  RALEIGH, N.C. — More people will be wrongly convicted if lawmakers decide to ease the pressure on prosecutors to collect and disclose crucial investigative details, critics said Monday. A 2004 North Carolina law required prosecutors to share everything in their files in all felony cases, a practice called open discovery, so that defense lawyers can …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic presents ‘Death, Lies and False Confessions: The Wrongful Conviction of Beverly Monroe’ on Thursday, March 24
  March 20th, 2011

  Exoneree Beverly Monroe will speak at noon Thursday, March 24, in Room 1302 of the Worrell Professional Center to discuss the 11 years she spent wrongfully incarcerated and fighting to clear her name.  Sponsored by the Innocence and Justice Clinic, “Death, Lies and False Confessions:  The Wrongful Conviction of Beverly Monroe” is free and open …

• State law allows agencies to collect DNA from those arrested
  February 3rd, 2011

  A state law that took effect Tuesday allows law-enforcement agencies to collect DNA samples from people arrested on certain serious felony and misdemeanor charges. Agencies were already allowed to collect samples from those convicted of felonies. The 200,000 DNA profiles in the state’s database are shared with the FBI. Opponents, though, say that the law …

• Faculty News and Notes Winter 2011
  December 16th, 2010

  Following is the most recent roundup of Wake Forest University School of Law’s faculty research, publications, presentations, honors and awards. Jonathan Cardi Publications New co-author on Remedies: Cases, Practical Problems and Exercises (West 2d ed. 2010) Agreed to join George Christie, Joe Sanders, and Ellen Pryor on the fifth edition of Cases and Materials on the …

• Professor Carol Turowski to participate in ‘Government Criminal Justice and Public Safety Day’ on Dec. 8
  November 19th, 2010

  Wake Forest University School of Law Professor Carol Turowski has been invited by Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines to participate in the “Leadership Winston-Salem 2010 Government Criminal Justice and Public Safety Day” on Dec. 8. As the co-director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, Turowski will provide insights from her work at the clinic …

• Poole case to be studied
  October 25th, 2010

  Law-school students working with Wake Forest University’s Innocence and Justice Clinic are investigating the innocence claim of a former Winston-Salem man who has been convicted twice of killing his lover’s husband in South Carolina. Read the full story »

• John Grisham advises future lawyers to make sure clients get fair trials
  September 16th, 2010

  Get your client a fair trial. That was just one of the messages that New York Times best-selling author and lawyer John Grisham wanted students at the Wake Forest University School of Law to take away from Tuesday’s panel discussion about “Innocence and Justice.” The discussion included wrongful convictions, a broken justice system and the …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic co-director files brief supporting inmates with legitimate claims of innocence
  September 1st, 2010

  Professor Carol Turowski, co-director of the Wake Forest University School of Law Innocence and Justice Clinic, moderated a press conference on Monday where criminal defense attorneys, respected academics, crime victims and several of the wrongly convicted gathered in downtown Raleigh to ask that North Carolina reexamine the way death sentences are handed down. Joining Turowski …

• Cherokee youth explore law careers
  July 21st, 2010

  Twenty high school students from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians had the opportunity to explore careers in law during the College Careers and Technology (C-CAT) program at Wake Forest University July 19-21. C-CAT is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Wake Forest University, and currently directed by the Religion …

• Stephen Bright, president of the Southern Center for Human Rights, helps commemorate the passage of the N.C. Racial Justice Act
  April 13th, 2010

  Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas after serving 12 years in prison for arson. The fire, which caused the death of his three young daughters, was an accident, The New Yorker recently reported. In Michigan, a judge told a defendant that he wished that state had the death penalty, and he would not hesitate, …

• Expert to discuss racially charged capital murder case Friday, April 16
  April 12th, 2010

  The Wake Forest University School of Law’s Innocence and Justice Clinic will host Albany University School of Law Professor Paul Finkleman, who will discuss “Guilty Until Posthumously Pardoned: Reversing the South Carolina Murder Convictions,” on Friday, April 16. The noon event, which will be held in Room 1312 of the Worrell Professional Center, is free …

• Stephen Bright, panel to discuss race and the death penalty on March 31
  March 23rd, 2010

  The Wake Forest Innocence & Justice Clinic is pleased to announce that Wake Forest University School of Law has been selected as one of five sites in North Carolina to host a national tour that explores the complex issues involving race and the death penalty in America. The national teach-in focusing on the death penalty …

• Governor welcomes alumni to Executive Mansion
  March 3rd, 2010

  From the steps in the foyer of the N.C. Executive Mansion, Gov. Beverly Perdue welcomed the Wake Forest School of Law into the stately Victorian home. “The house belongs to the people of North Carolina,” she told about 150 guests, which included alumni, faculty and staff. “This is your house.” The School of Law alumni …

• Clinic students serve real-world clients
  February 10th, 2010

  Our clinics integrate study, practice and hands-on experience, and they help develop great lawyers. Keep reading to find out what’s new at each one. Appellate Advocacy Clinic Now in its fourth full year, the clinic handles appeals in a variety of courts, including the Fourth Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, and the North Carolina Court of …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic celebrates first victory
  January 8th, 2010

  Wake Forest University School of Law’s Innocence and Justice Clinic is celebrating today’s release of Machello Bitting after he served nine years in prison. It is the first time the students’ work in the clinic has resulted in a reduced sentence. The victory comes on the eve of the clinic’s one-year anniversary. “If it wasn’t …

• First American death row inmate exonerated by DNA testing shares his harrowing tale
  November 5th, 2009

  Kirk Bloodsworth could hear what they were saying. From the defense table, charged with the sexual assault and murder of a 9-year-old girl, Bloodsworth listened to the vitriol emanating from the back of the courtroom. There’s the killer, he remembers them saying. Give him the gas. But no one would listen to Bloodsworth, an honorably …

• Pro Bono Committee celebrates National Pro Bono Week with first Clinic Hop
  October 27th, 2009

  Want to be someone’s superhero? To celebrate National Pro Bono Week, the Wake Forest University School of Law’s Pro Bono Committee is sponsoring its first Clinic Hop from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. The law school’s clinics will hold open houses to allow students and alumni to learn more about how Wake …

• First American death row inmate exonerated by DNA to speak Oct. 29
  October 21st, 2009

  Kirk Bloodsworth, the first American death row inmate exonerated by DNA testing, will share his wrongful conviction story, and an expert panel will discuss the causes, reforms and remedies in innocence cases with Wake Forest University at noon on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Room 1312 of the Worrell Professional Center. The event, which is free …

• ‘SCOTUS Talks’ series begins Sept. 16 with District Attorney v. Osborne
  September 15th, 2009

  Wake Forest University School of Law’s speaker series, “SCOTUS Talks,” kicks off this fall at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 16, in Room 1312 of the Worrell Professional Center with Professor Carol Turowski, co-director of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic, and her presentation on District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne, decided this summer, which gives …

• Death row exoneree to speak to WFU Law School students on April 21
  April 17th, 2009

  Sabrina Butler Porter, the only female death row exoneree in the country, will speak to the Wake Forest University School of Law about her ordeal of being an innocent woman on death row and the struggles she has endured since being released from prison. Sponsored by the Wake Innocence Project and the Innocence and Justice …

• Innocence and Justice Clinic directors attend Innocence Network Conference
  March 25th, 2009

  Wake Forest Innocence and Justice Clinic Co-Directors Carol Turowski and Mark Rabil attended the Innocence Network Conference that was held in March in Houston at the South Texas College of Law. The Innocence Network is an affiliation of organizations dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of …

• Wake Forest law school introduces innocence clinic
  December 31st, 2008

    WINSTON-SALEM – The Wake Forest University School of Law’s new Innocence and Justice Clinic will give students the unique opportunity to examine the legal, scientific, cultural and psychological causes of wrongful convictions, a news release said.Read the full story »

• Wake Forest University School of Law introduces Innocence and Justice Clinic
  December 2nd, 2008

  The Wake Forest University School of Law’s new Innocence and Justice Clinic will give students the unique opportunity to examine the legal, scientific, cultural and psychological causes of wrongful convictions. The interdisciplinary course begins in the spring semester of 2009. Students will then apply their knowledge to actual cases by reviewing and investigating claims of …