– Photo courtesy of WMU-Cooley
Michigan exonerees Kenneth Wyniemko (third from right) and Donya Davis (far right) join the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project team on the Capitol steps after the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee unanimously voted to send a bill providing compensation for the wrongfully convicted to the full house.
The Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee recently voted unanimously to send to the House floor for a vote bills that would provide compensation for wrongfully convicted Michigan citizens and provide as well re-entry services to exonerees.
The legislation that would create the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act was introduced by Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren.
Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Innocence Project director Marla Mitchell-Cichon and her clients Kenneth Wyniemko and Donya Davis appeared before the committee in support of both bills during last a committee hearing late last month.
“Take a minute to consider all that you might lose during the years of wrongful incarceration. Then consider how you would begin to put your life back together,” said Marla Mitchell, director, WMU-Cooley Law School Innocence Project.
“Where would you live?” she said. “How would you support yourself? How would you explain where you have been when you apply for a job? These are just a few of the challenges that Michigan citizens who have been wrongfully convicted face on a daily basis.”
One bill provides compensation to an individual convicted and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit, with damages calculated based upon the number of years of their wrongful incarceration.
Thirty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government provide compensation to the wrongfully convicted.
“It was my intent to help these individuals who were wrongly convicted re-establish their lives,” said Bieda. “When an individual is proven innocent they should find a state that wants to help them, not another legal battle.”
Wyniemko was released after nine years in prison and Davis after seven years.
In each of their cases, DNA testing was used to prove their innocence.
Wynimeko has testified numerous times in support of the proposed law and is a tireless advocate for criminal justice reform.
The WMU-Cooley Innocence Project is part of the Innocence Network, which has been credited with the release of over 344 wrongfully convicted individuals, mainly through the use of DNA testing.
WMU-Cooley’s Innocence Project has exonerated three men: Wyniemko, Davis, and Nathaniel Hatchett.
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