(Photo provided by Cooley Law School)
After serving 35 years for a crime he did not commit, Louis Wright was exonerated last month when a Calhoun County judge set aside his conviction for criminal sexual conduct and breaking and entering.
In September, DNA testing established that Wright was not the perpetrator. Wright was represented by attorney Marla Mitchell-Cichon and the Cooley Law School Innocence Project.
“In 1988, there was no credible evidence pointing to Mr. Wright,” said Mitchell-Cichon. “Mr. Wright’s false confession led to a no contest plea and decades of incarceration.”
At sentencing, Wright — who consistently maintained his innocence — asked to withdraw his guilty plea, but the court denied his request.
Through its collaboration with the Attorney General’s Conviction Integrity Unit, the Cooley Innocence Project was able to obtain DNA testing of evidence collected during the original investigation.
“I commend the Michigan Attorney General’s Office for agreeing to DNA testing in this case,” Mitchell-Cichon said. ”Without their willingness to test the rape kit evidence, Mr. Wright may never have received justice.”
Last September, the Michigan State Forensic Science Division (MSP) identified foreign DNA inconsistent with Wright’s DNA profile.
Michigan has had a post-conviction DNA testing law on the books since 2001, but those who pleaded guilty cannot request testing under the statute. Legislation has been introduced in the state House to change that.
In January of 1988, a man broke into a home and sexually assaulted an eleven-year-old girl, according a news release from the law school.
Wright quickly became a suspect when an off-duty Albion police officer reported seeing hom in the neighborhood five hours before the offense.
Wright was taken into custody and the police reported that he confessed to the crime.
Wright’s interview was not recorded, nor did he write or sign a confession, according to case records.
Albion police found boot prints and made plaster castings of them but State Police later determined the “casts could not have been made by the suspect’s boots,” the school said.
State Police also determined that fingerprints collected by Albion police were not a match.
Recent DNA testing “established that a man other than Wright is the perpetrator,” Mitchell-Cichon said.
“I commend the attorneys and investigators in my office, the local agencies, and the Cooley Law School Innocence Project for their hard work,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The Cooley Law School Innocence Project is part of the Innocence Network, which has been credited with the release of over 375 wrongfully accused prisoners through the use of DNA testing.
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