Client Conference Campaign by the Great North Innocence Project
Client Conference Campaign by the Great North Innocence Project
About Send our clients to the Innocence Network Annual Conference
We need your support to send our clients and their support persons to the Innocence Network Conference in New Orleans this March! The Innocence Network Conference is more than an event for our clients and their support persons. Only fellow freed and exonerated people can fully comprehend the depth of the loss that accompanies a wrongful conviction and the challenges a freed person faces following release. The Innocence Network Conference will provide an invaluable opportunity for GNIP's recently freed clients to connect with people who share similar lived experiences of wrongful conviction, to participate in meaningful programming for freed and exonerated people, and to collectively heal from the trauma of injustice. Marvin, Tom, and other GNIP clients, along with their support persons, will be able to attend a number of breakout sessions designed for freed and exonerated people and their families, including personal finance consultation, leadership training, relationship-building, and a storytelling workshop with The Moth.
Your generous contribution will enable our clients to build a community, learn about different resources, and share their stories. Together, we can create change by turning injustices into advocacy. Your support will cover admission and travel expenses for our clients and their support persons to attend the conference.
Date
Starts at: March 21, 2024 8:00 AM
Ends at: March 23, 2024 11:59 PM
Location
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Contact
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Marvin Haynes' Story
On December 11, 2023, Marvin Haynes was exonerated and released from the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater after spending nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was just 16 years old when he was charged and convicted with first-degree murder in a robbery turned homicide at a North Minneapolis flower shop in 2004. Marvin was freed after GNIP's investigation demonstrated that his conviction was based on profoundly flawed and unconstitutional eyewitness identification evidence.
In an order signed by Hennepin County District Court Judge William H. Koch, the Court held “that absent introduction of the unconstitutional eyewitness identification evidence, it is doubtful there would have been sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.” The Hennepin County Attorney's Office agreed to vacate Mr. Haynes’ conviction after a November evidentiary hearing during which GNIP attorneys presented evidence showing that the identification procedures used to convict Mr. Haynes were inconsistent with best practices and unnecessarily suggestive. The State agreed that “the interests of justice would be served by dismissing with prejudice all charges.” In the order, Judge Koch also noted that “there was no physical evidence linking [Mr. Haynes] to the crime scene.”
“I want to thank the Great North Innocence Project, Julie Jonas, my family and friends, and everyone who supported me through this long journey," said Mr. Haynes.
Marvin looks forward to participating in the Innocence Network's Emerging Leaders Training Program while at the Conference. Through this program, Marvin will learn best practices for public speaking, engaging with lawmakers, and grassroots movement building so he can be a leader in improving the criminal legal system and preventing others from being wrongfully convicted like he was.
“I would love to tell my story so that people can really see, and get hope and inspiration, because I know what that did for me.”
Thomas Rhodes' Story
In 1998, Thomas Rhodes was convicted of first degree pre-meditated murder and second-degree intentional murder for the murder of his wife, Jane Rhodes. He was sentenced to life in prison. He was finally released in January 2023 after a comprehensive review of his case by the Minnesota Conviction Review Unit, a partnership between the Great North Innocence Project and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. The CRU ultimately found that a miscarriage of justice occurred in Tom's case.
In the original trial, the state argued that, based on medical examiner Dr. McGee’s testimony and autopsy report, Tom intentionally grabbed his wife by the neck, pushed her overboard, and ran her over multiple times. However, nine other forensic pathologists plus the CRU’s hired medical examiner agree that Mrs. Rhodes’ injuries were explained by a single blow to her head, possibly from falling out of the boat or from a single unintentional strike by the boat as Tom searched the water; postmortem dragging along the bottom of the lake; aquatic animals feeding on the face; and postmortem injuries sustained to the body during recovery and transport. None would have called her death a murder.
Today, Tom is a free man, reunited with his family after nearly 25 years apart and cherishing moments with his grandchildren. He credits his newfound freedom to GNIP saying, “I owe the Great North Innocence Project everything, literally my life. I’m looking forward to discovering happiness, celebrating with my six grandkids and my sons, new opportunities, and discovering who I am today.”