What kind of cases does the Innocence Project NOT take?
We do not accept cases in which a person has not yet been convicted or sentenced. We do not accept cases that are still in the appeals process: direct appeals must have ended or the time for filing a direct appeal must have passed. Simply, we cannot help people who are awaiting trial or are still pursuing their direct appeals. MAIP also is unable to assist prisoners who are currently represented in their criminal case by another attorney or still have access to a public defender. We do not take cases in which a person is only claiming that his or her rights were violated–there must be a possibility of developing evidence that can actually prove innocence. Because of the difficulty of proving innocence in certain types of cases, we usually cannot help in the following situations: (1) where a defendant admits to killing (or assaulting) someone, but claims that it was done in self-defense; (2) where a defendant admits to sexual contact with a person, but claims that the person consented t
