John,

Last week, 48 years after he was wrongfully convicted, the Virginia Court of Appeals finally exonerated Marvin Grimm, Jr. The court issued a writ of actual innocence, officially clearing him of the crime, based on new evidence including DNA testing and advances in false confession research.

Marvin spent 45 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit — more time in prison than any client exonerated by the Innocence Project. ​​He was released in 2020 on parole and required to register as a sex offender despite his innocence.

“Mr. Grimm was his own best advocate, seeking DNA testing in the 1980s before the power of DNA to expose wrongful convictions was fully recognized. We are grateful that the Attorney General reviewed the evidence and agreed that Mr. Grimm is innocent. Finally, Mr. Grimm has some measure of justice,” said Susan Friedman, Marvin’s former Innocence Project attorney.

Please take a moment today to read more about Marvin’s case and share the news of his exoneration with your friends and family on social media.

In order to convict Marvin, the State relied on a false confession that was coerced under threat of the death penalty, and forensic evidence linked to Mary Jane Burton, a senior forensic analyst at Virginia's state crime lab whose work has been the subject of controversy for the last two decades.

Years of post-conviction litigation and appeals by the Innocence Project, as well as lobbying efforts by the Innocence Project’s policy team to change Virginia laws allowing access to post-conviction DNA testing, revealed new evidence proving Marvin’s innocence. 

After more than four decades, we’re so grateful that Marvin is finally free from his wrongful conviction.

Learn more about his case and how, after decades of work, this team was able to help secure freedom. 

Thank you so much for your support,

— The Innocence Project Team