John,
John: In honor of our 32nd anniversary, we’d like to celebrate our 250th Innocence Project victory: the exoneration of Renay Lynch.

After nearly 26 years of being wrongfully convicted in Buffalo, New York, Renay was exonerated on Jan. 5, 2024. Her exoneration comes after a post-conviction reexamination of crime scene fingerprint evidence, which law enforcement previously withheld from the defense.

“I have waited 26 years for this day to come. That’s days without seeing my children grow up, days without holding my grandchildren, days that I will never get back. I’m grateful to finally have this weight lifted.”— Renay Lynch on the day of her exoneration.

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There were three factors that contributed to Renay’s wrongful conviction in 1995: a coerced false confession, the fabricated testimony of an incentivized informant, and police misconduct — specifically withholding key crime scene evidence from the defense. 

Unfortunately, these factors are not uncommon. Of all of Innocence Project’s exonerations, 28% involved false confessions and 19% involved unregulated informants. 

That’s why our work is so critical, John. Exonerations teach us about the most common causes of wrongful conviction — and more importantly, what we can do to fix our broken criminal legal system. 

In honor of our 32nd anniversary, John, will you become a monthly donor and help us free even more innocent and wrongfully convicted people like Renay? Making a recurring gift of $15 or more today will give you exclusive access to our events, new merch, and much more.

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Today, Renay is a member of the Innocence Project’s Speakers Bureau, an initiative where we connect wrongful conviction experts with schools, colleges, companies, and organizations around the world. 

The Innocence Project is more than just an organization working to free the innocent, John — it’s a community, and we’re hoping you’ll join it.

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Thank you, 

Innocence Project
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The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone. Founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the organization is now an independent nonprofit. Our work is guided by science and grounded in anti-racism.

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