Hi, John, it’s Marvin Anderson, former Innocence Project client and current member of the Board of Directors. Before I ask you to chip in to the Innocence Project's $300,000 year-end fundraising goal, let me take a minute to explain why this work is so close to my heart:

I spent 15 years in prison fighting for my innocence — even after a man came forward six years into my sentence, admitting to the crime I was convicted for. It seemed nothing could be done to exonerate me, but all that changed when I contacted the Innocence Project, and they accepted my case.

In 1982, 10 years before the Innocence Project was even founded, I was 18 when a young Black man raped a young white woman in Hanover County, Virginia. That man was not me.

During the assault, the perpetrator told the victim he had a white girlfriend. Despite having no criminal record, I became a suspect solely because police knew I had lived with a white woman. From the very beginning of my case, I had the support of my community fighting with me because we all knew I was innocent. We knew this because the person who would later admit to the crime had very clear evidence directly linking him to the assault, but still, an all-white jury convicted me. I was sentenced to 210 years in prison and would spend a total of 19 years fighting to clear my name.

For years I was told there was no evidence left from my case, but the Innocence Project finally won access to DNA testing in 2001 and proved my innocence. It’s thanks to them, and supporters like you, that I became the 99th person in the U.S. to be exonerated due to post-conviction DNA testing. 

As a former Innocence Project client, I know firsthand how critical their work is in the fight for criminal legal system reform, and my story highlights the lasting reverberations of your investment. Society, as a whole, doesn’t realize that, when an innocent person goes to prison for something they did not do, their entire family goes to prison as well. My story is not unique and happens to people in this country every day.

For more than three decades, the Innocence Project has fought against persistent and troubling barriers to revealing and rectifying wrongful convictions. But through our work on these cases and others, systemic misconduct has been revealed, laws have been changed, and doors have been opened for wrongfully convicted people to pursue their freedom. That’s why I’m committed to doing everything I can to help advance the innocence movement — and that includes emailing you today and asking:

Will you join me in supporting the Innocence Project and help us reach our $300,000 end-of-year fundraising goal? Your donation today will go 2X as far in the fight to free innocent people and prevent wrongful convictions.

Thank you, John, for being a part of the innocence movement. We couldn’t do this life-changing work without you.

Marvin Anderson
Board Member
Innocence Project