John —

I was just a teenager when I was sentenced to 15 years to life for a crime I didn’t commit in my home state of New York.

In 1989, I came home from high school to see my worst nightmare — my mother had been killed. I immediately called 911 and they began an investigation. They took me in for questioning and after hours of intense interrogation without a lawyer or an adult in the room, I just said whatever they needed me to say to get out of there. I was just a scared, 16-year-old kid.

I ended up spending 19 years wrongly incarcerated and ten years on parole before finally being exonerated in 2019. While I’m glad to be out and free now, I often think about just how many other innocent people are in prison, going through the same pain I went through.

Right now, New York has the third highest number of wrongful convictions in the U.S., and its current law makes it impossible for innocent people who plead guilty to get back into court without DNA evidence. 303 New Yorkers have been exonerated of crimes they didn't commit, including myself.

Twenty percent of the nation’s innocent pleaded guilty to crimes they didn’t commit, and in New York they have no way back into court to prove their innocence without DNA evidence. We have to change the law to ensure that wrongfully convicted New Yorkers who plead guilty have access to the courts to prove their innocence.

That’s why I’m teaming up with the Innocence Project to ask New York lawmakers to pass this critical legislation that would enable a legal pathway to exoneration for so many.

If you want to stay up-to-date on the latest policy information and learn about ways you can help, text FREEDOM to 52886.

Thanks and more soon,

Huwe Burton
Exonerated in 2019

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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 antiracism.

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