In 1997, I was coerced into making a false confession about a rape and murder that I had not committed. The specific details of that confession were fabricated by police. For 22 years, I fought to prove my innocence and, earlier this year, was exonerated — with the help of the Idaho Innocence Project and the Innocence Project in New York — when the man responsible for the crime was identified.
John, I’m one of the lucky ones; there are countless people in prison today who were convicted based on a coerced, false confession.
That’s why it’s critical that the Innocence Project meets its end-of-year fundraising goal to cover the costs of litigation on behalf of innocent people and advocate for stronger laws that prevent wrongful convictions like mine.
Can you donate $30 today?Your 2019 tax-deductible gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact in the fight for justice.
Chris Tapp (center) with his legal team in court the moment he was exonerated. Photo credit: Otto Kitsinger/AP
Life since my exoneration in July has been truly amazing, but my heart goes out to the innocent people still in prison because of false confessions. Due to uneven and inadequate laws across the country, it can be incredibly difficult to prove that a confession was coerced and that it was the result of police misconduct.
Started in 1992 as a legal clinic at Cardozo School of Law, the Innocence Project is now an independent nonprofit, affiliated with Cardozo, that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
