The Spring 2026 class (at Georgetown University/Georgetown Law, Princeton University, New York University, University of California - Santa Cruz, and Rice University) focused on 22 potential exonerees who have been incarcerated for a total of 535 years (and counting).
Aaron Addison
Video and information coming soon.
Jacob Cobb
'A Lifetime Lost in Just 5 Minutes' tells the story of Jacob Cobb who is now 37 years old and 21 years into a wrongful conviction for a crime that never happened. Jacob grew up in a home shadowed by loss. His grandmother who was suicidal and was being harassed by family members trying to take her house, died by suicide. The investigation into her death that followed points to everything wrong with the system that convicted Jacob: a detective who told him during interrogation to "just say you did it," a medical examiner later fired for omissions and lapses in homicide autopsies, and an ineffective defense attorney who rested his case without calling a single witness. Jacob's whole childhood is now gone. This is his story and how he is still fighting to gain his life back.
This film was created by Jessaly Chavez, Ariana Gauba, and Olivia Brazier from Rice University with support from Amanda Gill from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Jacob and his case, follow @justiceforjacobcobb on Instagram.
Leonard Coleman
'The Easy Target' tells the story of Leonard Coleman, convicted of murdering his best friend and the mother of his son, Kimberly. The police never seriously investigated anyone else as a police officer on the case had a personal vendetta against Leonard. Meanwhile, a man named Moses, who had previously threatened Leonard, shot toward his home, and even publicly threatened to kill Kimberly was never investigated. Leonard's children have grown up without a father or mother. It is time for him to come home. This film was created by Amra Amir and Carly Alin from Rice University with support from Tatiana Collazos from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Leonard and his case, follow @justice4leonardcoleman on Instagram.
Anthony Grigoroff
'The False Confession that Stole His Life' follows Anthony Grigoroff, convicted of murder on New Year's Eve 2008 in Garrison, New York based on one thing: a coerced confession he never meant. After 12 hours of interrogation, cut off from his family and denied access to an attorney, Anthony just said what the police wanted to hear. He believed the system would do its job, investigate, find no evidence to support it, and let him go home. There is no physical evidence tying Anthony to the crime. This is how he was convicted of a crime he didn't commit.
This film was created by Genevieve Morange, Jackie Qin, Michelle Tang, and Nikhil Kuntipuram from Princeton University with support from Kira Davis from Georgetown Law School.
Daniel Hamilton
'A Fatherhood Lost' tells the story of Daniel Hamilton, who has spent 31 years in prison after his daughter Brittany died and a flawed and debunked medical diagnosis pointed the finger at him. For months before her death, Brittany had been banging her head. Her own pediatrician saw it happen and called it a tantrum. He was convicted on a shaken baby syndrome theory that experts now say does not hold up. Medical review of the case found that Brittany had severe pneumonia, a condition that can cause the exact same symptoms used to convict Daniel including bleeding around the brain and bleeding at the backs of the eyes. Daniel did not kill his daughter but he is still in prison, 31 years later.
This film was created by Alika Jimenez, Veronica Zuniga, and Kayla McPherson from Rice University with support from Lydia Frei from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Dan and his case, follow @freedanielhamilton on Instagram.
John Hamilton
This documentary tells the story of John Hamilton, a doctor convicted of murder on the basis of bloodstain pattern analysis that experts now say warrants serious scrutiny. Police formed a theory almost immediately and built their entire investigation around confirming it, ignoring everything that didn't fit. Their timeline of events alone was hard to believe. They claimed Hamilton carried out a violent murder in the narrow window between two surgeries, drove to his Hospital, changed clothes, and performed the second operation without a single thing seeming out of place. Decades later, John Hamilton is still in prison, waiting for someone to take a serious look at the case.
This film was created by Aliza Chauthani, Easton Peters, and Bela Jotwani from Rice University with support from Therese Goding from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about John and his case, follow @justice4jbh on Instagram.
Lawrence Harris
'False Accusation, Fabricated Testimony' follows Lawrence Harris, convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life for a 2012 Brooklyn shooting he had nothing to do with. The case against him rested on two identifications, both produced through a flawed repeated identification process shown to corrupt eyewitness memory, and a sole eyewitness whose story changed dramatically between his first statement and his testimony at trial. There was no ballistics evidence linking Lawrence to the crime. His family has spent years waiting for Lawrence to come home, free Lawrence Harris.
This film was created by Sophie Brissett, Cailyn Tetteh, Hagr Elweshahy, and James Morales from Princeton University with support from Rara Gumbel from Georgetown Law School.
Akbar Hassan-El
'The Delaware Way' tells the story of Akbar Hassan-El from Wilmington, Delaware, who has spent 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. On the night of July 18th, 2001, an ice cream man, Abdullah Alameri, was shot and killed at the corner of 10th and Madison Streets In Wilmington, Deleware. Akbar was 30 minutes away in Newark, Delaware at the time. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. At trial, prosecutor David Favata actively downplayed alibi witnesses who placed Akbar elsewhere that night. He was convicted on the word of incentivized eyewitnesses. While inside, Akbar lost his mother, his father in 2019, his brother in 2020, and cousins the year after. He grieved each one in a cell. He did not commit this crime, it is time for him to come home.
This film was created by Ashley Renselaer, Ganga Subramanian, Lauren Fakhoury, and Maxine Von Der Heyden from NYU with support from Ella Joshi from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Akbar and his case, follow @freeakbarhassanel on Instagram.
Scott Jones
'One Man, Two Life Sentences' follows Scott Jones, who has spent 14 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections for a crime he did not commit. The case against him rests entirely on three incentivized witnesses with over 20 combined state and federal convictions between them. Meanwhile, another suspect whose bedroom contained the victim's blood and who had a documented history of violence with the victim saw his arrest for the crime quietly dismissed. Despite no physical evidence linking Scott to the crime, he was sentenced to two life sentences. His family has never stopped fighting for him.
This film was created by Totton Heffelfinger, Robin Mills, and Erin Saunders from Georgetown University with support from Jules Lee from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Scott and his case, follow @freescottjones on Instagram.
Lisa Lambert
'A Taste of Freedom' tells the story of Lisa Michelle Lambert, who was 19 years old and six months pregnant when she was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The night Laurie Show was killed, Lisa was there, but witnesses, medical evidence, and the initials of her co-defendants written on the wall all pointed away from her. What followed was one of the most egregious cases of prosecutorial misconduct documented in a Pennsylvania courtroom: video and audio evidence edited and altered, evidence helpful to Lisa deliberately destroyed, and virtually every piece of evidence used to convict her either perjured, fabricated, or manipulated. In 1997, a federal judge declared Lisa innocent and ordered her released immediately. After being released she the third circuit court reversed the decision on procedural grounds. Lisa has been locked up for 33 years with no path out.
This film was created by Brian Jiang, Frances Brogan, Lucy McWeeny, and Laura Zhang from Princeton University with support from Anna Li from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Lisa and her case, follow @freelisalambert on Instagram.
Dennis Littleton
'Missing Pieces' tells the story of Dennis Littleton, who has spent over 20 years in a Michigan prison for a May 2000 shooting in Detroit, a crime he wasn't even in town for. From the start, pieces of this case went missing. The victim, Saul Rios, told officers at the scene and ambulance workers that the shooter was a white man they'd fought with at their house. Then Detective Moises Jimenez spoke with Rios privately, in a conversation that was never recorded. After that, the description changed to a black guy. A witness who could place Dennis out of town that night was blocked from testifying because his own attorney never filed an alibi notice. The Detroit Police Department's fourth precinct was known in that era for employing dirty cops and engineering wrongful convictions. Jimenez in particular is described as "very, very aggressive", a pattern others in the community recognized. Now, in the most significant development in the case, Saul Rios has recanted. Dennis has watched his daughter grow up without him. He's lost all his elder family members. It is time for Dennis to come home. "One of the most daunting feelings in the world is to be the only person in the room that knows you're right."
This film was created by Ella Wadbrook, Tate Ekblad, and Zoe Grey Canipe from UC Santa Cruz with support from Natalie Linares from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Dennis and his case, follow @freedennislittleton on Instagram.
Markale Lundy
'Back to Richmond' follows Markale Lundy, known to his friends as Dogface, a comedian from Franklin County, Virginia who was convicted of aggravated robbery for a crime the evidence says he could not have committed. His cell phone placed him four and a half miles from the crime scene during the entire window of the attack. The victim told 911 she didn't know who stabbed her. The story that initially pointed to two other suspects somehow shifted to Markale. And the DNA evidence used against him at trial was later retracted by the very lab that produced it. As his father battles stage four cancer and prays to see his son free before he passes away, Markale waits for justice from a cell far from his family and home in Richmond Virginia.
This film was created by Connor Dwin, Ruby Lillie, and Reese Yoshikawa from Georgetown University with support from William Kessinger from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Markale and his case, follow @freemarkalelundy on Instagram.
Ken Middleton
'Life Plus 200' tells the story of Kenneth Middleton, sentenced to life plus 200 years in a Missouri prison for a murder that experts say the evidence never supported. From the moment police arrived at the scene, things went wrong. The victim was undressed before the medical examiner arrived. The firearm was moved from the floor, its cylinder opened, then handled again by a second officer. No photographs were taken of the crime scene, only taken the next day after restaging the scene. White-out was found on the laboratory requisition paperwork, leaving open the question of whether a key evidence kit was ever even collected. Then there was his attorney, Bob Duncan, who put on no defense, called no witnesses, and hired no experts to challenge the state's theory that the death was intentional rather than accidental. Less than six months after Ken was convicted Duncan was disbarred. A post-conviction hearing found that the jury never heard evidence of innocence that would likely have changed the verdict. A former governor testified that in 41 years it was the worst case he had ever seen and that he would have given Ken a full pardon. His son, Cliff Middleton has been fighting for 35 years for his father's release. It is time for Ken Middleton to return to Arkansas, let's bring him home.
This film was created by Sally Lichner, Remy Francisco, and Malia Takapu from UC Santa Cruz with support from Kalina Pierga from Georgetown Law School.
Mathew Morales
'Built on Betrayal' tells the story of Mathew Morales, when at 24 years old police surrounded his home with a bullhorn blaring his name, he had never been arrested a day in his life. The prosecution's case rested on "basic math" and the testimony of a friend close to Mathew, whose account only changed in an unrecorded police interrogation after his own arrest. Mathew was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, leaving his daughters who were one and four years old without a father. They are teenagers now, fatherless at school dances, counting down 15-minute phone calls.
This film was created by Addison Alvarado, Cameron Roberts, Kodi Schulz, and Shelly Cheng from New York University(NYU) with support from Erin Rogers from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Mathew and his case, follow @justice_for_mathew on Instagram.
Frank Perkins
In 1988, a road-rage incident killed Hollywood disc jockey Lee Selwyn. When the case went cold, a tribute concert raised a $12,000 reward and a crime scene recreation aired on Unsolved Mysteries, flooding police with tips about innocent lookalikes in what experts call the "doppelgänger effect." Five years after the crime, an anonymous phone tip pointed investigators to Frank Perkins. His arrest was then broadcast on national news — contaminating the memory of the very witnesses police needed to identify the driver. All three gave low-confidence identifications. "None of them said, 'I'm 100% sure, that's the guy'". The prosecution's case rested on a tipster who was Frank's ex-lover and whose source denied everything in court, and a prison informant who was simultaneously having an affair with Frank's ex-wife and later married her. Frank's own attorney put on no defense. Frank went to court confident he'd be home in a couple of weeks. Frank was sentenced to life in prison in 1993. Frank's father and son have died while he's been behind bars, it is time for him to come home.
This film was created by Hayden Regberg, Molly Kaeyer, and Bri Abreau from UC Santa Cruz with support from Nardien Sadik from Georgetown Law School.
Jeremy Phillips
'A Life of Service' tells the story of Jeremy Phillips, an Army veteran who served his country with honor and, once incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, went on to serve the men around him with the same quiet conviction. Jeremy was not at the scene when the fire was set. Phone records place the fight three hours before the 911 call. His codefendant, Jesse Willis, signed a sworn confession admitting he acted alone. Jeremy's own trial attorney never put that confession before the jury. Nearly two decades later, Jeremy is still waiting for someone to simply look at the record.
This film was created by Ben King, Anjali Ofori, and Fallon Wolfley from Georgetown University with support from Abby Sweeney from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Jeremy and his case, follow @freejeremyphillips on Instagram.
Taunee Smith
'Trading Up' tells the story of Taunee Smith who has spent over 14 years in an Ohio prison for a 2011 Cleveland robbery-turned-murder that every single witness against him has since said he had nothing to do with. When Dejohn Dammons was shot and killed during a home invasion, investigators quickly identified three men responsible. But facing a federal drug investigation and a co-defendant with the death penalty over his head, prosecutors began working deals. Chrishawn Slade, staring down a capital charge, testified against Taunee in exchange for a reduced sentence. Taylor Dammons, Leonte Cromity, and William Lee all entered plea deals too. Three months after Taunee conviction, Taylor Dammons, the victim's own brother, signed a sworn recantation: "I don't know Taunee Smith." Four months after that, William, Leonte, and Chrishawn all recanted as well. The detectives who built the case against Taunee, Jeffery Yasenchack and Donald Kopchak, later became subjects of misconduct investigations involving unlawful searches, false reporting, excessive force, and retaliation. Cuyahoga County has been called the epicenter of wrongful convictions. Taunee has been in prison since 2011, it is time for him to come home.
This film was created by Gavin Walker, Sophia Dudley, and Sophie Goodwin from UC Santa Cruz with support from Sophie Tafazzoli from Georgetown Law School.
Levon Stokes
'Life in Prison For a Crime He Did Not Commit' tells the story of Levon Christopher Stokes, who has spent 33 years in prison for the 1993 murders of Angelo Garrison Sr. and his three-year-old son in Baltimore. The case began with an anonymous tip and no physical evidence tying Levon to the crime. Under intense pressure to solve the killing of a child, police built their case on three eyewitnesses whose accounts were deeply flawed, including witnesses who were more than 500 feet apart when saying they were together and two whose pending criminal charges were dropped after they testified. Levon has always maintained he was nowhere near downtown Baltimore that night, his alibi says he was in East Baltimore, helping carry groceries into an apartment before eating spaghetti for dinner. Still, he was sentenced to life without parole plus 38 years. In the decades since, Levon has missed raising his children, walking his sister down the aisle, and saying goodbye to two of his children who died while he was incarcerated. It is time for Levon to come home.
This film was created by Sia Mehta, Shelby Liles, Elise Barthel, and Nikhil Wadhwa from NYU with support from Jenny Linares from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Levon and his case, follow @freelevonstokes on Instagram.
Steven Szarewicz
'45 Years Overdue' tells the story of Steve Szarewicz, convicted of murder in 1983 for the death of Billy Merriweather along Bull Creek in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. There was no DNA, no physical evidence, and no confession. The prosecution's entire case rested on the testimony of four jailhouse informants who coordinated with each other, struck deals with prosecutors, and whose incentives were never disclosed to the jury. One of them, Ernie Bevilacqua, later admitted to an investigative reporter that he made the story up entirely to get favorable treatment. Steve has been sitting in prison for 45 years, waiting for his wrongful conviction to be overturned. This is his story.
This film was created by Alice Zhao, Corinne Meng, Devyn Novikoff, and Lauren Deramo from NYU with support from Angelica Villalba from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Steve and his case, follow @bring_steve_home on Instagram.
Anthony Thompson
'Waiting on that Golden Light' tells the story of Anthony Thompson, who was 23 years old when police pulled him over on September 24th, 1992 and told him he was wanted for a 1990 murder he had nothing to do with. Despite another man, Larzie Rock, confessing to the murder, Anthony was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Anthony's family is still waiting for him to come home from this injustice, 33 years later.
This film was created by Katy Beiner, Steven Hansen, and Ria Maheshwari from Georgetown University with support from Sydney Ward from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Anthony and his case, follow @freeanthonythompson on Instagram.
Stacey Tyler
“I Dare Not Dream” tells the story of Stacey “Sabur” Tyler, an innocent man who has spent more than 30 years on North Carolina’s death row for a crime that never happened. In 1993, Sabur and his girlfriend were together in their trailer home when the kerosene heater flared and engulfed her in flames. Despite there being no history of abuse, his girlfriend denying Sabur had lit her on fire, and fire evidence pointing to an accident, Sabur was convicted of first-degree murder. The Prosecution presented a false narrative of the events leading up to the fire. Despite unreliable witnesses and a lack of evidence, they led jurors to believe Sabur intentionally set Evon on fire. In the 32 years since the accident, Sabur’s story has never changed.
This film was created by Lindsay Eiseman, William Mead-McCaughan, and Lucy Shreves from Georgetown University with support from Janna Zaibak from Georgetown Law School.
To learn more about Sabur and his case, follow @savesabur on Instagram.
Peter Wlasiuk
'Tunnel Vision' tells the story of Peter Wlasiuk, who has spent nearly 25 years in prison after his wife Patty died in the early morning hours of April 3rd, 2002, when their truck drove into Guilford Lake in Chenango County, New York. Peter escaped through the window but could not save her. Five days later, police arrested him on a theory that made little sense: that he had picked Patty up from work, forced beer down her throat, strangled her behind their house, dragged her to the truck, and drove it into the lake. The first medical examiner ruled the death a probable drowning. Then, without new medical evidence, that ruling was changed to strangulation. Defense experts who could have testified on Peter's behalf were barred from the stand, meaning jurors heard only one side. Because of countless errors in the case, he was tried not once but three times. Peter is still in prison today.
This film was created by Katherine Bogdanova, Aishwarya Swamidurai, Aina Marzia, and Matthew Cline from Princeton University with support from Eleanor Zweber from Georgetown Law School.