FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: January 15, 2003 Contact: Nancy Ford, 206-6358 (work)
585-8304 (home)
Contact: Bill Clutter, 528-5997
1-800/412-4809 (cell)
Contact: Keith Harris, 618/304-8484
Governor
pardons first Innocence Project subject
SPRINGFIELD--
Leaders of the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project today commended former Gov.
George Ryan for granting clemency to Keith Harris, a Belleville resident who
spent more than 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of armed
robbery and attempted murder.
"We
are here today to applaud the exoneration of Keith Harris” said Nancy Ford, a
professor of legal studies and public affairs at the University of Illinois at
Springfield and co-project director.
"It
is only right and just that Keith Harris’ name be cleared and that he be able
to go on with his life without the cloud of a wrongful conviction hanging over
him.”
“The Harris case illustrates the far-reaching
problems in the investigation, arrest, trial, and appeal of cases in Illinois
involving serious crimes-- even cases like this that do not involve the death
penalty. Keith Harris' case
particularly illustrates the problem of
eyewitness misidentification," added
Bill Clutter, a private criminal investigator and co-founder of the Downstate
Illinois Innocence Project.
Harris
served 22 years of his 50-year sentence before being released in May, 2001,
after an appeals court found his original sentence to be unduly harsh.
Harris,
an inmate at the time, was the first person to receive the assistance of the
Downstate Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois at
Springfield. The project involves students, under the supervision of a faculty
member, a criminal investigator, and an attorney, in the investigation of cases
in which the inmates are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted.
Clutter
said Harris was convicted and spent more than 20 years in prison despite the
absence
of any physical evidence; the
misidentification by a witness after multiple lineups, the confession of
-more-
two other individuals who had a history in
the commission of similar crimes, and of the questioning of the evidence by
Illinois crime investigators, particularly former Illinois State Police Crime
Scene Investigator, Alva Busch.
While
in prison, Harris earned his GED, got a job tutoring other inmates, and joined
Lifers, Inc, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for prison improvements
and worthy causes in the community. He also joined the Jaycees, launched a fund-raising
drive for Southern Illinois flood victims, enrolled in and completed college
courses. Since his release he has worked, married, and pursued efforts to clear
his name, finally achieving his goal with Ryan’s Friday action.
Upon
learning that his clemency petition had been granted, Harris said, “I want to
first thank God it is over. I am
overtaken with emotion, because we have worked so hard to make this
happen. I am grateful to the Governor,
the Innocence Project, and everyone who gave me their trust and support.”
Harris was granted a full pardon based on actual innocence and his criminal
record will be expunged.
Alva
Busch, whose investigative efforts helped clear Harris, offered Keith his
congratulations, saying, “If you want freedom and justice you have to fight for
it. Keith did just that. I am glad his innocence has finally been
established.”
Students
from the project under the supervision of Political Studies Professor Larry
Golden, Clutter and Ford began working with Harris on the case almost two years
ago. They reviewed transcripts,
reinterviewed participants, considered various strategies to achieve
exoneration, and assisted in the preparation and presentation of the final
appeal to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Harris was represented before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board by
Springfield attorney John A. Baker.
Harris’
clemency was the first success for the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project,
which is currently assisting several other inmates in their efforts to prove
their innocence. Ford and Clutter are
supervising a group of legal studies and criminal justice students in case
investigations this spring.
“The
innocence project gives students the opportunity to apply their classroom
learning to help cure very real injustices in the criminal justice system,”
Ford said. “We plan to make the Harris
case just the first exoneration of many.”
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