CASES
John “Divine G Whitfield”
Convicted of a murder he did not commit, John spent 25 years behind bars before his story reached the screen in the Oscar-nominated film Sing Sing. Despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence, his case remains stuck in legal limbo. Sign the petition to help push for a fresh start.
ANDREW KRIVAK
Andrew Krivak and his co-defendant were convicted in 1997 of a horrendous crime that they allegedly committed together: the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. An ever-growing mountain of evidence points to their innocence and suggests that another man, Howard Gombert, may have raped and killed the girl. DiPippo was finally acquitted of all the charges on October 11, 2016, but Krivak remained in prison based on the same evidence.
WILLIAM HAUGHEY
The Foundation's own investigation turned up the critical evidence that overturned William's wrongful arson conviction, freeing him in 2016 after 8 years and 4 months in prison.
Thomas shafer
Convicted on a guilty plea in 2012, Thomas spent years on probation for a grand larceny he didn't commit — until newly discovered evidence proved the jewellery at the centre of the case was never actually stolen. He was fully exonerated in 2024.
MARC DOUGLAS
Marc spent nearly 14 years in prison on burglary and assault charges before a post-conviction motion citing Brady violations and actual innocence led the Westchester DA to vacate his conviction and dismiss the case entirely.
WILLIAM LOPEZ
Working alongside William's existing legal team, the Foundation helped uncover new evidence of innocence and secured testimony from a witness who had been deported — leading to his exoneration in 2013 after 23½ years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
dieter tejada
Facing up to 10 years, Dieter pleaded guilty to an assault he committed in self-defense as a high school senior and served nine months. Years later, after becoming a lawyer himself, he helped uncover evidence removed from the original police reports — leading to a full pardon in 2023, 15 years later.
ANDRE BROWN
Andre served 23 years of a 40-year sentence for two attempted murders before new medical and ballistics evidence pointed to his innocence. After a year-long fight to keep him from being sent back to prison, he was resentenced to time served — and the Foundation is still pursuing his full exoneration.
LORENZO JOHNSON
Released once in 2012 after a federal court called the evidence against him insufficient, Lorenzo was sent back to prison just months later when the Supreme Court reinstated his conviction. The Foundation kept fighting, and in 2017 he was finally freed for good.
Wrongful Conviction Parole Efforts
The Foundation is happy to report that we have assisted seven of our clients in obtaining parole while they maintained their innocence. In general, when prisoners maintain their innocence at the parole board rather than express remorse and take responsibility, they are denied parole. Despite that, we have successfully assisted seven clients in obtaining parole, and an additional client was released on compassionate release, with his release application highlighting the ongoing review of his case by a Conviction Review Unit.