Korey Wise Innocence Project

KWIP Welcomes James "Cass" Garner Home!

Erin Calkins — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:29:20 +0000

KWIP Welcomes James "Cass" Garner Home! Erin Calkins Wed, 04/30/2025 - 08:29

Erin Calkins

Last week, the District Court vacated the conviction of Korey Wise Innocence Project client, James “Cass” Garner, and ordered his immediate release. Remarkably, the same judge who presided over Mr. Garner’s original trial issued the order.

After 15 long years, James Garner is now free — released from Sterling Correctional Facility just after 5:00 p.m. last Wednesday. He is no longer imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.

Mr. Garner was wrongfully convicted in connection with a 2009 non-fatal shooting at a local bar — the same night he was there celebrating his birthday. He has always maintained his innocence. This life-changing outcome was made possible through the relentless work of KWIP attorneys Kathleen Lord and Jeanne Segil. Their case focused on discrediting the unreliable eyewitness identifications that had played a central role in Mr. Garner’s conviction.

In the initial months after the shooting, none of the three victims (all brothers) identified Mr. Garner in photo lineups. But nearly three years later at trial, all three pointed to him in court — a setting that was highly suggestive, especially with Mr. Garner being the only man seated at the defense table alongside two female attorneys. To strengthen their case, Kathleen and Jeanne brought in nationally recognized experts on human memory and eyewitness identification, both of whom concluded that the trial identifications were unreliable.

We’re overjoyed for Mr. Garner and his family. You can watch a short news story about Mr. Garner’s release and see a video of his first moments of freedom on KWIP’s Instagram page. There’s also a great Denver Post article.

“This is why we do this work,” Jeanne Segil said. “Today validates that what we do makes a difference for people.”

Last week, the District Court vacated the conviction of Korey Wise Innocence Project client, James “Cass” Garner, and ordered his immediate release.

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KWIP client Jason Hogan was released from prison on May 9th, 2023

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 20:47:40 +0000

KWIP client Jason Hogan was released from prison on May 9th, 2023 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/28/2023 - 14:47

Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP) client Jason Hogan was released from prison on May 9, 2023, after spending nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Convicted of a robbery/kidnapping at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, he was serving a 77-year sentence. Because Jason’s case appeared to be a wrongful conviction based on mistaken eyewitness identification, KWIP took on the case in 2019 and embarked on a three-year long journey to uncover additional evidence of Jason’s innocence.

Through a painstaking investigation, KWIP learned that an identical robbery/kidnapping took place at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center five days after the crime for which Jason was convicted. Because the two crimes and suspect descriptions were strikingly similar, the police concluded that the same man committed both crimes. However, police quickly developed compelling evidence that Jason did not commit the second robbery. This evidence included the following:

The victim in the second case failed to pick Jason's picture from a photo line-up and said that the man who robbed her was not in the line-up.
A fingerprint lifted from where the robber touched the second victim's car did not match Jason's.
The second victim described another distinctive feature of her attacker -- a heavily pockmarked complexion. This description did not fit Jason.

Though due process required the police and prosecution to share this helpful evidence with Jason's lawyers, they failed to do so. Consequently, the jury that convicted Jason never learned about the second identical crime and all of the evidence showing that Jason was not the robber.

In 2022, KWIP shared this new evidence with the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) at the Denver District Attorney's Office. KWIP was prepared to file a motion for post-conviction relief based on the new evidence, but such motions can take years to litigate in the courts.

The CRU then offered to let Jason enter an Alford plea to a lesser charge and be resentenced to time-served. Under an Alford plea, a person maintains their innocence, but admits that there is evidence that, if believed by a jury, could lead to their conviction. In cases of wrongful conviction, such compromise outcomes are not uncommon. By accepting the CRU's offer, Jason was able to avoid a long court battle and return home to his family immediately.

Jason earned two associate degrees while in prison and was a star participant in an entrepreneurial program run by a non-profit called Breakthrough, from whom he accepted a full-time job upon his release.

The Korey Wise Innocence Project provides free investigative and legal services to people serving time in Colorado prisons for crimes they did not commit. As part of the University of Colorado Law School and ��ɫ��Ƶ community, KWIP's staff also mentors law students and undergraduate students in both the legal and advocacy work of the project. Visit our website to learn more about their work, why wrongful convictions happen, and how you can get involved.

Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP) client Jason Hogan was released from prison on May 9, 2023, after spending nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

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In Memoriam: Judge Kristy Martinez

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 23:29:14 +0000

In Memoriam: Judge Kristy Martinez Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/22/2023 - 16:29

It is with heavy hearts that we share news of the passing of Judge Kristy Martinez, who served as the first full-time director of the University of Colorado Law School’s Korey Wise Innocence Project and then on the Boulder County Court following her appointment by then-Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper in 2019. Judge Martinez passed away on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.

"We at the University of Colorado Law School are very much saddened by the death of Judge Kristy Martinez,” said law school Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss. “She was a valued and admired member of the CU Law family during her time here as director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project, and was also highly esteemed well beyond the law school. She touched the lives of many, and will be greatly missed."

During her tenure on the Boulder County Court, Judge Martinez was known for her integrity, fairness, and commitment to justice. She presided over cases with a deep sense of compassion and respect for all those who appeared before her. As a law professor and the first director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project, she fought tirelessly for the rights of the wrongfully convicted and to serve as an extraordinary teacher and mentor to the many students she impacted.

“Judge Martinez played a key role in establishing the Korey Wise Innocence Project, and her leadership and dedication were unparalleled. She was fierce as an advocate for her clients and a warm, engaged mentor to her students,” remarked Professor Ann England, faculty director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project. “I’ll never forget her big laugh, obsessive love for ice cream, and endearing stories about growing up with her grandmother teaching her to fish and hunt with a bow. The world is a sadder place without her.”

Judge Martinez attended the University of Denver, receiving a B.A. in Human Communication in 1995 and her Juris Doctorate Degree in 1999. Judge Martinez began her litigation career as a Deputy District Attorney in Adams County, Colorado. In 2002, Judge Martinez established a criminal defense practice representing indigent clients at trial, on appeal and during post-conviction review. Beginning in September 2015, Judge Martinez became the director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project and served in that capacity until she took the bench. In 2019, University of Colorado Law awarded Judge Martinez the honorary Order of the Coif for her outstanding contribution to the legal profession.

The University of Colorado Law School extends its deepest condolences to Judge Martinez's family, friends, and colleagues during this time. The Boulder County Bar welcomes remembrances of Judge Martinez.

Details about a celebration of life will be forthcoming.

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Korey Wise Visits Colorado Law

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 23:46:53 +0000

Korey Wise Visits Colorado Law Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/04/2022 - 17:46

Korey Wise, a member of the Exonerated Five, spoke at Colorado Law on September 23, 2022. Mr. Wise and four other youth were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 brutal assault of a jogger in New York’s Central Park only to be exonerated by DNA twelve years later.

This was Mr. Wise's first visit to Colorado Law in six years. At the event sponsored by the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP), the classroom was packed with students, KWIP staff, and members of the community. They all came to hear Mr. Wise tell his story and answer questions from eager students.

"In reading cases in law books, students can forget the human beings behind stories of injustice," noted Clinical Law Professor and Faculty Director of KWIP, Ann England. "Hearing directly from a wrongfully convicted person has a tremendous impact."

As one law student, Samuel Edgerton '23, noted, “What really stuck out when listening to Korey was his forgiveness and his ability to live life to the fullest even after losing such important years of his youth.” Many law students shared that in listening to Mr. Wise speak, they connected with the hard truth that most of them are now at an age that Mr. Wise only experienced behind bars.

Hearing from exonerees, especially someone like Korey Wise, also motivates students and KWIP’s staff to, in Mr. Wise's words, “Keep doing the hard work of helping people who really need it.”

Based at Colorado Law, KWIP was previously known as the Colorado Innocence Project and did not initially have the funding to hire staff. In 2015, Mr. Wise made a generous multi-year donation to take the project from a fully volunteer-based program to what it is at today. In honor of his generous gift and his belief in the organization’s potential, the project was renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project. Since 2015, the project has continued to grow. Now under the supervision of Executive Director Anne-Marie Moyes and Professor England, KWIP’s staff also includes two full-time staff attorneys, a director of policy and education, a legal fellow, and many committed volunteers. Although Korey Wise was convicted in New York City and still resides there, he plays an integral role in KWIP and its success.

Korey Wise, a member of the Exonerated Five, spoke at Colorado Law on September 23, 2022, his first visit to Colorado Law in six years. At the event sponsored by the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP), the classroom was packed with students, KWIP staff, and members of the community who all came to hear Mr. Wise tell his story and answer questions.

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