Law School’s project frees innocent man

A Texas man who has spent 12 years in prison for a crime he did not commit was released Jan. 16 thanks to work by the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the Law School.

Three law students, under the supervision of clinical professors Keith Findley and John Pray, spent 18 months working on the case of 34-year-old Chris Ochoa, who is now considered to be innocent of a 1988 conviction of rape and murder.

Law students Cory Tennison, Brian VanDenzen and Wendy Seffrood accompanied their professors to Ochoa’s hearing in Austin, Texas, where the Travis County District Attorney joined the Innocence Project in a motion supporting Ochoa’s freedom.

Ochoa’s claim of innocence has been substantiated by a combination of DNA testing and the verified confession of another man. “The Ochoa case is a prime example of, and it serves to highlight, the phenomenon of false confessions caused by fear of the death penalty,” says Findley, who co-directs the law school’s clinical program with Pray.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project’s work on this case began after it received a letter from Ochoa, who heard of their work and told them he was innocent and felt that DNA testing would prove it.

The Innocence enthusiasm has spread to the rest of the Law School. More than 150 students, faculty and staff donated $750 for a plane ticket for Dora Ochoa, Chris’ mother, to travel from her home in El Paso to the Austin hearing.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project was formed 2 1/2 years ago with the assistance of noted attorney Barry Scheck, who started the Innocence Project at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in New York. Scheck’s Innocence Project has used modern DNA technology and testing to overturn more than 30 wrongful convictions.

The law students’ work has gained national attention and a number of major news organizations have been following the case. ABC’s “Nightline” featured the Ochoa case Jan. 15. Pray appeared Jan. 16 on ABC’s “Good Morning, America.” In addition, the program plans to interview Ochoa Jan. 16, the day after the hearing.

“Chris has been in prison for a long time for something he didn’t do,” says Tennison. “I have been speaking with his mom on a regular basis and she cannot put into words how she feels about the prospect of her son being home for the first time in 12 years.”