Prosecutors, police, defense attorneys join Wisconsin Innocence Project’s new advisory board

The Wisconsin Innocence Project, a legal education and advocacy project at the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Frank J. Remington Center, today announced the formation of a new advisory board.

The board will advise the Wisconsin Innocence Project on case selection criteria, evaluating difficult cases, strengthening advocacy in individual meritorious cases, and evaluating and promoting policy initiatives to improve the criminal justice system.

The new board will include such prominent and respected experts as retired Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann and retired Assistant District Attorney Jon Reddin; retired Dane County prosecutors Judy Schwaemle and John Norsetter; Manitowoc County Assistant District Attorney Michael Griesbach; Port Washington Police Chief Richard Thomas; Madison Police Department Capt. Vic Wahl; Marquette law professor Daniel Blinka; State Public Defender Kelli Thompson; and attorneys Stephen Hurley, Dean Strang, Stephen Glynn, Stephen Meyer, Gordon “Chip” Davenport III, James Friedman, and Rebecca Mason, and former exonerated client and now attorney Christopher Ochoa. Additional members may be added to the board.

Keith Findley, a clinical law professor at the UW Law School and co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, says the board will serve an important role.

“The work we do advocating for the wrongly convicted can have profound impact on the lives of the wrongly convicted, victims of crime, and the functioning of the criminal justice system,” he says. “To help us chart an effective and appropriate course, we thought it best to bring in experienced and respected actors from across the criminal justice system to ensure full and balanced consideration of the issues we confront.”