Jun 23, 2011 2 min read

WAYNESBURG — Waynesburg University’s annual CSI Summer Camp activities will include presentations from two individuals from the Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals.

Craig M. Cooley, staff attorney, and Thomas Doswell, an individual exonerated on post-conviction DNA test results, will speak at 7?p.m., Sunday in the Goodwin Performing Arts Center.

The event is free and the public is cordially invited to attend.

Doswell, who was wrongfully accused of rape, criminal intent, simple assault, terroristic threats and unlawful restraint, contacted the Innocence Project in 1996 after spending 10 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. In 1998, Doswell filed a request for testing that was denied because the motion was filed late.

?In 2004, the Innocence Project and local counsel James DePasquale filed a motion to have the case evidence subject to DNA testing after confirming it was located in the police department’s property room. Testing was granted in March 2005. The DNA test results proved Doswell’s innocence. He was released Aug. 1, 2005, after spending 18 years in prison.

Contributing causes to his conviction included eyewitness misidentification and government misconduct. For 19 years, Doswell maintained his innocence, refusing to confess to a crime that he did not commit. Doswell was 25 years old when he was convicted of the crime.

Cooley will share experiences related to his representation of clients seeking access to post-conviction DNA testing and release from convictions based on exculpatory DNA evidence. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Cooley represented death row inmates in federal and state post-conviction proceedings. He has also worked as an investigator and caseworker.

The event will conclude with a question and answer session.