Megan Baca, Director of California Innocence Advocates, Previews Upcoming Innocence Clinic School Year
SAN DIEGO (July 18, 2024) -- Applications are still open for the Innocence Clinic, a yearlong experiential course in which California Western students will have the opportunity to work to free the wrongfully imprisoned, amplify innocent voices, and rebuild lives. The course will take place on Tuesdays from 2:40-4:40 PM and will run through the fall and spring. Students will receive instruction and training from Megan D. Baca, the founder of California Innocence Advocates (Cal-IA) and case supervision from Cal-IA staff attorneys.
The application deadline for the clinic is July 25.
Students can look forward to being fully immersed in innocence case work throughout the next school year. Ms. Baca notes that in the next semester alone, students will have the chance to work on two to three exonerations that are already in progress. Throughout the year, students will work in pairs on at least two cases, learning from seasoned attorneys, gaining hands-on experience with every stage of innocence work:
- Evaluating cases
- Analyzing police and trial transcripts
- Developing an investigation plan
- Visiting and counseling incarcerated clients
- Interviewing witnesses and former trial counsel
- Drafting and arguing motions in court (if certified)
- Drafting and arguing petitions for writ of habeas corpus
In the classroom, students will learn about the causes of wrongful conviction, the claims that can be raised in habeas cases, and the procedures for case investigation and drafting petitions and motions. Out in the field, students will travel across southern California working on behalf of Cal-IA clients from Kern County down to the US-Mexico border. Students will work directly with District Attorneys’ offices, including the Los Angeles office, which is actively hiring law school graduates.
The application for the Innocence Clinic is available here.