DNA Key For Innocence Project

If you stop and think about it, one of the scariest things imaginable is being locked up for a crime you didn't commit. Behind bars for what could be the rest of one's life, in many cases, with what may seem like very few people who take you seriously. All this while trying to be heard over a chorus of others claiming to be innocent.

These days, though, there is an acknowledgement in the justice system that some people are what Marla Mitchell-Cichon calls "factually innocent" - and DNA is playing a starring role in clearing them. Enter the Western Michigan Unversity-Cooley Law School Innocence Project.

Mitchell-Cichon tells WBCK the project has reviewed thousands of cases in the last 15 or so years, has more than 100 under review now that are gaining traction, and about 1000 yet to review.

A recent $400,000 grant from the Department of Justice underscores what sort of a problem the country's justice leaders think we have as it relates to wrongful convictions, and how much they're willing to back an effort to investigate it.

Click the video below to hear Mitchell-Cichon talk about the Innocence Project, what "factual innocence" is, and how this whole thing is a huge learning experience.

Hear The Richard Piet Show weekday mornings from 5:30-9 on WBCK.