Washington Post: UC’s OIP frees 29th defendant amid COVID-19 scare

The case of an Ohio man who walked free last month after serving 12 years in prison for a crime in which DNA evidence implicated another suspect is attracting national attention.

Chris Smith marked the 29th person freed with the help the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. A 30th client, Isiah Andrews, celebrated his freedom two weeks later.

A federal judge overturned Smith’s 2008 conviction for armed robbery on April 9, and issued an order calling for his immediate release. Yet Smith’s attorneys say various officials defied the order and continued to hold Smith—who is at special medical risk from COVID-19—in custody for five more days, first at the Toledo Correctional Institution, where he’d been serving his sentence, and then at the Hamilton County Justice Center in Cincinnati.

It took two more court orders—one from a Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas judge and a third from the same federal judge—before Smith was finally released on April 14. 

Michele Berry Godsey, a 2006 UC College of Law alumnus and former OIP participant, represented Smith both at his original trial in Hamilton County 12 years ago and in his appeal. Throughout the trial, she repeatedly requested DNA evidence found on a disguise worn by the perpetrator during the robbery, but didn’t receive the full DNA evidence until several months after Smith’s conviction.

Smith appealed on various constitutional violations. In June 2019, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Smith’s favor and sent the case back to the lower court to resolve final issues.

Read the original story here: UC’s OIP helps free 29th defendant

Media Coverage Generated by Smith's Case:

Impact Lives Here

The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.

Stay up on all UC's COVID-19 stories, read more #UCtheGood content, or take a UC virtual visit and begin picturing yourself at an institution that inspires incredible stories.

Featured image at top: Christopher Smith celebrates his release from the Hamilton County Justice Center on April 14, 2020, from a safe social distance with attorney Michele Berry Godsey, a UC College of Law alumnus and former OIP participant. Smith served 12 years in prison for an armed robbery that DNA evidence later implicated a different perpetrator. Photo/provided/Mark Godsey

Related Stories

1

CDC issues new guidelines to help manage potential IUD pain

September 18, 2024

Some women have taken to social media with their experiences of pain when having an intrauterine device, or IUD, inserted. Now the Centers for Disease Control issued guidelines to urge health care providers to address the problem. Priya Gursahaney, MD, associate professor in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, recently appeared on Cincinnati Edition on WVXU to discuss the role that IUDs play in reproductive health care.

2

$300K grant awarded to study airborne MRSA in health care...

September 18, 2024

University of Cincinnati researchers are working to minimize health care workers' exposure to infectious diseases. An Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation grant will fund a study on the presence of MRSA in the air in hospital settings.

Debug Query for this