WLWT-TV: Ohio Innocence Project works to save the lives of the wrongly convicted

Robert McClendon spent 18 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Everyday he remains grateful for the freedom he once thought not possible.

“A lot of people live in the past,” McClendon told WLWT-TV. “I don’t live in the past, I live in the now. I know that 18 years that (I lost) I am going to get (it back), and I am going to get it and it is going to mean the world to me.”

McClendon spoke with the media and greeted supporters during a Cornhole Tournament fundraiser for the Ohio Innocence Project held at UC Law on Oct. 2, a day known as Wrongful Conviction Day. 

On this day, it is a time to honor those wrongfully convicted and to spread awareness of their stories. The idea of a Cornhole Tournament was inspired by McClendon, who is also a top-ranked amateur cornhole player, a pastime he developed after leaving prison. The sport also provided an opportunity for McClendon to share his own story as he teaches others the game.

WLWT-TV's segment showed McClendon’s interaction with OIP supporters.

McClendon had been wrongfully convicted in the 1990 rape and kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl. He steadfastly maintained his innocence, but three times the courts denied him the right to a DNA test. 

“It was the worst day of my life when I was convicted,” McClendon told WLWT-TV.  “It was like my world ended.”

That changed when the Ohio Innocence Project at UC got involved and worked closely with reporters from The Columbus Dispatch to review cases of Ohio defendants who were denied access to DNA testing. Testing of DNA material on the underwear of the victim when she was attacked and a sample from McClendon while imprisoned showed he was not the culprit.

He walked free from prison in 2008 and the state of Ohio in 2010 awarded him $1 million in compensation. The city of Columbus also settled a federal civil rights lawsuit with McClendon for $200,000 in 2012, according to the National Registry of Exonerations website. 

“We do the work of last resort,” says Pierce Reed, director of policy and engagement for the Ohio Innocence Project.

The tally of exonerations has continued to grow since 1989 and as of Oct. 12 there have been 3,264 people in the United States who have been exonerated for crimes they did not commit. Those people have lost 28,150 years of their lives to prison and some have spent time on death row.

Reed says that in the state of Ohio there have been nearly 90 exonerations, including 11 innocent people sentenced to death.  The work of the Ohio Innocence Project at UC has led to 36 individuals freed. That amounts to more than 700 years of life these individuals lost for crimes they did not commit.

“The hopes restore not just physical freedom to people but it is helping them gain what we call true freedom and (that’s) escaping the psychological torment,” Reed told WLWT-TV for a segment.

“When you talk to our clients you see the grace that they have and the forgiveness, the resilience and the strength,” says Reed.

WLWT-TV's segment on OIP is available online.

Learn more about the Ohio Innocence Project at UC.

Featured image of the OIP Cornhole Tournament at UC Law provided.