Keith Cooper case revives exoneration work by Notre Dame law students

SOUTH BEND — When a Notre Dame Law School administrator sent out a list of inactive student organizations in summer 2016, seeking volunteers to revive some of the dormant clubs, one stood out to Tia Paulette — the Innocence Project.

Paulette, then a second-year law student, was surprised that the school did not have a club dedicated to aiding and raising awareness about people who were wrongfully imprisoned.

Only she and four other students came forward to revive the club — now affiliated with the Exoneration Project — and they struggled to get it up and running on just a couple hundred dollars for its first academic year.

But now, at least in part because of a wrongfully imprisoned former Elkhart man whose fight for a pardon made national news, the group has exploded in popularity.

Since Keith Cooper visited in April to speak about his case, student volunteers have begun working on real-life cases. And that’s led to plans for the school to launch a full-fledged criminal justice clinic to help others who have been falsely convicted.

“We took the school by storm,” said Paulette, the club’s president. “We went from five members to over 100, and we started with absolutely nothing.”

In the fall of 2016, the revived Notre Dame Innocence Project chapter was denied funding by the Student Bar Assocation because the co-founders had yet to establish a detailed budget or calendar of events.

By the following spring, the club had lost its connection with the Innocence Project because it was unable to meet the organization’s standards for affiliates.

The club struggled to line up its first event, so faculty adviser Jimmy Gurule pitched in and gave a talk on criminal justice reform. His talk referenced Keith Cooper, who was convicted of a 1996 robbery in Elkhart and spent almost 10 years in prison before being exonerated when DNA evidence suggested he was innocent and witnesses recanted.

Cooper’s case rose to the national stage last year, when then-governor Mike Pence’s refusal to issue a pardon became an issue in Pence’s vice-presidential campaign. Gov. Eric Holcomb pardoned Cooper days after taking office.

The club’s officers — Paulette, Erika Gustin, Jamie Kang, Michael Pearson and Cameasha Turner —invited Cooper and his attorney, Elliot Slosar of the Exoneration Project, to speak at the school.

When Cooper visited April 12, people packed one of the school’s biggest lecture halls to hear his story.

“Students and professors filled the room, people who were crying,” Paulette said. “Students were overwhelmed in a good way.”

Exoneration Project members say the club has gained attention partly because it’s easy to support justice for people who have been wronged.

One of the founding members, Michael Pearson, said they have made a point to frame the issue as moral, not political. In fact, members of Notre Dame’s Future Prosecuting Attorneys Council have been among the Exoneration Project’s main supporters, he said.

“I don’t know anybody of any stripe who’s cheering to put innocent people in jail,” he said. “We’ve been cognizant of pushing this as a nonpartisan, human issue.”

That event led to the club’s new affiliation with the Exoneration Project. Student volunteers are now helping the organization with two cases of alleged wrongful convictions.

The club continues to offer lectures and other activities meant to raise awareness for wrongful convictions, such an annual display of white roses to signify the people who were exonerated each year. But real-life casework is where members hope to focus their energy.

“From the beginning, we knew that casework would be the lifeblood of an Exoneration Project,” said Gustin, the vice president. “I don’t think you can call yourself an Exoneration Project unless you’re working to get wrongfully convicted people out of prison.”

Gurule, a professor and the group’s adviser, said the club’s focus on real casework, with the goal of reversing injustice, has helped lead to its rapid growth.

“I think the enthusiasm that this particular student organization has generated is, I would say, probably unprecedented in the law school,” he said. “I think students are seeing the real-life implications and value of the work being done.”

The law school’s leaders have seen the value, too.

Gurule said the school’s administrators have already taken steps to set up an official criminal justice clinic that would focus on providing legal help to innocent people in their appeals or post-conviction remedies.

That type of permanent clinic would amount to a commitment of millions of dollars, he said. The school would likely have to hire a full-time executive director with substantial legal experience. It would need support staff and facilities to store records, hold meetings and interview witnesses.

Paul Marcus, a professor at William & Mary Law School in Virginia and president of the Association of American Law Schools, said the value of exoneration work is worth the effort.

“We offer access to justice for people who otherwise would not receive it,” he said. “Oftentimes with an innocence project, there’s no one else. It really opens the door to people who may have been wrongfully convicted.”

Gurule said Notre Dame Law School’s administration has begun to seek donors to help endow the clinic. If the efforts go well, it’s possible it could open for the 2018-19 academic year, he said.

“We’re planting seeds,” Paulette said of the hopes for the clinic. “The fact this is going to happen, and it’s something our club’s events have served as a catalyst for, is amazing.”

csheckler@sbtinfo.com

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