Watch the November Town hall with our guest Claudia Trupp, Director of Innocence Project, Delaware
The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice at the Lewes library with our guest Claudia Trupp, Director of Innocence Project, Delaware. The Innocence Project focusses on claims of actual innocence for people in Delaware who have been wrongfully convicted. Ms. Trupp explores the issues of wrongful conviction and its impact on race with a Q&A.
About our Guest Claudia Trupp
Claudia Trupp, the new Executive Director of Innocence Project Delaware, joins the organization with years of experience representing wrongfully convicted people in post- conviction proceedings. As the Founder and Director of the Center for Appellate Litigation’s Justice First Project, she supervised teams of attorneys, volunteers, and investigators in complex investigations. The Project enjoyed tremendous success under her leadership and was recognized as a model of excellence by the New York State Bar Association.
Last year in Hemphill v. New York, her client prevailed before the United States Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the accused does not waive his right to confront the witnesses against him merely by asserting his innocence and blaming another for the crime.
In addition to her expertise in wrongful conviction work, Ms. Trupp founded and directed the Center’s parole advocacy, conditions of confinement, and reentry projects.
She has also taught and lectured on various topics relating to criminal law. The mother of three daughters, she published a memoir, Hard Time and Nursery Rhymes, about her experiences raising them while working as a public defender. She looks forward to bringing her expertise to Innocence Project Delaware’s mission of helping to free those wrongfully convicted in Delaware.
About the Innocence Project Delaware
Innocence Project Delaware was established in 2018 as the only organization focusing on claims of actual innocence for people in Delaware who have been wrongfully convicted. The project provides pro bono services to investigate and seek relief for claims of wrongful conviction. It also provides post-exoneration support to individuals who have been exonerated.
We also look to remedy the causes of wrongful convictions: official misconduct, bad science, eyewitness misidentification and prejudice. When not working with specific individuals, the project helps educate the public about potential criminal justice reforms related to wrongful conviction as well as access to justice.
Housed at Widener University Delaware Law School, Innocence Project Delaware is in the advantageous position of having law students eager to work on these important issues in a clinical setting.
