The Exoneration Initiative is a not-for-profit corporation with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It relies upon donations from individuals and organizations that are committed to exonerating the wrongly convicted.
The Initiative carries a heavy caseload and there is an ever growing demand for our services. Funding is necessary to sustain and advance our efforts.
EXI maximizes funds to achieve its primary objective – to free the innocent. We only select those cases most likely to result in exoneration, then join with law firms committed to providing high-quality legal talent and resources on a pro bono basis to defray litigation costs. By spending wisely, the Initiative is building a strong foundation and increasing the opportunities to free the wrongfully convicted.
Together we can ensure that the criminal justice system effectively responds to the need to protect and free the innocent.
You can make your donation:
Online through PayPal's secure payment gateway:
By mailing it to:
The Exoneration Initiative
350 Broadway
Suite 1207
New York, NY 10013
By wire transfer:
Call us at 212.965.9335 for bank routing information.
Thank you for your support!
14 July 2011
EXI is proud to announce that we recently received a $100,000 grant from the Guggenheim Foundation. We have also received a $10,000 donation from the Vital Projects Fund. Most not-for-profits are struggling and many are folding, but our resilience and successes have certainly paid off. We are extremely enthusiastic about our organization's future, and see an opportunity to acquire additional funding needed to process our growing caseload and sustain our mission of exonerating the actually innocent.
14 July 2011
Valance has served more than 23 years in prison for a homicide he did not commit. This injustice has continued despite a judge's finding in 2003 that he was "probably innocent," because Cole failed to meet technical legal requirements that had nothing to do with guilt or innocence. Since then, EXI has found the true killer, Denzil Smith, who EXI's investigation has shown to be the same person that was named as the killer by five eyewitnesses in 2003. Smith has made multiple, detailed confessions to the 1985 Brooklyn homicide for which Cole was convicted, and his photograph was identified by an eyewitness to the shooting. In addition, unlike Cole, Smith matches every eyewitness description of the shooter ever provided, including the description provided by the prosecution's key witness.
EXI filed a motion to exonerate Cole based on this new evidence of innocence on February 2, 2011. Final arguments on the case are expected to take place in September, followed by a ruling this fall.
