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PRESENTATION OF THE INNOCENCE PROJECT AT MONMOUTH U. ON SEPTEMBER 13

Monmouth University will host a presentation on the Innocence Project on September 13, in Bey Hall’s Young Auditorium from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.  The event is free and open to Monmouth University community and the public.

The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

The guest speakers will be Elizabeth Webster, publications manager, and exoneree Alan Newton. In 1984 in New York City, Alan Newton was wrongfully accused of rape, robbery, and assault. He had asked for DNA testing in 1994, and his request was denied because evidence had been presumed to be lost. In 2005, at the Innocence Project’s request, the district attorney’s office found the rape kit after an exhaustive search. Post-conviction DNA testing then proved that Newton was not the perpetrator of this crime. He was released from prison on July 6, 2012 after serving twenty-two years.

Additional information on this case is available at the following internet sites:

  1. www.innocenceproject.org
  2. www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/nyregion/07rape.html

The event is sponsored by the Honors School and the History and Anthropology Department.

For more information, contact Professor Susan Douglass at 732-263-5509 or send e-mail to sdouglas@monmouth.edu.

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Media contact: Petra Ludwig at 732-263-5507