The Great North Innocence Project’s legal team provides free legal services for people convicted of crimes they did not commit.
Who We Help
Our team only represents people who are claiming actual innocence of the crime of which they were convicted. For example, we do not accept cases of self-defense or cases where a person was guilty but are claiming a constitutional rights violation.
Please note: applying for our help does not guarantee that we will represent you. Even if we begin reviewing your case, this does not mean we represent you.
Your case may be subject to legal deadlines. If you miss them, you could lose important rights. You’re responsible for tracking those deadlines unless and until we agree to formally represent you with a signed retainer agreement.
Case Criteria
Actual innocence always means you played no role in the crime for which you were convicted. Actual innocence means you did not do it. For our purposes, actual innocence does not mean:
- I did it but in self defense.
- I did it, but the sex was consensual.
- I was there but played a lesser role.
- I did it, but the state didn’t prove it.
- I did it, but the state brought the wrong charges.
- I did it, but my rights were violated.
Your appeals are complete and were unsuccessful.
We only accept applications from individuals convicted in Minnesota, North Dakota, or South Dakota.
In rare cases, we may take cases from other states, but only with a referral from another innocence organization.
There is a realistic possibility that new evidence can prove your innocence.
Examples include the following:
- DNA or other scientific testing may exonerate you.
- A key witness against you has recanted his or her trial testimony.
- New evidence shows someone else committed the crime.
- New evidence shows that no crime was committed.
You currently do not have a lawyer.
How Our Process Works
Step One: Submit an Application
If you believe your case meets our criteria, follow these instructions:
If you are not currently in prison, complete an application by clicking the button below and mail it to:
The Great North Innocence Project
229 19th Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
or email it to: info@gn-ip.org.
If you are a loved one of someone who is in prison, you may request that we send an application to them by filling out the form below. The person in prison must complete and send the application themselves.
Please do not drop off an application at our office in-person.
Step Two: Intake
Once we receive your application, a staff member will review it. We will send you a letter confirming your application has been received. We carefully review each application and the available records. This process may take several weeks, months, or sometimes longer.
After the review is complete, we will send you a letter to let you know whether we will move forward and begin investigating your case. If we are not able to help, we will let you know that as well.
Step Three: Investigation
If your application passes initial screening, it will be assigned to one of our attorneys for a deeper review. At that point, we begin a more thorough investigation into your conviction. You will receive a letter letting your know when this begins.
Investigations can take a long time. Sometimes many months, or even years. The timeline depends on many things, like how old the case is, whether witnesses are available, and whether evidence can still be tested.
If your case moves into this stage, our team will stay in touch and keep you updated.
Step Four: Representation
After we complete our investigation, if we find strong evidence of actual innocence and a realistic way to return to court, we may offer to represent you.
At that point, you would sign a formal retainer agreement with us. This agreement makes the Great North Innocence Project your legal representative.
It’s important to understand that even after we sign this agreement, we may not be able to file anything in court right away or at all. Sometimes the law doesn’t allow us to move forward, even if we believe you are innocent.
If that happens, we will explain the reasons and discuss any next steps we can take together.
Step Five: Litigation
If legal remedies are available, we will pursue every path possible to correct your wrongful conviction. This may include filing motions in court, seeking new forensic testing, requesting an evidentiary hearing, or asking a court to grant a new trial.
In some cases, we may also submit your case to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit or Hennepin County Conviction Integrity Unit for independent review.
Throughout this stage, we will keep you informed and continue working toward your freedom.
Commonly Asked Questions
Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about our process.
Yes. A guilty plea does not stop a claim in court of actual innocence. Cassandra Black Elk pleaded guilty only later to have her conviction vacated based upon actual innocence.
No. We have represented people convicted of everything from homicide to burglary. What matters to us is not the type of crime, but whether you were wrongfully convicted. Our focus is on helping innocent people clear their names and regain their freedom.
We are a nonprofit organization and our legal services are completely free.
No. Our team can access most of your case documents online or through other resources. If we can’t get something, we will reach out to you.
You can add additional pages to your application if needed.
We typically cannot take cases where someone says they committed the act but did it in self-defense. That’s because under the law, self-defense does not count as actual innocence. To qualify for our help, you must be saying you did not commit the crime at all and you played no role in it.
We work with large law firms and law schools to help us carry out our legal work, and we receive support from generous individuals, law firms, and businesses. We only agree to represent someone if we are confident we have the time, resources, and support needed to do the job well.
If you are claiming actual innocence, but were not convicted in our region, you should reach out to your local innocence organization. Find a list of all innocence organizations here.