The North Carolina Center On Actual Innocence

The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence is a non-profit organization that identifies, investigates, and litigates credible claims of innocence asserted by indigent inmates convicted of felonies in North Carolina and South Carolina. Its primary mission is to identify and correct cases of wrongful conviction, while also educating policymakers, the public, and legal communities about factors contributing to wrongful convictions and promoting solutions to increase the reliability of outcomes.

Through federal grant awards from the Department of Justice's Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) program, the Center has collaborated with the North Carolina State Crime Lab and county district attorney's offices to review forensic evidence cases, prioritize high-risk convictions for review, and identify and resolve credible claims of actual innocence. Specific initiatives include reviewing microscopic hair comparison cases, DNA mixture cases with questioned analysis standards, and convictions with potential prosecutorial misconduct. The Center has ongoing litigation for several wrongful conviction cases, with plans to expand collaborations to additional jurisdictions. Grant funding supports staffing, case investigations, litigation efforts, and furthering the CCLI program's goals of providing training, technical assistance, and review of post-conviction innocence claims in capital cases. Partners have included the North Carolina State Crime Lab, Durham District Attorney's Office, and district attorneys' offices in other counties.