Fritz Seyferth opened our 2019 year at the January 9 meeting with a poem on Justice by Carley Buckner. Ingrid Sheldon lightened our mood leading us in singing three Smile songs.

President Greg honored two very special Rotarians who we lost over the holidays. Art Holst, who was a Rotarian for 61 years, 17 of them as a member of our Club, died in

Florida. There will be a memorial service for Art in the Spring.
Gloria Kerry, who was the first female member of our Club and one of the earliest female members of Rotary International, passed away at home, surrounded by family. There will be a memorial service for Gloria on January 26 at First Presbyterian Church, at 2:00pm.
After a long moment of silence, President Greg honored them reminding us that “the life we lead is the lesson we teach.”

Thanks to the large cast of Rotarians who make our meetings run smoothly, and then birthday announcements, followed these somber moments.

Wine, Women and Song will be Thursday, January 24, at the Kerrytown Concert House. This is a great evening of music and fun to share with Rotarians and guests. Wine and cheese start the evening at 7:30pm with the show at 8:00pm. Tickets are still available from Shelley MacMillan (shemac@glacierhills com) for $25.00.  Make reservations soon as KCH fills up quickly.

Shelley MacMillan  announced the Rotarians at Glacier Hills’ first meeting of 2019 will be Friday,  January 18.  The meeting is so popular that it has moved to the Renaissance Room to accommodate everyone who wants to attend.  Duane Renken will be presented with Emertius status that morning. Coffee and cookies will be served at 9:45am with the meeting beginning at 10:00am.  Let Shelley know if you will attend so there will be enough cookies.

President Greg introduced guests.  Most guests were parents of our Junior Rotarians.  The counselors from Community and Father Gabriel Richard were named and thanked.

Five Junior Rotarians were introduced by Mary Jean Raab and Meghan Gupta.  They are very successful and accomplished young people who are active in their schools and the wider community.  This year Junior Rotarians will only attend one meeting – their schedules are packed!

Notes from the Program

Dennis Powers  introduced our Speaker, David Moran, speaking about the  the Michigan Innocence Clinic.  Dr. Moran teaches in the Law School and is a practicing attorney who has argued six Supreme Court cases. Dr. Moran and Bridget McCormick, who was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2013 and is now Chief Justice,  founded the Clinic in 2009.  Presently there are three attorneys in the clinic.

Dr. Moran described the long running paradigm about our justice system as one whose process works, one that has representation for all accused and adequate investigation to establish guilt or innocence.  The emergence of DNA as reliable evidence changed all that perception.  Across the nation so far, 350 prisoners have been exonerated using DNA and other more reliable evidence.

There are six causes of wrongful conviction.

• mistaken eyewitness accounts
• false confessions, mostly taken after long interrogations and from young or mentally fragile people
• bad forensic science
• inadequate defense, especially for indigent persons
• prosecutorial or police misconduct
• over reliance on incentivised testimony

Three to five percent of persons convicted of serious felonies are wrongfully convicted.  It costs $35,000 per year to house a prisoner in Michigan, more than to attend college.  An additional cost is that decisions to charge a person stop investigating all other possibilities, leaving the true criminal free to commit other crimes.

The Michigan Innocence Clinic is currently staffed by 26 law students and three attorneys.  The students commit to two semesters and receive seven credits for each semester.  The work is very intense as they have to reinvestigate entire cases that may be decades old.  Prisoners petition the Clinic using a long questionnaire. Five thousand have been received by the clinic since its founding in 2009.  Two students read each questionnaire and then decide if the case should be investigated.  Two other students review briefs written by the initial reviewers and if they agree the case should be pursued, the case is reviewed by the attorneys and other students.  There must be new evidence before a final determination will be made whether the Clinic will take the case.  Students do all the interviewing and evidence collection.  They write the briefs to petition for the conviction to be set aside but of course, the attorneys argue the cases.  Forty five cases have been taken, and 21 have been won.

Dr. Moran recounted the story of Desmond Ricks, who had been convicted of murder with fraudulent ‘evidence’ presented by Detroit Police.  It is a discouraging tale.  Dr. Moran recommended two books for further reading:

• Actual Innocence, by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld and Jim Dwyer
• Convicting the Innocent, by Brandon Garrett