Korey Wise, a member of the Exonerated Five, spoke at Colorado Law on September 23, 2022. Mr. Wise and four other youth were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 brutal assault of a jogger in New York’s Central Park only to be exonerated by DNA twelve years later.
This was Mr. Wise's first visit to Colorado Law in six years. At the event sponsored by the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP), the classroom was packed with students, KWIP staff, and members of the community. They all came to hear Mr. Wise tell his story and answer questions from eager students.
"In reading cases in law books, students can forget the human beings behind stories of injustice," noted Clinical Law Professor and Faculty Director of KWIP, Ann England. "Hearing directly from a wrongfully convicted person has a tremendous impact."
As one law student, Samuel Edgerton '23, noted, “What really stuck out when listening to Korey was his forgiveness and his ability to live life to the fullest even after losing such important years of his youth.” Many law students shared that in listening to Mr. Wise speak, they connected with the hard truth that most of them are now at an age that Mr. Wise only experienced behind bars.
Hearing from exonerees, especially someone like Korey Wise, also motivates students and KWIP’s staff to, in Mr. Wise's words, “Keep doing the hard work of helping people who really need it.”
Based at Colorado Law, KWIP was previously known as the Colorado Innocence Project and did not initially have the funding to hire staff. In 2015, Mr. Wise made a generous multi-year donation to take the project from a fully volunteer-based program to what it is at today. In honor of his generous gift and his belief in the organization’s potential, the project was renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project. Since 2015, the project has continued to grow. Now under the supervision of Executive Director Anne-Marie Moyes and Professor England, KWIP’s staff also includes two full-time staff attorneys, a director of policy and education, a legal fellow, and many committed volunteers. Although Korey Wise was convicted in New York City and still resides there, he plays an integral role in KWIP and its success.