Korey Wise Visits Colorado Law on September 23

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 years later. 

This was Wise's first visit to Colorado Law in six years. At the event, the classroom was packed with students, KWIP staff, and members of the community. They all came to hear 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. 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.” In listening to Wise speak, many law students also connected with the hard truth that most of them are now at an age that Wise only experienced behind bars.

Hearing from exonerees, especially someone like Korey Wise, also motivates students and KWIP’s staff to, in Wise's own words, “Keep doing the hard work of helping people who really need it.”  

KWIP was previously known as the Colorado Innocence Project and did not initially have the funding to hire staff. In 2015, Wise made a generous multi-year donation to take the project from a fully volunteer-based program, to what it is today. In honor of his generous gift and his belief in the organization’s potential, the project was renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project.  Although Korey Wise was convicted in New York City and still resides there, he is integral to KWIP and its success.