MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—The West Virginia Innocence Project law clinic has received an award from the state’s public defenders.
West Virginia Public Defender Services recently presented WVIP with the John A. “Jack” Rogers Award for Outstanding Leadership in Public Service for its work on behalf of the state’s wrongfully convicted.
WVIP is a law clinic at the West Virginia University College of Law. Third-year law students in the clinic investigate and litigate cases where criminal defendants have been wrongfully convicted, and move to vacate sentences based on newly discovered evidence, actual innocence, or other constitutional claims.
Marjorie McDiarmid (above right), clinical law director, and Melissa Giggenbach, WVIP staff attorney, accepted the award on the clinic’s behalf at the Public Defender Services' annual conference on June 20.
“This award was made possible by the numerous law students, former director, and adjunct faculty who give countless hours to exonerate the wrongfully convicted,” said Giggenbach. “We also appreciate the continued support of the WVU College of Law and dean Gregory Bowman.”
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