Making an Exoneree 2020 - The Story of Keith Washington

UPDATE: In May 2021, Keith Washington's sentence was reduced. He was released in June 2021 and is reunited with his family. For more information: https://prisonsandjustice.georgetown....

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“One Innocent Man: The Untold Story of Keith Washington” exposes the truly bizarre wrongful conviction of an African American military veteran and former police officer who received an unprecedented 45-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter. More than 12 years later, Keith Washington is still fighting to prove his innocence, with the support of his wife and daughter.

In the current climate, this story may sound like yet another police-involved shooting. But the context and consequences surrounding the incident warrant closer examination and judicial reconsideration. Indeed, in this case, two furniture deliverymen (who were high on drugs) were snooping through Washington's house and physically assaulted him, while his wife and daughter were also home. Not only was the conviction itself dubious, but Washington’s sentence far exceeds the norm and suggests racial bias (for example, federal guidelines on involuntary manslaughter call for 10-16 months in prison, whereas Washington received a 540-month sentence).

This film was created by three Georgetown undergraduates—Josh Rosson, Trevor O’Connor, and Céline Berdous—within the context of a Georgetown University course taught by Professor Marc Howard and Adjunct Professor and Exoneree Martin Tankleff.

To learn more about the wrongful conviction of Keith Washington please visit https://oneinnocentman.org/.

To support Keith Washington's legal efforts, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/free-keith...

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About Making an Exoneree:

For the third straight year, the Prisons and Justice Initiative sponsored a groundbreaking class called “Making an Exoneree,” in which 15 Georgetown undergraduate students worked to free five individuals who have served a combined total of 94 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

Co-taught by PJI Director Marc Howard and his childhood friend Marty Tankleff (himself an exoneree who served almost 18 years in prison), the students created short documentaries on each case, based on extensive interviews with eyewitnesses, attorneys, experts, family members, and the incarcerated “clients” themselves.

The 2020 cohort had to overcome the added challenge of Covid-19, which restricted their travel and ability to work together at Georgetown since early March. Nonetheless, the documentaries they have produced are extraordinarily moving and powerful.

Normally the class culminates in a major public event that attracts a huge live audience to watch the premieres of the documentaries and also to hear the voices—live by phone from prison—of the potential exonerees. The 2019 event also featured Valentino Dixon, who was himself exonerated on September 19, 2018, thanks to the work of the 2018 cohort of this class. We expect more exonerations to come in the near future.