Illinois AG launches unit to investigate wrongful convictions

After Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser was first elected in 2020, she petitioned her county board to establish a conviction integrity unit to review wrongful conviction petitions. But her county didn’t have the resources to establish this unit, and she had to stretch her office thin to respond to wrongful conviction cases.

Now, the state is stepping up to help counties like Kane with such cases.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Tuesday a Conviction Integrity Unit within his office that will investigate claims of innocence. The unit will focus on whether new, credible evidence proves that individuals are serving prison time for crimes they did not commit. The unit has been in development since Raoul took office in 2019.

“Our [unit] has the opportunity to ensure that justice was received in these cases and redress wrongful convictions where mistakes may have been made,” Raoul said at a news conference.

To be considered for review by the unit, a person would need to have been convicted by an Illinois state court in a forcible felony case, which involves the threat or use of physical force.

In order for a case to be taken up by the unit, the applicant must show new evidence . If the unit determines that person didn’t commit the crime, it will work with local state’s attorneys’ offices to seek relief for the applicant and find the real offender.

The unit will be funded by the Illinois Attorney General's office and a $1.5 million grant from the Justice Department.

Raoul also said the statewide unit will primarily help state’s attorneys’ offices that don’t already have similar units within their offices. Cook County, for example, has its own conviction review unit.

That unit was revamped last year by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Since she entered office in 2016, Foxx has used the unit to overturn more than 200 cases based on new evidence or allegations of misconduct.

Last year, the former head of the unit Nancy Adduci, left after she came under fire for allegedly failing to turn over exonerating evidence for three men accused of murdering a Chicago police officer.

Cook County State’s Attorney-elect Eileen O'Neill Burke said her office's unit will collaborate with the statewide unit when needed.

Over the summer, the unit started accepting its first applications, unit Bureau Chief Patrick Tran said.

Applications are available in English and Spanish in all libraries at Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. Lawyers can also contact the unit directly to fill out an application on behalf of their client.

Mosser said the move to launch a statewide conviction integrity unit will increase faith in the criminal justice system.

“That word integrity, that means you have to have a belief in that conviction, a belief in the justice that happened at the end,” she said. “And if you don’t have somebody who’s able to monitor that, to make sure the ends of justice actually are met, then people would not have faith in us as prosecutors.”