Wrongful convictions under the spotlight by Wayne County Prosecutor's Office

Wayne County Prosecutor investigates possible past wrongful convictions

Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office says it is taking a long look at its backlog of cases.

FOX 2 - The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is working to free prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted.

The backstory:

Spearheading the charge was more than 50-page report on Eric Anderson, who was exonerated after his 2010 wrongful conviction.

The report is by The Wayne County Sentinel Event Review Team on Anderson, who was wrongfully convicted of an armed robbery charge in Detroit.

Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison spoke about Anderson on Monday.

"He had the perfect alibi because, at the time of the robbery, he actually was the victim of being shot," Bettison said.

Attorney Mike Morse interviewed Anderson during his "Open Mike" podcast in 2021.

"For Mr. Anderson, that’s 10 years that he’ll never get back," Bettison said. "But my commitment, working with my partners here, is to ensure that no one else has to go through that."

Anderson’s case was a part of the Wayne County Sentinel Event Review Team’s report which highlights the causes of inaccurate convictions.

The Sentinel Review offered suggestions to improve the prosecutor office’s work including:

Improving investigations.
Exploring alibi evidence.
Strengthening community partnerships and funding across the legal system
Investing in training.

While no intentional misconduct was found in Eric Anderson’s case, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says they are taking a deep dive into its backlog of cases.

"We are looking now at some individual officers whose names have appeared in these cases more often than others," Worthy said. "That’s a really hard process and can take a long time before we get to the meat of all that."

Val Newman is part of the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit.

"What can all of us do better, how can we come together as a group and say, ‘Nobody becomes a police officer to put an innocent person in prison. Nobody becomes a prosecutor to put an innocent person in prison,'" she said.

The WCO says judges have granted relief in at least 43 of those cases. That doesn't mean all 43 have led to exonerations, but for some of them - some who have served portions of life sentences have been released from prison.