DNA evidence basis of effort

The organization that helped free James Bain from prison for a crime he didn't commit did not exist when he was sentenced to life 35 years ago, nor did the science that eventually freed him.

The Innocence Project, a nonprofit corporation that uses DNA evidence to free wrongly convicted prisoners, got its start in New York City at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law just as the legal system was confronting the new science of DNA and how it would change criminal trials.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, DNA testing was in its infancy when Barry Scheck and Peter Neufield began exploring its possibilities to prove guilt or innocence.

Since they formed Innocence Project in 1992, the organization has branched into all 50 states, including the Innocence Project of Florida in Tallahassee that helped free Bain.

The organization has helped to free 247 prisoners nationwide, including 17 on death row. Bain spent more time in prison than anyone else the organization has freed using DNA evidence.

The focus of all branches is on taking cases in which DNA can prove an inmate not guilty.

"It's less about whether we believe the story. It's whether we believe DNA can prove innocence," said Eric Ferrero, spokesman for the New York office that employs seven attorneys with a total of about 50 employees.

It operates on a budget of about $6 million a year from foundations and private donations.

The Florida branch formed in 2003 as the Florida Legislature and courts started allowing DNA testing in older cases even after the legal deadline for introducing other types of new evidence expired, said Michael Minerva, chief executive officer of Innocence Project Florida Inc.

The Florida branch runs on a much smaller budget than the New York City office that also sends attorneys to help the state organizations. Florida has two full-time attorneys along with other staff members and a budget of about $450,000 a year.

The money comes from grants and foundations, including the Florida Bar Foundation.

The inmates are not charged and the organization does not collect any fees from possible wrongful imprisonment compensation the clients may receive, Ferrero said.

Bain tried unsuccessfully four times to convince a judge to run a DNA test on evidence in his case before Project Innocence stepped in and convinced the court to run the test.

Bain was convicted in 1974 of raping a 9-year-old boy and was sentenced to life in prison.