Detroit's Organization of Exonerees hosts first fundraiser to help wrongfully convicted
Thirty-three-year-old Michael Griffin spent 14 long years in prisons across the state of Michigan for a crime he didn’t commit.
He underwent physical attacks by other prisoners, spent countless days in solitary confinement, and, at times, he said he was deprived of food from 4 in the afternoon until 5 the next morning. The experience, he said, was pure “hell.” But the worst part, he said, was being labeled as the father who killed his 1-year-old daughter.
“There was a female officer I used to tell hi every day and one day she just flipped on me,” Griffin said. “She was like ‘You think I’m stupid? I read your case. You’re in here for killing your daughter. You’re a baby killer.'
“It was the worst feeling ever.”
Griffin, a Flint native, is the latest wrongfully convicted person to be exonerated in the state of Michigan. He was first let out of prison on bond on May 5, 2023, after Mike Morse, a personal injury attorney in Michigan, was referred to his case by the Michigan Innocence Clinic and filed a motion on his behalf for a new trial — pro bono. Griffin was put on home confinement until Sept. 13, when the Genesee Prosecutor's Office said it would not be retrying the case. Since then, Griffin has been trying to decide what he is going to do with his life now, in terms of what type of work he wants to do and transitioning back into society. His first stop to get assistance with these things, he said, is with the Organization of Exonerees.
The Organization of Exonerees is a nonprofit organization founded in Detroit by people who have been wrongfully convicted in the state of Michigan. Its mission is to advocate for the “innocent” by talking with members of the criminal justice system about people sitting in jail for a crime they didn’t commit, said Eric Anderson, a co-founder of the organization.
From 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Organization of Exonerees is hosting its inaugural fundraiser at the Huntington Tower in Detroit to help bring more awareness to community members about wrongful convictions. Members of the organization will speak about their stories, what life was like after getting exonerated and what people can do to help others avoid their same fate.
Anderson, who went to jail at the age of 20, served nine years in prison for a robbery he didn’t commit. He was exonerated in 2019 after new evidence supported that Anderson was not at the location of the robbery and that he instead had been shot in the foot at a different place and therefore could not be the person that committed the crime.
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The University of Michigan’s Innocence Project, along with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, assisted Anderson with his relief and he says without them he may not have ever gotten out.
“I am so thankful to what they did for me,” Anderson said.
Now, Anderson, along with the other exonerees that are a part of the organization, says he is committing his time to helping others who shouldn’t be in jail today, but don’t know what to do to get out.
“We try to be what we didn’t have,” Anderson said. “We didn’t have anyone out here who came home early from wrongful convictions trying to help the other wrongfully convicted get out, too.”
Tickets for the fundraiser are $125. And there are four sponsorship categories available: Justice Champion for $10,000, Freedom Fighter for $5,000, Integrity Protector for $2,500 and the Truth Seeker for $1,000. To RSVP for the event, email organizationofexonerees2022@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Organization of Exonerees hosts fundraiser for wrongfully convicted
