Franklin County prosecutor appoints director to head new Conviction Integrity Unit
Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack announced Friday that his office has established a Conviction Integrity Unit to review claims of innocence and wrongful convictions in felony cases.
Tyack also announced that Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jocelyn Stefancin will lead the new unit.
This announcement comes more than a year after Tyack's office secured a $551,727 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to create this unit.
“As prosecutors, we have an ethical obligation to seek justice. One element of our duty is to ensure that no innocent person is wrongfully convicted or punished,” Tyack said.
The unit will begin accepting applications for case review on May 1. Defendants, their attorneys, prosecutors, innocence projects staff, court personnel and law enforcement may all submit applications to have felony cases reviewed.
More on conviction-integrity unit: Franklin County prosecutor forming new unit to investigate wrongful-conviction claims
If the claim meets the criteria for further review, a full investigation will take place and be presented to Tyack.
In recent decades, dozens of prosecutor’s offices around the country, including those in Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Summit (Akron) and Marion counties in Ohio, have established conviction integrity units.
“Jocelyn is uniquely qualified to understand both sides of any criminal case and possesses all the experience required to make the recommendations associated with this type of legal review,” Tyack said.Stefancin has been practicing criminal law in Ohio for more than 30 years, mostly as an assistant prosecutor. She also served as the elected public defender for Medina County for more than eight years.
Stefancin joined the Franklin County Prosecutor's office in August 2022.
“We don’t want an innocent person sitting in prison,” Stefancin said. “The prosecutor’s role is to seek justice, which means we have a duty to ensure that wrongful convictions are corrected. The CIU is a great step in combating wrongful convictions, and I’m honored that I was chosen tolead it.”
The unit will have one full-time attorney, Stefancin, one investigator and two interns assigned to it.
Related: Can Ohio end wrongful convictions that sent 83 to prison over past 30 years?
jlaird@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County prosecutor establishes Conviction Integrity Unit
