美高梅官网

After languishing in prison for 12 years for a crime in which DNA evidence implicated another perpetrator, Christopher Smith walked free on April 14 with help from 美高梅官网 law students, professors and attorneys.聽

The (OIP) at the , took up the case of the Cincinnati man convicted in 2008 of armed robbery and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Michele Berry Godsey, a 2006 美高梅官网 College of Law alumnus and former OIP participant, represented Smith both at his original trial in Hamilton County 12 years ago and in his appeal.聽

On April 9, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Black overturned Smith鈥檚 conviction and issued an order calling for him to be 鈥渋mmediately鈥� released. Smith and his attorneys thought his path to freedom finally appeared to be on the fast track.聽

Instead, he lingered in a jail cell for five more days in what his attorneys call a 鈥渇ederal-state standoff鈥� amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.聽

Despite the federal order calling for his release, Smith鈥檚 attorneys say various officials defied the order by continuing to hold him in custody, first at the Toledo Correctional Institution, where he鈥檇 been serving his sentence, and then at the Hamilton County Justice Center in Cincinnati.聽聽

The stalemate, Smith鈥檚 attorneys say, increased Smith鈥檚 risk for "serious medical complications or death from the coronavirus." Smith, 38, suffers from hypertension, a chronic condition brought on by stress from his years of incarceration, according to court documents. Those with high blood pressure appear to be at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

鈥淸The state] has cared more about hiding its misconduct than justice and now even more than the sanctity of human health and life in an unprecedented pandemic,鈥� Berry Godsey wrote in court documents.

鈥淥ne would think by the state鈥檚 actions that Mr. Smith is Osama bin Laden or Lee Harvey Oswald, and the state feels compelled to ignore federal orders out of an emergency need to protect unprecedented national security interests,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭his is a bizarre case for the state to have doubled-down and ignited a standoff with the federal judiciary. It is also bewildering, shameful and heartbreaking.鈥�

On April 14, a Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas judge also issued an order for Smith鈥檚 release. That same day, federal judge Black issued yet another order calling for Smith鈥檚 immediate release. Anyone who didn鈥檛 comply, Black sharply warned, would be held in contempt of court. 聽

Officials released Smith later that evening. He appeared stunned by his newfound freedom, said Berry Godsey, who noted that Smith, who shows no symptoms of COVID-19, will self-quarantine for 14 days before rejoining the community. 聽

鈥淗e started crying,鈥� said Berry Godsey. 鈥淗e embraced his son for a really long time. He called his daughter who was only seven months old when he got locked up; she wept when she heard his voice. As they were on the phone, a bus drove by, and he said to her, 鈥楧o you hear that?聽 That was a city bus driving by, because I鈥檓 outside, free.鈥欌��

For Berry Godsey, who waged a tireless battle to free Smith, the culmination of that journey was also incredibly poignant.

鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful that I got to walk out the doors to freedom with him,鈥� she said. 鈥� It was beautiful. Heartbreaking that we couldn鈥檛 hug because of the coronavirus, but beautiful, still.鈥�

Smith is the 29th person freed with the help of the OIP. Combined, the 29 defendants have served more than 540 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. 聽

The Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) at the 美高梅官网 College of Law 鈥� Ohio鈥檚 only law school-based innocence organization 鈥� is one of the most well-known and successful of its kind in the nation. Since its launch in 2003, the OIP has helped free 29 wrongfully convicted inmates who've collectively served nearly more than 540 years in prison. Read more about the OIP's latest exonerations below.

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28: Charles Jackson walks free after serving 27 years for murder

Read more about the OIP's earlier exonerees .

Featured image at top: Christopher Smith celebrates his release from the Hamilton County Justice Center on April 14, 2020, from a safe social distance with attorney Michele Berry Godsey, a 美高梅官网 College of Law alumnus and former OIP participant. Smith served 12 years in prison for an armed robbery that DNA evidence later implicated a different perpetrator. Photo/provided/Mark Godsey