Fixing The Judicial System With Keith Findley

Criminal AttorneyJanuary 11, 2023

The current justice system isn’t perfect or flawless, to say the least. In fact, the system bears serious defects that often show up in the form of people either not getting justice or getting wrongfully sentenced for a crime they didn’t commit. This is mainly because of a few factors like someone being at the wrong place at the wrong time, being previously associated with a similar crime, or there is evidence suggesting a potential link between the person and the crime.

However, unfortunately, there are certain times when people are wrongly convicted for apparently no reason at all. Consequently, they are left with no choice but to serve the sentence.

This is where people like Keith Findley step in who help in freeing the wrongly convicted people.

Rodnae/Pexels | Justice delayed is justice denied

Who is Keith Findley?

For Keith, it all started back in 2004 when he met with Jarret Adams, who was serving a 28-year sentence for a stupid task, in the visitor’s room at the maximum-security Green Bay Correctional Institution. When Adams was 17, he went on a trip with two other friends in a camper, where he ended up having consensual intercourse with a friend.

However, things turned for the worse when the friend reported the incident as rape. During the trial, the private attorney and state Public Defender didn’t play their part in providing justice and offered a ‘no defense.’ While there was one Judge who questioned the charge but in the eyes of the all-white Jury, Adams was the culprit. In total, he received 28 years for a crime he didn’t commit.

Sora/Pexels | Keith Findley always had a strong sense of justice

The Outcome

This series of events pushed Adams to look into the law and lawyers willing to take his case up to re-appeal the case. On the other side, Keith Findley was also looking at cases and came across Adams, but he wasn’t entirely convinced until he saw that the deadline to reopen the case was only a few days away.

Once Keith took on the case, it was not long till he discovered the racial discrimination that presented itself in the history of the case. Adams walked a free man after serving ten years after being wrongfully sentenced. He went on to marry his wife, study law, and now serves as an investigator for federal public defenders.

August/Pexels | Now Jarret Adams has even published a book

True Justice

Findley was always a believer in justice and a lot of it had to do with his upbringing. His mother was a social worker and a mental health counselor, while his father was a progressive Methodist minister. The seed of The Innocence Project was laid in 1998 when DNA testing was invented.

That is when Findley questioned the legal system and wondered whether there were wrongly convicted people in the jails. When asked why he does what he does, Findley’s reply is usually that he is not there to decide whether they are guilty, but to give them a chance at justice, advocacy, and a fair trial.

The innocence project is probably changing lives and saving the lives of those wrongly convicted.