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Simon, Archie and the Innocence Project

Archie Williams served 37 years for a rape and stabbing he didn't commit. Thanks to the persistence and hard work of Innocence Project Litigation Director Vanessa Plotkin, the Louisiana Innocence Project, and Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck , Archie was freed from prison in 2019 when fingerprint evidence in an FBI database proved him innocent and identified the real perpetrator -- a serial rapist, now long deceased. What took so long? For years, Louisiana's state laws provided barriers to inmates' requests to access untested evidence for innocence claims, and many other procedural hurdles. The I.P. began working on Archie's case in 1996.

In the video above, watch Archie fulfill his dream of singing on the big stage, during a recent episode of "America's Got Talent". The audience response and response of the judges, including Simon Cowell, is wonderful to watch.

After learning about Archie and the Innocence Project, Barry confirmed that Simon has signed on to be an Ambassador for the project. [More...]

“Archie’s performance is probably the single most important one in the history of ‘America’s Got Talent.’ What happened to Archie is tragic,” Cowell said.

“There are thousands of innocent people in jails and prisons. I’m honoured to become an Ambassador for the Innocence Project and want to do what I can to help more people like Archie.”

Here's a three minute interview with Simon, Barry and Vanessa in which Simon explains why Archie's case moved him so much and why he wants to sign up to help others in Archie's situation. Simon, from what I've seen of him on TV shows over the years, rarely shows his caring side. He's far better known for his acerbic criticism. It's really a pleasure to see him so moved by the plight of the wrongly convicted.

P.S. Barry Scheck and IP co-founder Peter Neufeld are national treasures. Please support the Innocence Project.

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  • Display: Sort:
    I recommend The Innocence Files on Netflix (none / 0) (#1)
    by McBain on Tue May 26, 2020 at 08:29:45 PM EST
    which follows the efforts of the Innocence Project. Junk science, eyewitness misidentification and lots of prosecutorial misconduct are exposed. Makes you wonder how many innocent people are sitting in prison right now.  

     

    SITE VIOLATOR (none / 0) (#3)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 05, 2020 at 08:52:27 AM EST