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8:30 a.m.         Registration and Continental Breakfast 

9:00 a.m.         The Innocence Project: A Founder’s Reflections on the Criminal Justice System 20 Years Later 
                         Presented by:  Innocence Project Founder and Co-Director Peter Neufeld  

Mr. Neufeld will explore what DNA exoneration cases have revealed about the criminal justice system 20 years after the organization’s founding and how the system has changed as a result. Focusing on issues of particular relevance to Alaska’s criminal justice professionals, Mr. Neufeld will discuss legislative and legal remedies to prevent wrongful convictions and protect the wrongfully convicted. He will draw on his vast professional experience litigating post-conviction DNA cases and advocating for criminal justice reform nationwide to identify strategies for improving the system in the years to come.    

10:00 a.m.       BREAK 

10:15 a.m.       The six most common causes of wrongful conviction                  
                         Panelists:  Peter Neufeld, Judge Michael Wolverton, Clint Campion, Office of Special Prosecutions,
                         John Murtagh, and Moderated by Bill Oberly, Alaska Chapter of the Innocence Project   

The six most common causes of wrongful conviction have been determined from studies of the 289 DNA exonerations by the Innocence Project.  These issues will be discussed from the unique perspective of each panel member and their place in the criminal justice system.  

• Eyewitness misidentification
• False confessions
• Use of untrustworthy jailhouse informants
• Use of invalidated or improper forensic sciences
• Bad defense lawyering
• Government misconduct 

11:45 a.m.        Q and A

12:15 p.m.        Adjourn