How to Request Assistance
Are you or someone you love in need of legal services
because they were wrongfully convicted and incarcerated?
We provide legal services at no cost to people who have been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated across Pennsylvania. We accept cases from Pennsylvania state or federal court, where the convicted individual had no role in the incident that led to the conviction, and where the individual does not have an attorney or have the right to appointed counsel.
Our case review process begins with a letter from the convicted individual - not a family member or friend. The letter should contain the following information:
What you were convicted of - what the charges were
What witnesses say happened
Whether there was a trial - whether you pled guilty/no contest (this includes accepting a plea deal)
Why you say you are innocent
Where you are in your appeals process
We will respond to your letter and you can expect these next steps in the application and case review process:
Our team will review your letter for basic eligibility criteria and respond with a screening questionnaire to collect more information.
If we may be able to help on your case, together with volunteer attorneys, we will review all case documents and consider potential pathways for relief.
As your case moves forward, we may conduct further investigation.Only when a case has progressed through our four-stage review process will we decide if we can represent a client.
Please know that the process of getting wrongfully incarcerated individuals out of prison and free can take a very long time. If you have questions about our application process, what to expect, or how we can help you or a loved one who was wrongfully incarcerated, please reach us at (215) 204-4255 or info@PAinnocence.org.
