Alissa Bjerkhoel

Alissa Leanne Bjerkhoel (pronounced byeer-kul) is an American litigation coordinator at the California Innocence Project (CIP), a nonprofit, in-house law school clinic that investigates and litigates cases of factual innocence while training law students to advocate for justice.[1][2][3] A native of Truckee, California,[4] Bjerkhoel, who graduated from California Western School of Law (CWSL), which houses the Project, has been an attorney with CIP since passing her bar exam in 2008. (She had worked with the organization for several years prior as a student intern.)[1][2] Bjerkhoel has served as counsel for CIP on numerous criminal cases, and achieved the legal exoneration of a number of convicted prisoners.[2][3] Among the high-profile exonerations she has worked on are those of Brian Banks,[5] Timothy Atkins, Reggie Cole, Daniel Larsen[3] Uriah Courtney,[6] Guy Miles,[7][8] William Richards[9][10] and Kim Long.[11]

Alissa L. Bjerkhoel
Bjerkhoel in 2013
Pronunciationbyeer-kul
Born
Truckee, California
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (B.A.)
Alma materCalifornia Western School of Law (CWSL) (J.D.)
OccupationLawyer
Years active2006-present
EmployerCalifornia Western School of Law
OrganizationCalifornia Innocence Project
Known forLegal exoneration of convicted prisoners
DNA forensic expertise
TitleLitigation Coordinator
Spouse(s)
Steven Foley
(
m. after 2015)
Children1
AwardsPost-Conviction Lawyer of the Year - Criminal Defense Bar Association of San Diego (2006)
Young Attorney of the Year finalist (2011)
California Lawyer Attorney of the Year, Criminal Division (2012)
(See Awards section below)

In 2013, Bjerkhoel and two other CIP attorneys walked 700 miles from San Diego to Sacramento in an event they called "The Innocence March" to protest the incarceration of twelve inmates they considered innocent, and to raise awareness of the issue of the wrongly convicted.[4][12][13][14][15] They also presented twelve petitions – one for each incarcerated person – to Gov. Jerry Brown, calling on him to pardon the twelve.[4][13][14][15] Though the petition did not result in clemency for the convicted inmates, many of those listed in the document have since been released through CIP's efforts.[16]

Bjerkhoel serves as CIP's in-house DNA expert, authors petitions that are filed on behalf of CIP's clients, directs and supervises clinical student casework, and coordinates case litigation.[1][2][17] She also serves concurrently as a panel attorney with the nonprofit law firms Appellate Defenders, Inc. (ADI)[3][17] and Sixth District Appellate Program (SDAP).[17] She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.[2] She has appeared many times in print and broadcast media[3] as well as on social media in relation to her work exonerating clients. She has also participated in many speaking engagements and presentations regarding her work and areas of expertise, and published abstracts on these subjects. She has won a number of honors, including an Attorney of the Year award from California Lawyer Magazine in 2012.[1][2]

After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. degree in history in 2004, Bjerkhoel entered California Western School of Law in 2005. She claims that a daylong information fair held at the school in 2005 "changed [her] life."[11] She said, "I got a look at what the California Innocence Project was involved in and I was completely inspired by the incredible work they were doing to free wrongfully convicted prisoners."[11] In her second year at CWSL, Bjerkhoel became a clinical intern with the program, continued to work on cases in her third year and, after graduation in 2008, became one of CIP's first full-time staff attorneys.[11]

In the fall of 2007, Bjerkhoel went to the Defensoría Penal Pública de Santiago in Santiago, Chile, to assist the institution's education department in training new public defenders.[3][17] Among the skills she taught were how to conduct direct examination, cross-examination, the opening statement and the closing argument.[17] She drafted a comprehensive treatise, in both English and Spanish, for the Defensoría detailing the history, rules, examples and cases of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence. She also organized and presented a seminar ("A Pragmatic Approach to Evidence") to the Defensoría, Ministereo Público, judges and the media.[3][17] While in Chile, Bjerkhoel met with indigenous Mapuche people, as their lawyers discussed the legal problems of these peoples, who are located in Chile's southern regions.[17]

Immediately prior to her work with CIP, Bjerkhoel worked as a judicial extern for Judge Jan Adler of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.[3][17] In that capacity, she evaluated pro se writs of habeas corpus and drafted and submitted report and recommendations on the merits of writs. She observed the inner workings of the federal judicial system by attending criminal calendar, observed initial negotiation and settlement conferences, and attended trials on civil rights violations.[17]

CIP work

Responsibilities

Bjerkhoel currently holds the position of Litigation Coordinator at the California Innocence Project, investigating claims of wrongful conviction for felony convictions in Southern California. She serves as the in-house DNA expert, authors petitions filed on behalf of the Project's clients, directs and supervises clinical student casework, and coordinates case litigation.[2] She communicates regularly with clients, attorneys, witnesses, victims, experts and law enforcement officials. She conducts field investigations, including visits to crime scenes, courts, correctional facilities and police stations. She drafts petitions for writ of habeas corpus and motions for DNA testing for cases where strong evidence of innocence exists. She also participates as co-counsel in evidentiary hearing and trial proceedings.[17] In addition to her own case load, she supervises more than 100 cases each year.[3]

Prominent cases

Brian Banks

The 2002 conviction of All Star linebacker Brian Banks on false charges of rape and kidnapping was dismissed in 2012, directly due to the efforts of the California Innocence Project. Following his initial arrest for the alleged crimes, Banks, despite his protestations of innocence, faced a possible conviction, if the case had gone to trial, of 41-years-to-life, and reluctantly agreed to a plea bargain. He was then given an unexpectedly harsh sentence of six years in prison (of which he served five years and two months), followed by five years' probation and registration as a sex offender.[18][19]

After his release on probation, he arranged for a meeting with his accuser, Wanetta Gibson (who had contacted him through Facebook), at which she admitted on video that there had been no rape or kidnapping in 2002, and that their encounter had been completely consensual. The video evidence was not admissible in court, because the video had been made without Gibson's knowledge or consent and was not accompanied by a signed confession from the young woman. However, CIP was instrumental in putting together additional evidence supporting Banks' story, which led the district attorney to dismiss all charges against him and release him from sex-offender status, allowing him to resume his aborted sports career.[18][19][20] Bjerkhoel was present in the courtroom with Banks on May 24, 2012, the day that his conviction was finally dismissed.[5]

Banks supports CIP in its efforts on behalf of the wrongly-convicted, including participating in CIP's 2013 Innocence March.[21] He often wears a shirt with the lettering "XONR8" ("exonerate").[19][21] A film project based on Banks' story, co-executive produced by Banks himself and Justin Brooks of CIP and to be directed by Tom Shadyac, is currently being developed, with actress Tiffany Dupont cast in the role of Bjerkhoel.[22]

Timothy Atkins
Justin Brooks and CA Innocence Project client Tim Atkins outside courthouse (2007)

In July, 1987, Timothy Atkins was convicted of one count of murder and two counts of robbery. The police were led to Atkins when a woman named Denise Powell, a prostitute, told police that Atkins had confessed to her to being an accomplice in the killing of a man who had been shot in the chest during an attempted carjacking.[23] CIP co-founder and director Justin Brooks said, "The jury sees this young black kid... this woman says, 'yeah, I think that's the guy,' and he goes away for twenty-three years."[24]

Powell later testified that she had fabricated the story of Atkins's confession. She recanted her testimony, saying that she had lied to police about the confession and had been afraid the lie would be revealed if she changed her story. In his decision, the judge stated that Powell's recantation, together with the "unreliable and changing [eye-witness] identification" led him to believe that "no reasonable judge or jury would have convicted Atkins."[23] He was exonerated in February 2007 after more than 20 years in prison.[3][25][26]

Reggie Cole

In 1994, Reggie Cole was convicted of the shooting of Felipe Angeles after being misidentified by an eyewitness, a local brothel owner. The police allege that the killer was shot in the leg upon leaving the scene and, after finding a gunshot wound in Cole's leg, concluded that he was the perpetrator. However, despite the fact that medical records were produced that proved Cole had actually received his leg wound six years prior, he was convicted.[27]

CIP filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Cole alleging that Cole's trial attorney failed to investigate and present exculpatory evidence; the prosecution withheld material, exculpatory evidence; false evidence was introduced against Cole at his trial; and the prosecutor engaged in misconduct.[28] On April 8, 2009, Deputy District Attorney Hyman Sisman conceded on Cole's habeas petition that Cole received ineffective assistance of counsel and on April 15, 2009, Judge Jerry E. Johnson of the Los Angeles Superior Court vacated the murder conviction. Reggie Cole was exonerated after spending 16 years in prison.[20][27][28][29]

Daniel Larsen

Based largely on eyewitness identification by two police officers, Daniel Larsen was convicted in 1999 of being in possession of a concealed knife under California's Three Strikes Law. Because he had prior felony convictions, Larsen was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison. The California Innocence Project, which began representing Larsen in 2002, found witnesses, including a former chief of police and the actual owner of the knife, who testified seeing a different man holding the knife.[30] In 2010, a judge ordered Larsen's release, finding that he was "actually innocent" of the crime and that Larsen's constitutional rights were violated, because his attorney was incompetent.[31]

Despite the ruling, Larsen remained in prison for two more years while state attorney general Kamala Harris challenged the judge's ruling because Larsen had missed the appeal deadline.[32] In September 2013, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court ruling and freed Larsen after 14 years in prison.[31][30][33][34]

Kimberly Long

Kim Long was convicted of murdering her boyfriend in 2003, and her case was received by the California Innocence Project in 2009. After many years of extensive investigation, research and forensic testing, the CIP became certain of Long's innocence. The case was assigned to Bjerkhoel, who worked on it for a total of seven years.[16] The prosecution's case hinged on the testimony of a single witness, a friend of Long's, who had claimed that, on the night of the murder, he had dropped Long off at the apartment that she and the victim shared, at a time which the prosecution claimed would have allowed Long a window of opportunity sufficient to have committed the crime – and concealed her involvement – before calling 911 to report the death. (Since the witness had died in an unrelated accident shortly after providing his testimony, he could not be cross-examined.)[35][36]

However, the CIP provided forensic proof that the victim had been killed prior to the witness' alleged drop-off time for Long (that is, before the earliest possible time of her return to the apartment), and that, even if the victim had actually been killed after that point in time, Long would not have had enough time to murder her boyfriend and hide evidence of that fact from police. DNA from an unknown male was also recovered at the crime scene. The evidence of her innocence was so compelling that the very same judge who heard the original case reversed the conviction in June 2016.[35][37]

Guy Miles

Bjerkhoel helped defend Guy Miles, who was wrongly convicted of robbery. She explained in a television interview why Miles was being kept in prison despite strong evidence of his innocence. "The problem is the judge [in the case] didn't understand... about the [fallible] eyewitness identifications, and about how there is scientific evidence now showing that there's a very serious problem in our justice system with these stranger eyewitness identifications."[38]

Therefore, despite the fact that Miles had numerous witnesses to provide an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the crime, and the fact that three men who were indisputably guilty of the robbery confessed that Miles had had absolutely nothing to do with the crime, the judge in the case refused to exonerate Miles, maintaining that the eyewitness identifications were strong and rejecting the argument of California Innocence Project attorneys that they were not.[38][39] Miles was finally freed in June 2017 after 18 years in prison, following a second hearing that reversed his earlier conviction.[7][39][40]

Uriah Courtney

Courtney was found guilty of the kidnapping and rape of a young woman in November 2004, based almost entirely on eyewitness identifications. The CIP began investigating his case in 2010. At the time of his trial, DNA evidence taken from the victim's clothing proved inconclusive. However, subsequent advances in DNA technology prompted CIP to request that the victim's clothes be tested again, and a male profile was obtained.[41] That profile was run through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), resulting in a positive identification of a local man with, as CIP said in a press release, "a striking physical resemblance to Courtney."[6][41] Courtney was released from prison in June 2013.[6][41] Said Bjerkhoel: "The National Institute of Justice has funded us to do DNA testing in cases such as this because identifications have often proved to be faulty. Flawed identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions."[6]

Bjerkhoel has referred to this case in presentations she has given regarding non-traditional DNA cases and the inherent flaws involved in witness identifications (see below).[42][43]

Horace Roberts

Horace Roberts, a supervisor at a diagnostic lab, was convicted, after three trials, of second-degree murder in the 1998 strangulation death of Terry Cheek, a co-worker with whom the married Roberts had been having an affair.[44] The victim herself had been married to Googie Harris, Sr., who knew about the affair, had filed a restraining order against Cheek and had demanded custody of their daughters.[45][46] The evidence that had swayed the jury at the third trial was the presence, about a mile from the murder scene, of Roberts’ truck (which Cheek had frequently borrowed), the fact that he had initially lied about the affair with Cheek to police and, above all, the presence near the body of a watch that Roberts had mistakenly identified as his. (Roberts’ watch was later found at his home.)[44][46] Harris, the victim’s husband, testified against Roberts at each of his three trials and later opposed Robert’s release from prison at his parole hearings.[47]

Roberts also had an alibi: on the day of the murder, he had placed multiple calls to Cheek from a pay phone near his home.[47][48] The CIP decided that the evidence that convicted Roberts was circumstantial and decided to take on the case.[48]

In 2016, a request by the CIP for new DNA testing, more sophisticated than what was done in 1998, was granted.[44][45] DNA from the victim’s left-hand fingernails and clothes matched to Harris’ nephew, Joaquin Leal, who had served prison time on a molestation case against the child of a woman with whom Harris was then having a relationship.[46][49] Meanwhile, the CIP lobbied the legislature, in line with other states, to reduce the legal evidentiary standard, which would make the original 2014 DNA evidence to the judge sufficient to exonerate Roberts. The legislature passed this reform in September 2016.[44]

All this evidence was brought to the attention of Riverside District Attorney Mike Hestrin’s Conviction Review Committee.[50] Because of the DNA match, Leal and Harris then became the focus of a new probe.[49] On October 2, 2018, the office agreed to reverse Roberts’ conviction. Ten days later, all charges against Roberts were dismissed, and on October 15, the D.A.’s office agreed to a Finding of Factual Innocence in Roberts’ case.[44] A tweet showing Roberts released from prison on that day and featuring Bjerkhoel appeared on the CIP’s Twitter account.[51] On the same day, the D.A.’s office filed charges in the murder of Terry Cheek against Harris and Leal.[50]

Under the law, wrongfully convicted inmates such as Roberts are entitled to receive $140 for each day incarcerated,[44] which would add up to over $1 million for his nearly 20 years in prison.[46][47]

The Innocence March

From April to June 2013, Bjerkhoel, CIP director Justin Brooks and managing attorney Michael Semanchik, along with many California Innocence Project exonerees and supporters, participated in an event they called "The Innocence March." Determined to gain clemency from Governor Jerry Brown for twelve convicted prisoners whom they deemed to be "100 percent innocent," as well as to gain public awareness of the plight of wrongfully convicted prisoners, they walked a 700-mile route from the CIP's offices in San Diego to the Capitol at Sacramento to formally present their petitions on behalf of the twelve to the governor.[13][16]

"I could not be happier to complete this journey and bring attention to these cases," said Bjerkhoel to a journalist.

We would not walk over 700 miles for these people if they were guilty. The justice system has failed these people and they remain incarcerated even though they are innocent. We are confident, when the Governor reviews these cases, he will grant clemency and send them home to their families.[4]

The marchers usually began each day's trek at about 5:30 am and covered about 20 miles by the end of each day, often in inclement weather and sometimes walking along railroad tracks and even through forests.[13] Guy Miles' 80-year-old uncle marched twelve miles of the route with the group despite a leg injury.[13] The team of attorneys met Miles himself at San Quentin prison during their journey.[52] Adam Riojas, a CIP client freed after 14 years in prison, accompanied the marchers from San Diego to Oceanside, where he is now the pastor of a local chapel.[14] Brian Banks joined the march at Malibu to lend his support so that other wrongfully-convicted prisoners could be released.[21]

The march reached its destination in fifty-one days, four days earlier than the original 55-day schedule.[20] In December of the same year, the California Innocence Project recreated the final (Sacramento) leg of the original march, from Raley Field to the governor's office at the Capitol.[20] Although Gov. Brown did not grant clemency to any of the twelve, the march resulted in extensive press coverage. The Innocence March was selected by San Diego Magazine as one of the "27 Reasons to Love SD [San Diego] Now."[53] Several of the prisoners named in the petition (including Guy Miles and Kim Long) have subsequently been freed through CIP's efforts.[16]

Media appearances, abstracts and awards

Media appearances

Bjerkhoel has engaged in many interviews in print and broadcast media concerning her clients and her areas of legal expertise. The following is a sample of these appearances:

  • KPBS Radio News: The California Innocence Project And The Freedom Of Reggie Cole (4/8/10)[54]
  • KPBS Radio News: After Eight Years In Prison, North Park Man Cleared Of Charges (6/24/13) [Uriah Courtney case][6]
  • CV Independent: Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Kimberly Long Is in Prison for Killing Her Boyfriend. She Says She Didn't Do It — and the Evidence Is on Her Side (5/18/15)[36]
  • CV Independent: Finally Free: The California Innocence Project Gets Kimberly Long's Murder Conviction Overturned (8/26/16)[37]
  • ABC 20/20: Her Last Chance (10/07/2016) [Kimberly Long case][55]

Abstracts

The following are examples of abstracts and presentations authored or co-authored by Bjerkhoel from 2013-2017.

  • Where Eyewitness Identifications Go Wrong and Where We Go From Here: Case Study of Uriah Courtney: American Academy of Forensic Sciences Conference (2014 - Seattle, WA)[42]
  • It's My Toy and You Can't Play With It: Defense Counsel Problems With Access to CODIS: American Academy of Forensic Sciences Conference (2015, Orlando, FL)[56]

Awards

Bjerkhoel has won a number of awards, including:

  • Post-Conviction Lawyer of the Year - Criminal Defense Bar Association of San Diego (2006)[3][57]
  • Joe & Denise Walsh Excellence in Advocacy Award (2006)[3][57]
  • Adrianne Baker Fellowship (2010)[57][58]
  • Young Attorney of the Year finalist (2011)[3][57]
  • California Lawyer Attorney of the Year, Criminal Division, 2012[57][59]

Personal life

Bjerkhoel has been married to Steven Foley since 2015[60] and has a daughter. She lives in San Diego.

gollark: Anomalies? Abstract concepts? Aardvarks?
gollark: Exciting! What do you have to sell? Smaller obelisks? Monoliths? Pocket universes? Hypercomputers?
gollark: There will be MORE auctioforms?
gollark: Brute force?
gollark: Also, you did make sure to set the cookie to have an unreasonably long expiry time, not just leave it as a session one?

References
  1. "Our Staff". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  2. "Alissa Bjerkhoel - Staff Profile". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  3. "Young Attorneys 2011: Alissa Bjerkhoel". San Diego Source. San Diego Daily Transcript. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  4. "Truckee native walks for California Innocence Project". Sierra Sun. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  5. Williams, Erin (31 May 2012). "Petition hopes to garner scholarship for Brian Banks after his exoneration in rape case". The Washington Post. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. "After Eight Years In Prison, North Park Man Cleared Of Charges". KPBS Radio News. KPBS.org. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. Saavedra, Tony (22 June 2017). "After 18 years for a crime Guy Miles says he didn't commit, freedom tastes sweet". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  8. "IN RE: GUY DONELL MILES on Habeas Corpus (G046534)". FindLaw. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  9. Hernandez, David (29 June 2016). "Exonerated man thanks San Diego lawyers, students". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  10. Stiglitz, Jan. "View From The Trenches: The Struggle To Free William Richards" (PDF). Albany Law Review. 73 (4): 1357–1358. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  11. "California Western Alum Devotes Life to Freeing the Wrongfully Accused". California Western School of Law - Alumni News. California Western School of Law. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  12. "Route and Stops". Innocence March. California Innocence Project. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  13. Golden, Cory (18 June 2013). "Attorneys trek 700 miles to press Brown for clemency". The Davis Enterprise. McNaughton Newspapers, Inc. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  14. Figueroa, Teri (30 April 2013). "'Innocence March' headed from SD to Sacramento". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  15. Sherwin, Doug (16 April 2013). "California Innocence Project's Innocence March to begin April 27". The Daily Transcript. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  16. "Alissa Bjerkhoel '08 and managing attorney Mike Semanchik '10 discussing Kim Long". YouTube.com. Clip hot mỗi ngày. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  17. "Alissa Bjerkhoel". LinkedIn.com. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  18. "Brian Banks". California Innocence Project. California Innocence Project. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  19. Myers, Gary (26 January 2015). "Brian Banks spent five years in prison after being falsely accused of rape, but now he finally has a career in NFL". New York Daily News. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  20. Koehler, Francie (12 December 2013). "Exonerating the Innocent". PI's Declassified. VoiceAmerica. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  21. Cocca, Christina (11 May 2013). "Brian Banks and His Mother Join "Innocence March" to Protest Wrongful Convictions". NBC-4 Los Angeles. NBC. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  22. Lee, Ashley (28 September 2017). "Tiffany Dupont Joins Greg Kinnear in Brian Banks Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
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  24. "Justin Brooks on defending the wrongly convicted, and Cressida Campbell's woodblock art [radio interview]". Conversations with Richard Fidler. 5 Feb 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  25. "Timothy Atkins: Other California Cases with Mistaken Witness Identifications". The National Registry of Exonerations. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  26. hosehead6 (22 July 2010). "California Innocence Project - Release of Timothy Atkins". YouTube.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  27. "Reggie Cole Found Factually Innocent (press release)". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  28. Perry, Michael S. "Reggie Cole". The National Registry of Exonerations. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  29. "Innocent Man Released From Prison After 16 Years". ABC-10 News. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  30. Knowles, David (19 March 2013). "Judge frees California man who served 13 years in prison for 'three strikes' conviction overturned in 2009". NY Daily News. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  31. "Daniel Larsen". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  32. Miles, Kathleen (22 August 2012). "Daniel Larsen, Found Innocent By Federal Judge, Has Been In Prison For 13 Years". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  33. Serna, Joseph (19 March 2013). "'Actually innocent' man freed after 13 years". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  34. "Daniel Larsen". National Registry of Exonerations. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  35. "Kimberly Long's Conviction Reversed!". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  36. Blueskye, Brian (18 May 2015). "Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Kimberly Long Is in Prison for Killing Her Boyfriend. She Says She Didn't Do It — and the Evidence Is on Her Side". CV Independent. cvindependent.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  37. Blueskye, Brian (26 August 2016). "Finally Free: The California Innocence Project Gets Kimberly Long's Murder Conviction Overturned". CV Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  38. Bolaños, Luis A. "Wrongfully Convicted ...Mr. Guy Miles - The California 12". YouTube. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  39. "Update: Guy Miles freed after more than 18 years in prison". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  40. "Man Freed After Serving 18 Years". KCAL 9. CBS Los Angeles. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  41. "Uriah Courtney". California Innocence Project. California Innocence Project. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  42. Bjerkhoel, Alissa. "E10 Where Eyewitness Identifications Go Wrong and Where We Go From Here: Case Study of Uriah Courtney" (PDF). Proceedings, American Academy of Forensic Sciences - 66th Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA February 17–24, 2014. American Academy of Forensic Sciences. p. 258. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  43. Bjerkhoel, Alissa; Simpson, Alexander. "Getting Results in Non-Traditional DNA Cases — Uriah Courtney Case Example" (PDF). The CACNews: News of the California Association of Criminalists. Third Quarter 2014: 36–37. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  44. "Horace Roberts Exonerated!". California Innocence Project. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  45. Riggins, Alex (15 October 2018). "Judge declares wrongfully convicted man innocent 20 years after lover's death". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  46. Garcia, Sandra E. (16 October 2018). "DNA Evidence Exonerates a Man of Murder After 20 Years in Prison". The New York Times. The New York Times Co. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  47. Flynn, Meagan (16 October 2018). "An abandoned pickup, a wristwatch and an affair: The makings of a lover's 1998 wrongful conviction". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  48. "Michael Semanchik Speaks to Fox 5 About Horace Roberts Case". YouTube.com. California Innocence Project. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  49. Winton, Richard (15 October 2018). "An affair led to his conviction in a co-worker's murder. Now, he is free and the victim's husband has been arrested". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  50. "DA's Office Announces the Exoneration of a Man Convicted of a 1998 Murder and the Arrests of Two Suspects for the Murder [press release]" (PDF). Riverside County District Attorney. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  51. "CA Innocence Project". Twitter.com. California Innocence Project. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  52. Schilling, Sally. "Innocence Project Urges Governor to Grant Clemency For 12 Prisoners". KPFA 94.1-FM Berkeley. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  53. Chambers, Erin; Meanley, Erin (13 November 2017). "27 Reasons to Love SD Now". San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  54. Cavanaugh, Maureen; Burke, Megan (8 April 2010). "The California Innocence Project And The Freedom Of Reggie Cole". KPBS Radio News. KPBS.org. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  55. "20/20 ABC Her Last Chance". suemart796. YouTube.com. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  56. Bjerkhoel, Alissa. "F42 It's My Toy and You Can't Play With It: Defense Counsel Problems With Access to CODIS [Abstract - p 51]". Jurisprudence Section – 2015. Slideblast.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  57. "Alissa Bjerkhoel, Staff Attorney". Faculty and Staff Directory. California Western School of Law. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  58. "Adrianne Baker Fellowship Program Announces 2010 Fellows". California Western News. California Western School of Law. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  59. "California Lawyer Magazine Announces 2013 Clay Award Winners". AZSlide.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  60. "Alissa Bjerkhoel". IMDB.com. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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