An undergraduate internship is often filled with the more mundane tasks that need to be accomplished within an organization. While I have enjoyed all of my work at IPNO, a reminder of the larger purpose of what I am doing is highly motivating. Witnessing the exoneration of Nathan Brown on June 25th was a really inspirational moment for me. Time stopped as I traveled around that day, watching justice take action in front of my eyes.
I was at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse bright and early that Wednesday morning. I sat with the rest of the interns and heard as the judge vacated Mr. Brown’s sentence and conviction. The original charge against him was dismissed. DNA evidence brought into court by the national Innocence Project in New York and IPNO cleared Mr. Brown’s name of the attempted rape of which he was wrongfully convicted in 1997 – seventeen years in prison as an innocent man.
After hearing the official court proceedings freeing Mr. Brown, we drove out to St. Gabriel to see Mr. Brown’s release from Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. We were not allowed to leave the cars in the prison parking lot, so it was a hot wait to see him walk out of the gates. Due to processing, it took a while after the judge’s ruling for Mr. Brown to actually leave the prison. The wait was fairly suspenseful with many false calls, but eventually a van circling the parking lot stopped and Mr. Brown exited to freedom. I am really grateful to have been a participant in his welcome party. His face as he stepped out of the prison van was filled with joy, a sight I remember vividly.
The drive back to the office passed quickly. A press conference took place as the office was overrun with friends and family of Mr. Brown as well as staff from the Innocence Project in New York. I met Barry Scheck, co-founder and co-director of that initial Innocence Project. I tried to get some work done, but with the reporters and large crowd it seemed like it was the Fourth of July already. We went to the Joint following the press conference – Mr. Brown chose barbecue as his first meal. I went home full on chicken and potato salad, thinking about all I had learned from Mr. Brown that day.
Related articles:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/06/judge_vacates_conviction_of_me.html
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/9557378-171/man-to-go-free-on