Episode 01: Mike Ware - The Innocence Project of Texas

Mike Ware is the Executive Director of the Innocence Project of Texas. During our conversation, Mike talks about his career in the law, his work within Dallas's Conviction Integrity unit and the wrongfully-convicted clients he and his organization have represented and helped to exonerate.

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Show notes

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(00:49) How Mike was introduced to the Innocence Project and what drew him towards it.

(05:27) Injustice and smugness around criminal justice.

(07:02) Why is anyone who is arrested in America viewed as someone who has done wrong?

(13:17) What is it that inhibits people of power from undoing a wrong at any point during an investigation or trial?

(16:29) What is an example of a confirmation bias case?

(22:18) Mike addresses the Duke lacrosse case.

(30:00) About the first post-conviction DNA exoneration ever done

.(48:50) What happens when a statute of limitation expires?

(49:54) How are DNA databases managed?

(54:24) Patrick Waller, man who spent over a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit.

(56:51) What happens when a wrongly convicted person is later on exonerated by the state?

(01:13:40) How many people have been exonerated since 1984?

(01:22:10) What prompted Mike into switching from the Conviction Integrity Unit to the Innocence Project?

(01:38:36) What is the downside risk for being completely wrong about the story anybody presents to the jurors?

(01:41:12) What keeps Mike motivated to do what he does with the Innocence Project?

(01:50:28) What is it that citizens can do to combat injustice?

(01:52:19) How does the Innocence Project get enough legal resources to meet the demand from inmates who are clamoring for help?

(01:55:56) Which cases involve DNA testing?

(01:59:44) How can we as a society get better at rendering justice more frequently?