Few students have the chance to right a wrong before they even graduate from law school, but Jessica Farris did exactly that.  Farris’ first year in law school and her commencement were bookends of a remarkable educational journey that gave her experience in the law and helped free an innocent man who’d spent half his life in prison.

Farris decided to spend the summer after her first year of law school in Southern California, where she could visit with family and provide pro bono service that would satisfy a graduation requirement.

Inspired by a discussion in the Criminal Procedure class she took with Professor Donald Tibbs, Farris hoped to work on the cases of prisoners with dubious convictions.

Farris found her way to Innocence Matters, a newly formed organization that had just accepted its very first case.  It turned out to be a doozy.  

John Smith had been 18 years old and miles away from a drive-by shooting that killed one person and injured another in South Central Los Angeles in 1993.  A number of witnesses could attest to Smith’s whereabouts at the time of the shooting, yet the information they offered was never explored police or the defense attorney who represented him.  Smith was convicted of murder and received a life sentence.

Along with Innocence Matters Executive Director Deirdre O’Connor, Farris set about doing the work Smith’s previous attorneys had neglected: verifying alibis and interviewing the lone witness in the case.   The witness, a survivor of the shooting, told Farris and O’Connor that he’d never gotten a clear view of the gunman but said police had pressured him to identify Smith.

Farris became an integral player in the case, O’Connor said, helping to develop the overall strategy. 

She drafted portions of a habeas petition that called Smith’s conviction into question so effectively that the prosecutor felt compelled to reinvestigate the case and, in the process, confirmed Smith’s innocence. 

So as Farris counted down her final days as a law student, she and O’Connor waited for a final decision from the court that would permit their client’s release.  

As of press time, Smith hopes soon to leave prison after 18 years, and Farris hopes to fly to California to join an entourage of advocates who look forward to escorting him out of the courthouse, along with O’Connor and his relatives.

Taking part in this bittersweet story never would have happened, Farris said, were it not for Professor Tibbs’ class or the school’s pro bono service requirement.

And those 50 hours of pro bono service?  Well, Farris stopped counting after she’d tallied several hundred.

Because what mattered most to Farris were the opportunities to free an innocent man and to gain insights about legal practice.

“I see what happens when you’re not exacting in your legal analysis,” Farris said. “I think it’s going to make me a much more careful lawyer.”