LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio — The Lucas County Prosecutor's Office has announced that it will reveal details about its new conviction integrity unit next Tuesday.
A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the prosecutor's office. Prosecutor Julia Bates and Lucas County Commissioner Peter Gerken will be speaking.
A CIU will be responsible for reviewing claims of innocence.
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Details have not been announced, but typically a CIU only reviews cases that involve felony convictions. Other details, such as who will head the unit, how cases will be submitted, and how they will be investigated, should be addressed at the news conference.
As the popularity of CIUs has grown across the United States, Gerken has become increasingly vocal in having a unit review claims of innocence cases in Lucas County.
Late last year, he told 11 Investigates that he believed a CIU was needed in Lucas County.
11 Investigates has pushed for the unit ever since its 2019 "Guilty Without Proof" investigation.
In that case, Wayne Braddy and Karl Willis were convicted of a 1998 murder, but they were released last March and credited the investigation with making it happen. Gerken has credited 11 Investigates multiple times for helping to make the unit a reality.
Lucas County has been forced to address several other high-profile cases that involved claims of innocence.
Most recently, Eric Misch was granted a new trial last month for a 1992 murder after Judge Gary Cook ruled that the Toledo Police Department should have turned over evidence to his defense team. Four other men convicted in that case are now contesting their convictions.
Willie Knighten was granted clemency by then-Gov. Ted Strickland and pardoned by Gov. Mike DeWine for a 1996 murder. The judge in his case, Judge William Skow, declared from his deathbed that he believed Knighten was innocent.
Knighten has not officially been exonerated of the crime.
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