The Aftermath | Chapter 2
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Who is Ken Lawson and what is his role in the Hawaii Innocence Project?
The Hawaii Innocence Project, like all innocence projects around the country, is a nonprofit dedicated to freeing people they believe were wrongly convicted, often by finding exculpatory DNA evidence. Ken Lawson was hired as a clerk of sorts by the co-director at the time, Randy Roth, in 2010. And over the years, he rose through the ranks to become an associate director and now co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project. But Ken began practicing law long before then, starting out in 1989 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he also opened up his own law firm in 1993. His firm handled many high-profile clients throughout 1993 to 2007, like now University of Colorado Boulder football coach Deion Sanders. But what's unique here is that Ken relates to many of his clients now in a way very few lawyers do. He had a successful practice until his license was revoked because of misconduct while addicted to prescription painkillers.
He pleaded guilty to the felony of obtaining controlled substances by fraudulent means and was sentenced to 24 months in prison, which he served 10 of before heading to a living sober facility in Hawaii for six months, followed by 12 months of supervisory release.
What challenges do exonerees face after release?
Like, when I came out, I was on parole, and so they provided services for me. You know, even though I had practiced law and all this other shit, man, they still was like, okay, here's how you get a bus pass. Here's how you get your security card. Here's a list of jobs for you to apply to. If you need to go to counseling, here's your counseling. When you're innocent, they just cut you loose, right? Hey, we're happy for you. Goodbye. Not a bus, you know, so, you know, you leave, there's a little bus fare, you know what I mean? Okay, how do I get home? When you're guilty, they take you to your front door or to your halfway house, you know what I mean?
After Ken became associated with the Hawaii Innocence Project, he eventually joined the faculty at the University of Hawaii Law School, alongside the person who first welcomed him into the Hawaii Innocence Project.
Well, that kind of started when Randy was a co-director. Randy put together for our Innocence Project a group of former prosecutors. And this is one of the cases the students presented. They were presenting actual cases, cases where we believe our client's actually innocent. They were presenting them to former prosecutors and get their feedback and stuff like that. We had some guest students, about 100 students total in that class. Jenny Hinch, who used to run the Winesons Project, she found out that I used to practice criminal law, so she offered me a position, and she said, you can come and work as a clerk in the Innocence Project for like $12 an hour. As long as I don't go back to prison, I'll come and work for $12.
But I went in, and that's how I started, and that's when I met Ian. Ian was the... first Innocence Project client I talked to over the phone. And so it was interesting because he was in prison, I had just gotten out.
Since first looking into this case, Ken Lawson and his team at the Hawaii Innocence Project have spent a lot of time in the case file from the investigation. They wanted to know exactly how we ended up where we are today. How so many names got thrown into this mess. Because remember, we're not even to an arrest yet, let alone a conviction.
How did witness interviews impact the investigation?
And that's because, as Ken Lawson sees it, from the very beginning, these witness interviews weren't exactly handled appropriately. I'm Amanda Knox, and this is Three. Chapter 2, The Aftermath. We mentioned in episode one that at the time of the incident, Eric told investigators that he and his girlfriend lived on Illilani Road. And on that day, December 24th, he said he was outside of his house when he noticed a pickup truck at the intersection of Illilani Road and Kapoho Kai Drive facing southwest, which was the spot where Dana was presumably hit. He recalled the specifics during a walkthrough of the scene with law enforcement.
Okay, all right. As I was pulling down this road, I saw a green truck parked at the end of this road. What color was the truck? Truck was turquoise green. It wasn't aqua color. It was green. It was like a pine and turquoise green mix.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who is Ken Lawson and what is his role in the Hawaii Innocence Project?
0:01–1:30
2
What challenges do exonerees face after release?
1:30–3:46
3
How did witness interviews impact the investigation?
3:46–7:07
4
What is the significance of Eric's testimony in the investigation?
7:07–12:12
5
Who are the primary suspects in Dana Ireland's case?
12:12–17:41
6
How does local culture influence the investigation process in Hawaii?
17:41–20:50
7
What are the implications of moving too quickly in criminal investigations?
20:50–25:21