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What is the difference between an exoneree and a freed client?

No matter what, two of the things that all of our exonerees and freed clients have in common are innocence and freedom.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, an exoneree is “a person who was convicted of a crime and later officially declared innocent of that crime, or relieved of all legal consequences of the conviction because evidence of innocence that was not presented at trial required reconsideration of the case.”

Sometimes the justice system presents innocent clients with other options to leave prison and sacrifice their chance to ever be recognized as actually innocent. For example, if a prisoner accepts an Alford plea, they can be released from prison and maintain their innocence by admitting that the evidence the prosecution has would be likely to persuade a judge or jury to find the prisoner guilty. Often times freed clients accept these kinds of pleas so they can begin rebuilding their lives in freedom as they continue the legal fight to prove their actual innocence.