Resource: Centurion Ministries

Centurion Ministries is a secular, national non-profit 501(c)(3) investigative and advocacy organization dedicated to the vindication of the wrongly convicted. They have a team of 25 expert volunteers and 14 staff members that evaluate more than 1,000 new claims of innocence each year. They pride themselves on “taking on the hard cases, the ones others leave behind”, and investigating claims of innocence without any requirement that a particular type of evidence exist in a case. Utilizing their 40 years of post-conviction legal experience, Centurion has been able to uncover lost evidence, find new evidence, convince coerced witnesses to come forward with the truth, overturn false confessions, and sometimes even find the real criminal. Since 1983, they have freed 63 men and women who were serving life or death sentences for crimes they did not commit.

Centurion Ministries bears all costs associated with proving their clients’ innocence and helping them get on their feet post-release. Furthermore, while working to exonerate a client, Centurion supports their clients while they are still in prison and supports any efforts to further their education or to learn a new skill. Once freed, the team carefully works with the individual to create strategies for them to succeed, by providing assistance with housing, employment, clothing, medical checkups, or simply being a voice on the other end of a phone. Centurion Ministries states, “We want their freedom to be a joyous experience, for them not to feel alone as they navigate the new world”.

For more information about Centurion Ministries: Visit www.centurion.org or contact Centurion Ministries at 1000 Herrontown Rd., Clock Bldg. 2nd Fl., Princeton, NJ 08540.

*Cases that meet the criteria may send a 2–4-page letter outlining the facts of the case, including the crime you were convicted of, the evidence against you, and why you were arrested. You will receive a return letter of acknowledgment.

**Centurion does not take on accidental death or self-defense cases or cases where the defendant had any involvement whatsoever in the crime. In cases involving sexual assault, a forensic component is required.

Researched by Crystal Poole, NC-Cure Intern