Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP) client Jason Hogan was released from prison on May 9, 2023, after spending nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Convicted of a robbery/kidnapping at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, he was serving a 77-year sentence. Because Jason’s case appeared to be a wrongful conviction based on mistaken eyewitness identification, KWIP took on the case in 2019 and embarked on a three-year long journey to uncover additional evidence of Jason’s innocence.
Through a painstaking investigation, KWIP learned that an identical robbery/kidnapping took place at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center five days after the crime for which Jason was convicted. Because the two crimes and suspect descriptions were strikingly similar, the police concluded that the same man committed both crimes. However, police quickly developed compelling evidence that Jason did not commit the second robbery. This evidence included the following:
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The victim in the second case failed to pick Jason's picture from a photo line-up and said that the man who robbed her was not in the line-up.
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A fingerprint lifted from where the robber touched the second victim's car did not match Jason's.
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The second victim described another distinctive feature of her attacker -- a heavily pockmarked complexion. This description did not fit Jason.
Though due process required the police and prosecution to share this helpful evidence with Jason's lawyers, they failed to do so. Consequently, the jury that convicted Jason never learned about the second identical crime and all of the evidence showing that Jason was not the robber.
In 2022, KWIP shared this new evidence with the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) at the Denver District Attorney's Office. KWIP was prepared to file a motion for post-conviction relief based on the new evidence, but such motions can take years to litigate in the courts.
The CRU then offered to let Jason enter an Alford plea to a lesser charge and be resentenced to time-served. Under an Alford plea, a person maintains their innocence, but admits that there is evidence that, if believed by a jury, could lead to their conviction. In cases of wrongful conviction, such compromise outcomes are not uncommon. By accepting the CRU's offer, Jason was able to avoid a long court battle and return home to his family immediately.
Jason earned two associate degrees while in prison and was a star participant in an entrepreneurial program run by a non-profit called Breakthrough, from whom he accepted a full-time job upon his release.
The Korey Wise Innocence Project provides free investigative and legal services to people serving time in Colorado prisons for crimes they did not commit. As part of the University of Colorado Law School and CU Boulder community, KWIP's staff also mentors law students and undergraduate students in both the legal and advocacy work of the project. Visit our website to learn more about their work, why wrongful convictions happen, and how you can get involved.