News Photo by Temi Fadayomi From left to right, exonerees Marvin Cotton and Ken Nixon, Cooley Law School Innocence Project Managing Editor Ann Garant, and exonerees Eric Anderson and Gilbert Poole pose for photos after a panel discussion at Alpena Community College on Thursday.

ALPENA — Members of the Alpena community were on Thursday given firsthand insight into mistakes made by the legal system when the Cooley Law School Innocence Project hosted a wrongful conviction panel discussion at Alpena Community College.

The panel featured four individuals who were convicted of crimes of which they were later exonerated after spending extended amounts of time in prison.

The exonerees were Eric Anderson, who was incarcerated for nine years, Ken Nixon, who was incarcerated for 15 years, Marvin Cotton, who was incarcerated for 19 years, and Gilbert Poole, who was incarcerated for 32 years.

The panel was hosted by Ann Garant, the managing editor of the Cooley Law School Innocence Project.

During the panel, the exonerees talked about myriad topics related to their experience of being wrongfully convicted, ranging from its effects on their mental health as well as the ways the Innocence Project used DNA evidence to help exonerate them.

One crucial point mentioned during the discussion was the lack of government support made available to exonerees after they are released from prison and the effects that had on them and other exonerees.

“We stepped into a world where the Michigan legal system treats you better if you were guilty and on parole than if you were innocent,” said Nixion. “People on parole had access to resources that the government had to provide. They had to provide you access to certain things in order for you to stay out of trouble and be successful on the road. Well, we didn’t fit that stigma.”

Panelists also mentioned the importance of advocacy from exonerees and their representatives — as well as the general public — to better support those who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes, as well the importance of holding those in power accountable.

“Hopefully, you learn something today that makes you stand up in the face of injustice,” said Nixion. “We’re not just people that had a bad experience. We are now citizens. We are now neighbors. We’re now sitting in the same room as each of you except different backgrounds brought us together. The way that everybody in this room can be helpful is by exercising your vote. The people that we put in office are the people that allow these things to happen.”

The Cooley Innocence Project is currently Michigan’s only post-conviction DNA innocence organization and is currently responsible for nine exonerations of individuals who spent a total of 192 years in prison.

According to Garant, who is both an Alpena Community College alumnus and an Alpena native, the panel was put together in the hopes of raising awareness of the flaws in the legal system and its consequences on innocent individuals.

“I wanted to reach out to communities to spread awareness to people who might not know about this,” said Garant. “It’s not just a Detroit issue. It’s not just a larger-city issue. There are wrongful convictions everywhere that happen every day. So bringing them to communities that some people might not know about or understand that may happen is very important to me.”