Georgia Innocence Project

Georgia Innocence Project corrects and prevents wrongful convictions in Georgia and assists clients freed from wrongful incarceration. We fight wrongful convictions holistically through legal representation, community education, advocating for policy reform, providing reentry and long-term support, and working in partnership with those most directly impacted. 

The Need: According to the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, an estimated 4-6% of incarcerated individuals are innocent. In Georgia, this equates to over 2,000 people currently imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.

The Fight: Since our founding in 2002, Georgia Innocence Project has helped free or exonerate 16 innocent individuals who collectively lost 372 years to wrongful imprisonment. Meet one of those individuals: Sonny Bharadia.

Watch Sonny share his experience of nearly 23 years of wrongful incarceration for a crime he didn't commit. His legal team at Georgia Innocence Project and co-counsel Eversheds Sutherland offer details and insights about his wrongful conviction, and what it took for Sonny to regain his freedom. 

Sonny was released in November 2024 and fully exonerated in May 2025. The legal fight to regain his freedom and clear his name was made possible by the support of community members like you!

How You Help: Your donation supports the fight for freedom and exoneration of the many other innocent clients we're fighting alongside to bring home. Folks like Erik Heard, who was convicted of a murder he did not commit based on mistaken eyewitness identification and incentivized testimony of a jailhouse informant. He has been fighting for his freedom for 15 years.

Your gift today will directly support the fight for freedom of Erik and thousands others. Will you help bring them home?

• $500 Covers a month of Open Records Act request fees
  
• $100 Supports travel costs to visit innocent clients in prison
• $50 Buys postage for 68 letters to keep incarcerated applicants informed
• $25 Helps fund monthly support meetings for the freed community