Murdock, Ryan
She Works Hard For the Money
Issue #26
Innocence Project caseworker fights wrongful death-penalty convictions, one inmate at a time
By Kristina Francisco
Published: December 1st, 2005 | 12:00am
KATE KREPEL
LOCATION: New York City
OCCUPATION: intake case coordinator at the Innocence Project, a non-profit legal clinic and criminal-justice resource center
JOB DESCRIPTION: Krepel works with inmates seeking help to prove their innocence. “My role is to vet the hundreds of requests from inmates that the Innocence Project receives every month and decide which cases fit our mandate and which ones we can’t take,” Krepel says. When the Project decides to take on a case, Krepel also reviews trial transcripts, police reports, crime-lab reports, appellate briefs, and other documents that can tell her about a case.
HOW SHE GOT STARTED: Though she once harbored dreams of becoming an actress, Krepel’s professional ambitions changed when she worked on a wrongful conviction case in a journalism class while at Northwestern University. The case involved a man on death row who was exonerated after spending 16 years wrongfully behind bars; it was one of many that served as catalysts for then-governor George Ryan’s historic decision to issue a moratorium on executions in the state.
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: “It really is amazing to see our clients exonerated,” Krepel says. “The impact that it has on their lives is more concrete and awe-inspiring than anything else I’ve ever done.”
THE HARD PART: “The reality is that I read rape and murder cases all day long,” Krepel says. “And at the end of the day, I have to say no to most of the inmates who write in with heart-wrenching claims of innocence and truly horrifying tales of human-rights abuses in prison. But as much as it can be a burden, this work makes me feel like I’m participating in making the world a slightly better place.”
Comments
Want to tell us what you think? Please click here to log in or just click here for quick comments