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Dateline: 4/17/2009

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
Dale Goodwin, Director
Peter Tormey, Associate Director

GU Law Offers Tale of Justice, Redemption April 21
In 1984, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino testified that Ronald Cotton was the man who raped her. Eleven years later, DNA evidence exonerated him of the crime. The Gonzaga University School of Law will present “Picking Cotton: A Story of Injustice and Redemption,” an opportunity for the community to hear Thompson-Cannino describe her and Cotton’s experiences, at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 21 in the Barbieri Moot Courtroom at the Gonzaga Law School.

Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson-Cannino
In 1984, Thompson-Cannino was raped at knifepoint in her home. She escaped from her attacker, and in the course of reporting her crime eventually positively identified Cotton as her rapist in both a photo and in a physical lineup. Cotton always insisted he was innocent, but Thompson-Cannino’s positive ID was the evidence that kept him behind bars. However, in 1995, a DNA test proved Cotton was not the rapist and he was released after 11 years in prison.

Two years later, Thompson-Cannino and Cotton met face to face. They became friends and now work together to raise awareness about the need for post-conviction DNA testing and reform in eyewitness identification procedures. Together, they wrote a memoir of their experience, “Picking Cotton” and their story has been featured on the Public Broadcasting Service program “Frontline,” National Public Radio’s “This I Believe,” and the CBS TV show “60 Minutes.”

The event is sponsored by Gonzaga University School of Law and the Integrity of Justice Project. For more information, contact Brooks Holland, Gonzaga assistant professor of law, at (509) 313-6120 or via e-mail.