The Gift of Time: Relativity Supports Freedom and Healing for Wrongfully Convicted People Nationwide

Ian Schweitzer with his family following his exoneration in Hilo, Hawaii, on Jan. 24, 2023. (Image: Marco Garcia/Innocence Project)

Relativity’s Support in the Exoneration of Ian Schweitzer

Relativity’s tools helped the Innocence Project and Hawai‘i Innocence Project win the 2023 exoneration of Albert (Ian) Schweitzer, after 23 years of wrongful incarceration. 

Mr. Schweitzer was wrongly convicted of one of Hawai‘i’s most high-profile cases, the  Christmas Eve 1991 sexual assault and murder of Dana Ireland (see here and here for more information). The investigation that led to his wrongful conviction spanned nine years, during which time police interviewed hundreds of people, and submitted a myriad of physical evidence for DNA from the crime scene, Ms. Ireland, multiple suspects, and several vehicles. The sheer volume of the resulting discovery materials was overwhelming — filling nearly 50 bankers’ boxes of documents, which the Hawai‘i Innocence Project received and later compared against its own 65,000+ pages of materials from the investigation.

After digitizing the materials, the team sought support from Relativity to revisit Mr. Schweitzer’s innocence claims by identifying new evidence.

Mr. Schweitzer’s legal team applied for assistance from Relativity’s Justice for Change program and gained access to RelativityOne, an AI-powered platform that efficiently manages large volumes of data and identifies key issues in litigation and investigations.

RelativityOne enabled the Hawai‘i Innocence Project and the Innocence Project to collaborate on the same documents in real time. With training from Relativity, support from hosting partner Complete Discovery Source (CDS), and access to Relativity’s secure, AI-enabled Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, Mr. Schweitzer’s legal team made quick work of the mountains of discovery documents, a feat that would have been significantly more challenging without Relativity’s support. Access to this cutting-edge technology allowed the team to work more efficiently. 

The post-conviction investigation that led to his exoneration also identified the actual perpetrator of the crime, a testament to the power of collaboration and perseverance in the pursuit of justice. “Relativity saved us time,” said Jennifer Brown, Associate Director of the Hawai‘i Innocence Project and a lead attorney for Mr. Schweitzer. “And nothing is more precious than time in a case where the wrong person is still in prison. Every day, week, or year we save is a day, week, or year less that an innocent person has to suffer in custody.”

Mr. Schweitzer’s conviction was finally vacated in January 2023 after the Hawai‘i Innocence Project and the Innocence Project requested new DNA testing of the evidence and a reanalysis of crime scene evidence based on advancements in scientific understanding of areas such as tire tread and bite mark evidence, which had been used to wrongfully convict him. 

Relativity’s exceptional support, particularly its advanced technology, undoubtedly empowered the legal team to build a compelling case for Mr. Schweitzer’s innocence and secure his exoneration. The Innocence Project and Hawai‘i Innocence Project are profoundly grateful for this invaluable assistance.