Vanessa Potkin
Speaking topics: DNA, Eyewitness misidentification
Vanessa Potkin is the director of special litigation at the Innocence Project. In this role, Vanessa has represented and exonerated more than 30 innocent individuals, from Louisiana to Nevada, who collectively served over 500 years of wrongful imprisonment — and five of whom were originally prosecuted for capital murder.
Vanessa manages a post-conviction docket, litigating nationwide to secure DNA testing and relief based on exculpatory evidence in cases involving false confessions, eyewitness errors, informant testimony, the misapplication of forensic science, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective counsel.
Vanessa joined the organization in 2000 as its first staff attorney, and has helped pioneer the model of post-conviction DNA litigation used nationwide to exonerate wrongfully convicted persons. She is a nationally recognized expert on wrongful convictions and the use of DNA to establish innocence. In 2012, she contributed to the National Institute of Justice’s “DNA for the Defense Bar,” a report for criminal defense attorneys on understanding and applying DNA science in the courtroom.