Exposing the truth behind wrongful accusations and wrongful convictions.
Every wrongful accusation has a story.
Every wrongful conviction has a trail.
And every system failure leaves fingerprints.
Project INNOCENCE’s Investigations desk is dedicated to uncovering the cases, patterns, and systemic breakdowns that lead innocent people into criminal court — even when no crime occurred.
Here, we publish in-depth exposés, case files, timelines, document analyses, and multi-part investigations that reveal what the public never sees:
- How allegations become charges without evidence
- How agencies file cases outside their jurisdiction
- How “information and belief” replaces real investigation
- How ADA violations and disability bias distort outcomes
- How custody disputes turn into criminal prosecutions
- How pattern-misconduct officers accumulate unreviewed cases
- How prosecutors advance charges even after police find no crime
These are stories the system hopes you’ll never read.
We publish them anyway.
When an Allegation Becomes a Weapon
A Baltimore lawsuit challenges the use of protective orders in custody disputes, highlighting how allegations can disrupt family dynamics before being proven. It raises concerns about the impact of unproven claims on custody decisions and the balance between protecting victims and preventing misuse of the judicial system, emphasizing the need for procedural integrity.
Inside the Pattern Misconduct Officer Crisis: How Bad Cops Create Wrongful Convictions
The article by Michael Phillips discusses the problem of pattern-misconduct officers in law enforcement, who repeatedly engage in serious misconduct such as falsifying evidence and coercion. These officers remain active despite documented histories, leading to wrongful convictions. The article highlights systemic failures that prevent accountability, impacting vulnerable individuals disproportionately.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 26, 2025
Official San Diego CAD logs for the May 1 and September 4, 2025 incidents classify them as civil assists with no criminal implications. Despite Los Angeles County filing kidnapping charges against Giselle Smiel, San Diego’s records confirm no crime occurred, raising concerns about jurisdictional discrepancies and the necessity for transparency and accountability.
The Crime That Never Happened: How Innocent People End Up in Criminal Court
The article discusses how innocent individuals can become victims of wrongful prosecutions despite the absence of a crime. Systemic flaws, such as reliance on hearsay and jurisdictional issues, enable cases to proceed without evidence, impacting lives significantly, especially during custody disputes. Project INNOCENCE aims to expose these injustices and provide support.
No Warrant. No Order. Just Lies. — The San Marcos School Ambush Exposing Family Court Fraud
On May 1, 2025, in San Marcos, California, heavily armed individuals mistakenly identified as law enforcement attempted to abduct two schoolchildren without legal authority. Their mother, Giselle Smiel, exposed systemic failures in protecting parental rights and due process, highlighting the dangers of Alternative Dispute Resolution tactics disguised as justice, endangering children in schools.