WHAT: The Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) at the University of Illinois Springfield will hold its annual Defenders of the Innocent fundraising event featuring personal stories shared by exonerees James Kluppelberg, Marilyn Mulero and Brian Beals, each of whom was wrongfully convicted of crimes and imprisoned as innocent people. The event is open to the media; however, the public must register to attend.

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024 (doors open at 6:30 p.m., program at 7:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield

DETAILS: Exonerees James Kluppelberg, Marilyn Mulero and Brian Beals have developed and curated their stories to be presented at the Defenders event in collaboration with event emcee Dawn J. Fraser, a lead instructor and host with The Moth and featured speaker on the TED stage. She is the founder and CEO of Fraser’s Edge Inc., which offers programs for thought leaders, advocates and innovators to develop their leadership potential through storytelling.

IIP will present its 2024 Defender of the Innocent Award to exoneree Kristine Bunch. She was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 17 years after she was arrested and charged with setting a fire that claimed the life of her 3-year-old son. Her wrongful conviction was overturned after evolving science proved the fire was an accidental electrical fire. 

Since her exoneration in 2012, Bunch has been a tireless advocate on the national stage for wrongfully convicted and imprisoned innocent people. She has played an instrumental role in the growth of and statewide expansion of IIP’s Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance (WCAA) police training program, which has educated thousands of Illinois police officers about how law enforcement can help control factors that lead to the conviction of innocent people. Bunch was one of WCAA’s first exoneree speakers in 2016 and now directs the program’s Speakers Bureau, comprised of 25 exonerees nationwide who join IIP attorneys to educate cadets at police training facilities statewide.

IIP expects more than 20 freed and exonerated individuals from Illinois and other states to be in attendance. They will be publicly recognized toward the end of the program.

Event registration is required and closes on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. Sponsorships are available. Visit go.uis.edu/DOI2024 or email Courtney Reed at creed21@uis.edu.