Kevin Harrington
Wrongfully convicted: February 11, 2003
Exonerated: April 21, 2020
Wayne County
Kevin Harrington had just completed his first year of college in 2002 when he was wrongfully arrested, charged and ultimately convicted of an Inkster murder. He and a co-defendant, George Clark, were innocent men falsely implicated by a local woman who had been coerced by police.
The Michigan Innocence Clinic began working on Harrington’s case in 2009 and discovered significant new evidence showing that both Harrington and Clark were innocent, and also revealing the identity of the true murderer. After years of investigation and litigation, both Harrington (represented by the Innocence Clinic) and Clark (represented by the Jones Day law firm) were exonerated and released from prison in April 2020—once the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed the case and concluded they were innocent.
More details available at:
- The National Registry of Exonerations: Kevin Harrington
- The Detroit Free Press: “Murder convictions tossed, so 2 men walk free and right into quarantine”
- The Los Angeles Times: “After 18 years behind bars, an innocent man savors quarantine”
- NBC News: “Exonerated man freed from prison, now in hotel quarantine: ‘I could watch Netflix!’”
- El Pais: “Kevin Harrington’s eventful release: 17 years in jail for murder, now exonerated”