Wexford County Courthouse, Cadillac, Michigan. Image credit: flickr.com user OZinOHANN ARBOR—The Michigan Innocence Clinic, along with attorneys James Samuels and Michael McKenzie, announced that Victor Caminata, who had been convicted of arson in 2008, was exonerated at the Wexford County Courthouse in Cadillac, Mich.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office stated that it was dismissing the charge against Caminata, who had served five years and two weeks of wrongful imprisonment for arson before he was released on July 2, 2013. The Attorney General indicated that the conviction should be vacated because its experts no longer stood by the arson determination that had originally sent Caminata to prison to serve nine to 40 years.

A jury convicted Caminata after the house he shared with his then-girlfriend and their children in Boon Township burned in 2008. An initial fire investigation concluded that the fire originated in the chimney, which was connected to a wood stove. But after the police received an anonymous tip, investigators re-examined the wreckage and found supposed signs that the fire had been intentionally set to look like a chimney fire. According to records, investigators did not examine the interior of the chimney.

This final result came nearly two years after the clinic filed a motion for relief from judgment for Caminata based on the conclusion of its experts that the state’s experts had committed fundamental errors in violation of NFPA 921 and that the supposed signs of arson were spurious.

Samuels of Big Rapids, Mich., and McKenzie of Atlanta co-counseled the case with the clinic on a pro bono basis. Joe Filas and Tom May also provided their expertise pro bono.

The legal team included clinic director David Moran, staff attorney Imran Syed, former co-director (now Michigan Supreme Court justice) Bridget McCormack, clinical professor Kim Thomas, and former students Blasé Schmid, Adam Thompson, Kate O’Connor, Rachel Burg, Zach Dembo, Nick Hambley, Laura Andrade, Jocelin Chang, and Marc Allen, and current students Lexi Bond, Emily Goebel and Claire Madill.

Founded in 2009, the Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan allows students to investigate and to litigate cases on behalf of prisoners who have new evidence that may establish that they are actually innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Unlike many other innocence clinics, which specialize in DNA exonerations, the Michigan Innocence Clinic focuses on cases where there is no biological evidence to be tested.

Caminata is the clinic’s eighth exoneration. The eight exonerees collectively have served nearly 90 years for crimes they did not commit.

Related Link:

• Michigan Innocence Clinic: http://www.law.umich.edu/clinical/innocenceclinic