Since it was founded in 1992, the Innocence Project, which litigates and investigates claims of wrongful conviction with forensic evidence, has contributed to 165 cases being returned and the convictions being exonerated. Unfortunately, even with the work the Innocence Project does, many cases will never be solved because of the evidence being lost or destroyed.

Barry Scheck, professor of law and director of the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, lectured on the advantages of DNA evidence, in the Memorial Union on Monday night.

Scheck gave the example of Barry Gibbs, a New York man who was exonerated last week based on DNA evidence discovered by the Innocence Project. Scheck said Gibbs was wrongfully accused and convicted of murder after being framed by detectives who used a false eyewitness testimony. Unfortunately, after having spent 19 years in prison, Gibbs was freed, but had nothing to go back to.

“The first thing Barry Gibbs did when he was released was go to my apartment and take a two-hour-long bath,” Scheck said.

During the past week, Scheck has been helping Gibbs find a new home.

“Life is much stranger than fiction,” Scheck said.

Scheck said DNA testing has changed the criminal justice system during the last decade. DNA testing has proven that the U.S. judicial system convicts and sentences innocent people.

Many experts believe wrongful convictions are much more commonplace than perceived. For example, Gary Wells, distinguished professor of psychology, has maintained that eyewitness testimonies can often result in false identifications of the suspects.

Scheck said at the Innocence Project, 75 percent of all cases go unsolved because of lack of biological evidence. In the cases that there was enough evidence to actually pursue, however, 40 percent of the people turned out to be wrongfully convicted.

“I think it happens from time to time, but I don’t think it’s that common,” said Kara Fillmore, freshman in liberal arts and sciences attending the lecture.

Fillmore believes DNA evidence will help many court cases, with more ways being developed to obtain and process DNA evidence.

Breanna Clark, sophomore in psychology, is a criminal justice minor and said she believes DNA testing and evidence will gain even more momentum in courts.

“After taking Gary Wells’ psychology course, I’ve noticed that eyewitness testimonies can be flawed, and DNA evidence is increasingly more reliable,” she said.

Scheck has worked on very high-profile cases, most notably the O.J. Simpson trial.

Scheck is also the first vice president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.