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KIP is the recipient of the Bloodsworth grant from the BJA. It is through this grant that KIP has hired additional staff to identify cases where post-conviction DNA testing may prove a wrongfully convicted person’s innocence. KIP applies rigorous standards of review and investigation before determining a person has a claim of innocence, and if there is untested evidence or prior inclusive testing, that may not be tested to support that claim of innocence. The grant funded staff has worked on this identification and review process since 2020. In this review process a number of cases have been identified for investigation of an innocence claim. To date a number of motions have been filed in courts across Kentucky seeking DNA testing. KIP has secured three agreements from prosecutors in Jefferson, Scott and Adair counties to conduct the grant funded testing through state and private forensic laboratories.

KIP presently represents Mr. Burden on a post-conviction DNA testing motion. Mr. Burden seeks DNA testing in a murder case from 1986. Mr. Burden entered an Alford plea after threat of the death penalty. The Alford plea allowed Mr. Burden to plead guilty, acknowledging there was evidence against him that may result in a guilty verdict at trial while maintaining his innocence of the charges. Mr. Burden sought testing of crucial evidence from the crime scene that would definitively point to the true perpetrator of the crime. The original trial court denied his request for DNA testing. KIP appealed this denial, and Mr. Burden’s appeal is currently set for oral argument before the Kentucky Court of Appeals on September 20, 2023. Mr. Burden is represented by Miranda Hellman, staff attorney at KIP.

KIP represents Hope White in her efforts to secure DNA testing of items that have the power to prove her innocence. Hope has maintained her innocence for 15 years. Hope was convicted of the murder of the murder of Julie Burchett in Monticello, Kentucky in 2009. Many items of biological evidence were left untested at the time of her trial. She was convicted based largely on the inconsistent testimony of three purported eye-witnesses with pending charges. KIP filed for post-conviction DNA testing based on the Kentucky statute KSR 422.285 in 2020. Hope was denied this DNA testing by the original trial court, the Court of Appeals, and most recently the Kentucky Supreme Court denied discretionary review of this request. KIP continues to fight to the test the DNA evidence in Hope’s case.

KIP staff attorney Whitney Allen and Exoneration Project staff attorney Amy Staples have been fighting an uphill battle for Brandon Lamotte’s freedom. In 2019, John “Brandon” Lamotte was wrongfully convicted of assault. Since then, the alleged victim has recanted to multiple people on several occasions, stating, she “sent the wrong guy to prison.” After a hearing, where three people testified the victim told them Brandon did not stab her, the Franklin Circuit Court denied Brandon’s Motion for New Trial. Brandon remains in prison, his mental and physical health deteriorating, although he is factually innocent. Join the fight for justice for John Brandon Lamotte by donating to KIP at: [insert new KIP website] and signing this petition: Petition · FREE JOHN BRANDON LAMOTTE · Change.org