Great North Innocence Project

GNIP client Jennifer Baldwin's evidentiary hearing began last week after the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the initial denial of post-conviction relief. The hearing focuses on the alleged false medical evidence presented at her original trial.

GNIP, working with pro bono partners at Fish & Richardson P.C. (pictured accepting the award for GNIP Pro Bono Champions of the Year at the 2024 Benefit for Innocence), has presented testimony from five medical experts. Two additional witnesses will testify in late August.

This hearing represents an important opportunity in our continued fight for justice for Jennifer 💙

For 25 years, the Great North Innocence Project has helped innocent people navigate the long journey from wrongful conviction toward freedom while working to prevent future injustices. Our work and impact would not be possible without the support of partners like Fish & Richardson P.C.

Thank you to Fish & Richardson P.C. for your continued partnership as an Advocate Sponsor at this year's Benefit for Innocence: True North. We look forward to celebrating with you at the Nicollet Island Pavilion on September 23!

For information about lighting the path to justice as a Benefit for Innocence sponsor, contact Deandra Bieneman at [email protected].

"I have had a long road making it as far as I have. When I got my house, I remember thinking, ‘wow, I did it.’.. Now, I’m lost to what my future holds.” -Terry Olson, freed GNIP client

Thank you to our Great North community for rallying around Terry as he faces new challenges in the aftermath of his wrongful conviction. We are so close to meeting our goal of raising $5,000 to help Terry keep his home and truck that he's worked so hard for.

Make a gift today to directly support Terry as he continues to rebuilt his life after a wrongful conviction.

Donate to Support Terry in Keeping His Home and Truck, organized by Great North Innocence Project In September 2016, Terry Olson was released from prison after… Great North Innocence Project needs your support for Support Terry in Keeping His Home and Truck

🌟Honor 25 years of freeing innocent people and preventing wrongful convictions with the Great North Innocence Project by reflecting on the stories of our freed clients.

In May 2025, Robert Kaiser was finally exonerated after years of wrongful incarceration and seeming unending court hearings. Thank you to Mark Bradford of BANC and to Kevin Riach for helping GNIP bring Robert home!

🌟The Great North Innocence Project could not have successfully freed 15 innocent people without our guiding stars, the founders and earliest investors in innocence work in the Great North region. As part of our year-long 25th anniversary celebration, we are highlighting these passionate leaders and advocates who helped shape GNIP into what it is today.

Erika Applebaum Zemby, Practice Manager at Wigren Forensic, was the first-ever executive director of the Innocence Project of Minnesota (now Great North Innocence Project). During her tenure as the organization’s leader, Erika built the operational infrastructure and financial health of the organization, enabling it to grow into a fully functioning legal justice nonprofit.

Visit https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/news/the-great-north-innocence-projects-guiding-stars-erika-applebaum-zemby/ to read Erika's story.

Happy birthday to freed GNIP client Ronnie Cooper🥳

We wish you a joyful day and year. You deserve it! 🎂🎈

“I’m not giving up. I won’t. I say, ‘you never did before, why should you start now?’" -Terry Olson

People like Terry who are freed from a wrongful conviction, but who are not exonerated, face unique challenges and barriers to reintegrating back into everyday life. The day they are released is the start of a new chapter of freedom and reconnection, but also the beginning of a new fight to clear one’s name once and for all.

Terry is a survivor. He is also tired of the fight. He has found and continues to find reasons to celebrate, love, and laugh. And, he yearns for the day when he can truly rest, knowing justice was served.

Help Terry protect the life he has fought to rebuild by supporting and sharing at

Donate to Support Terry in Keeping His Home and Truck, organized by Great North Innocence Project In September 2016, Terry Olson was released from prison after… Great North Innocence Project needs your support for Support Terry in Keeping His Home and Truck

Join the Great North Innocence Project and Minnesota-based author William Kent Krueger for a conversation about his novel "Apostle's Cove"📚

As our Wrongful Convictions Book Club's first fiction selection, "Apostle’s Cove" is set in Aurora, MN. The book begins with retired sheriff Cork O’Connor receiving a call from his son Stephen, who is working at the Great North Innocence Project. Stephen tells his father that decades ago, as the newly elected sheriff of Tamarack County, Cork was responsible for sending an Ojibwe man named Axel Boshey to prison for a brutal murder that Stephen is certain he did not commit.

Cork, now retired, reinvestigates the case. But as Wrongful Convictions Book Club participants and other innocence advocates know, proving – and litigating – innocence is easier said than done.

Visit https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/get-involved/wrongful-convictions-book-club/ to register for our community book discussion at Dual Citizen Brewing on August 11 and virtual author conversation on September 10!

In September 2016, Terry Olson was released from prison after serving almost 11 years for a crime he didn’t commit. He has now spent 10 years free, attempting to rebuild the life that was stolen from him. He has found the journey to be rife with both joy, and sorrow.

The collateral consequences of Terry's wrongful incarceration have continued to lead to negative health and financial outcomes. And now, Terry may lose his house and his truck. He needs his community to rally around him.

Honor 10 years of freedom by making a gift to support Terry in keeping the home he has worked so hard for, and the transportation that enables him to get to work and take care of himself and his beloved dog, Tmoe.

Every dollar and share make a difference in showing Terry that our community has his back 💙

https://gofund.me/f09ac273d

The Great North Innocence Project is excited to share a case update on behalf of our client, Brian Pippitt!

After the Minnesota Attorney General's Office Conviction Review Unit recommended Brian be exonerated in June of 2024, Brian thought his case was done and he'd be freed. Unfortunately, the Aitkin County Attorney's Office didn't agree with the report recommending exoneration.

Shortly after learning Brian wouldn't be exonerated, GNIP and partners from Centurion - Freedom for the Innocent filed a petition for post-conviction relief on behalf of Brian. In the meantime, GNIP and Centurion were able to fight for Brian's sentence to be commuted, allowing him to be released in January of 2026.

Brian had a court hearing in June where a district court judge ruled Brian is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his claims of actual innocence. At the evidentiary hearing slated in November, GNIP will be able to bring evidence supporting Brian was wrongfully convicted based on the recantation of pivotal witnesses who testified at his trial, new witness testimony, misconduct by the prosecuting attorney at the time of his trial, and loss of key evidence.

Brian is one step closer to having his name cleared after spending over 26 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit 💙