Youngstown State University will host criminal justice advocate Dean Gillispie on Tuesday, Nov. 4, for a campus event organized by OIP-U at YSU, a student chapter of the Ohio Innocence Project. The event is free and open to students, faculty, staff and media.

Gillispie spent 20 years in prison for crimes he has always maintained he did not commit. In 1991, he was wrongfully convicted of rape and kidnapping tied to incidents in Ohio from 1988 and sentenced to 22 to 56 years.

His conviction occurred despite no physical evidence, inconsistent suspect descriptions from victims and detectives initially clearing him as a suspect.

The case was largely based on a flawed photo lineup and testimony from a former supervisor who held a personal grudge. The jury originally deadlocked 8–4.

Gillispie’s case later became one of the earliest pursued by the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. More than a dozen law students and faculty worked nearly a decade to challenge the conviction.

In December 2011, a U.S. District Magistrate Judge ruled that Gillispie did not receive a fair trial, citing withheld evidence that could have changed the outcome. He was released shortly before Christmas that year and reunited with his family.

Since his release, Gillispie has become a leading voice for criminal justice reform, speaking nationwide to raise awareness about wrongful convictions and the need for legal safeguards and system accountability.

He will speak during two classroom sessions in Cushwa Hall:

• 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — Room 3204
• 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. — Room 1515

Students in criminal justice, law, social work and related fields are encouraged to attend to learn firsthand how failures in the legal system can impact lives — and how advocacy continues to drive reform efforts across the nation.