GOVERNOR SIGNS COMPENSATION BILL
FOR WRONGLY-CONVICTED ATLANTAN

Atlanta - May 27, 2007

Today Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law a measure that will compensate Robert Clark $1.2 million for his nearly 25 years of wrongful inprisonment.

"We are thrilled for Mr. Clark and hope this money will help him build a very happy and successful life," said Aimee Maxwell, Executive Director of the Georgia Innocence Project.

The compensation will be paid over a 15 year period, and Mr. Clark says his first goal is to purchase his own home. The law firm Alston & Bird, LLP, which was instrumental in developing the legislative compensation package for Mr. Clark, will help him manage his funds along with the assistance of Joe Barry Carroll, a GIP supporter.

Robert Clark was arrested in 1981 and convicted in 1982 for rape, robbery, and kidnapping in Cobb County, Georgia. He was sentenced to life in prison. The Innocence Project (New York) took his case in 2003, and the Georgia Innocence Project joined as local counsel in December of that year. Mr. Clark was exonerated of all charges in December 2005.

Since his release, Mr. Clark has been working in construction.

To learn more about Robert Clark's case, visit our Media Archives.

GEORGIA SENATE
UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES $1.2 MILLION IN FINANCIAL
COMPENSATION FOR ROBERT CLARK

Atlanta – April 10, 2007

Georgia Senators unanimously approved a compensation package today for Robert Clark, an Atlanta man who spent more than 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Clark put his hands together prayerfully and smiled as the resolution passed. Just moments before, he had stood in the Senate gallery as the legislators applauded him.

Sponsored by Sen. Horacena Tate, the measure now returns to the House for reconciliation.

Clark told reporters after the vote that he plans to buy a house with the first installment of his compensation money, if the Governor approves the measure.

The Georgia Innocence Project expresses its sincere gratitude to Terry Walsh and Gary Horlacher of Alston & Bird LLP for their exceptional pro bono work on assisting Mr. Clark in this effort.

HOUSE APPROVES
COMPENSATION RESOLUTION FOR
ROBERT CLARK

Atlanta – March 19, 2007

The Georgia House of Representatives today approved HR 102, to compensate Robert Clark $1.2 million dollars for wrongful conviction and imprisonment.

“I am so happy. Thank God!” said Mr. Clark, who was sitting in the House chambers for today’s vote. “I just wish my mother had been here.”

Clark’s mother passed away in 2004, while the Innocence Project (Cordozo Law School, New York City) and the Georgia Innocence Project were in litigation with Cobb County to test the DNA evidence that ultimately proved Clark’s innocence. Clark, now 46, spent more than 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. DNA testing exonerated him, and he was released on December 8, 2005.

At the conclusion of the resolution’s approval, 132-25, Mr. Clark also expressed his gratitude to Rep. Larry O’Neal (R-Bonaire), the sponsor of the bill, and Mr. Terry Walsh of the Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird. Alston & Bird has served pro bono as the chief consultant to the Georgia Innocence Project on the resolution.

“We are grateful to the Georgia House for recognizing the need to help Mr. Clark rebuild his life and for acting on that need,” said Georgia Innocence Project Executive Director Aimee Maxwell.

The resolution now goes to the Georgia Senate.

To date, DNA evidence has proven the innocence of 197 Americans, including six Georgia men, long after their convictions. Mr. Clark was the 164 th American to be exonerated by DNA evidence and the fifth Georgian.