Drake, state public defender create clinic to represent wrongfully convicted Friday, December 11, 2020 2:17 PM Drake Law School and the state Public Defender’s Office are collaborating to create a Wrongful Convictions Clinic. The clinic, slated to begin in January 2021, will be led by the Iowa Public Defender’s Wrongful Convictions Division. The clinic will allow student attorneys to represent people convicted of serious felonies in post-conviction proceedings. According to State Public Defender Jeff Wright, the Wrongful Convictions Division works closely with the Midwest Innocence Project to assist people who claim they are innocent of a crime for which they were convicted. “Not only will this collaboration greatly increase our capacity to review and investigate meritorious claims from Iowa inmates, but it will also help identify policies that contribute to wrongful convictions,” Wright said in a news release. Erica Nichols Cook, a 2009 Drake