Victor Caminata, the Michigan Innocence Clinic client whose arson case was featured in the fall 2013 issue of the Law Quadrangle, was exonerated in January.
And though joy was the prevailing emotion in the courtroom as Caminata celebrated that exoneration with family, friends, and his Michigan Innocence Clinic team, feelings were tempered with the knowledge that many other joyful moments had been lost during the five years Caminata had been wrongfully imprisoned.
“I’m glad this is over with … glad my name has been cleared,” said Caminata. “It’s been a hard road for not only me, but also my family and friends. I plan to spend the rest of my life with my family trying to make up for the time we lost.”
Convicted of arson following a fire that destroyed his home in Boon Township, Michigan, Caminata was sentenced to serve nine to 40 years in prison for a crime the Michigan Innocence Clinic argues never occurred.
“When you want to explain the failings in this case, you don’t need an advanced degree in fire science,” says David Moran, ’91, clinical professor and director of the clinic.
Caminata had served five years and two weeks of his sentence when he was released in July 2013, but had to wait another six months in legal purgatory as prosecutors looked to retry his case. His state of limbo came to an end when the Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced in January that it was dismissing the charge against him.
Caminata is the eighth exoneree—and second to be exonerated for arson—in the clinic’s five-year history.
