Tennessee Innocence Project Announces Signature Nashville Fundraiser at Music City Center, Journey to Justice
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – December 3, 2024 – The Tennessee Innocence Project (TIP) is pleased to announce its flagship Nashville event, Journey to Justice, on Tuesday, December 3, at Music City Center. In its sixth year, this sold-out event will bring together nearly 700 community members from the greater Nashville area to celebrate recent exonerees and raise funds to support efforts to right wrongful convictions across the state in 2025.
The evening will feature a cocktail hour, live auction, and remarks from 2024 exoneree and TIP client Artis Whitehead, a Memphis man who served 21 years behind bars for an armed robbery he did not commit. Whitehead will be interviewed by award-winning producer and broadcaster Khalil Ekulona, host of This is Nashville, a flagship daily radio show on WPLN 90.3 FM.
In addition to the guest speaker, the Tennessee Innocence Project will present the Rule of Law Award, given annually to individuals who courageously work to uphold the rule of law in its most fundamental sense, ensuring the equal treatment of all citizens under the law and the promotion of a fair and impartial justice system. This year, the Rule of Law Award will be presented to seasoned attorney, law professor, and former TIP board president Brad MacLean.
Journey to Justice is sponsored by Purpose Transport, #StreetLawyers, Ginny & Garry Ferraris, Jamie Amos & Patrick Kennedy, and Frank Loughlin & Briana Jamison.
For more information, visit www.tninnocence.org/nashville.
About the Tennessee Innocence Project:
Founded in 2019 as Tennessee’s first full-time innocence organization, The Tennessee Innocence Project (TIP) is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to exonerating innocent people across the state. The mission of TIP is to free individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit, raise awareness of this pressing issue, and drive policy reforms that prevent future wrongful convictions. Over the last six years, the Tennessee Innocence Project has helped exonerate 7 individuals who collectively served 194 years behind bars for crimes they did not commit. To learn more, visit: www.tninnocence.org.
About the Speaker – Artis Whitehead:
On the morning of May 9, 2002, a robbery occurred at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Artis Whitehead was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 249 years for the crime, despite no physical evidence connecting him to the robbery. Whitehead was implicated by a confidential informant seeking leniency on his own cases. Police failed to disclose this informant’s identity and masked his involvement through an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip.
With the help of pro-bono partner Bass Berry & Sims, The Tennessee Innocence Project, led by Legal Director Jessica Van Dyke, initiated a new investigation. The team, including investigator Marc Caudel, uncovered that the informant had been paid and admitted to lying when he implicated Mr. Whitehead.
In December 2023, a judge overturned Whitehead’s conviction, citing multiple constitutional violations and new evidence of actual innocence. Whitehead was exonerated on January 31, 2024, exactly 21 years to the day of his arrest.
Learn more about Artis’s story here: https://www.tninnocence.org/artis-whitehead.
For Media Inquiries, Contact:
Emma Zyriek-Rhodes
Development & Communications Associate, Tennessee Innocence Project
615-581-7230 (Ext. 110)