Wrongful conviction rally pushes for legislative change

Pennsylvania Bikers for Justice and Pennsylvania It Could Happen To You held a wrongful conviction rally outside of the Luzerne County Courthouse.

The rally was meant to raise awareness about life for exonerees after being released from prison and to encourage state legislators to approve a law to get compensation for exonerees.

"It can happen to you, you can be incarcerated, accused of a crime you didn't commit, be exonerated and put back on the street. Nowhere to go and no income," Adam Williamson, the state captain for Pennsylvania Bikers for Justice, said.

Several exonerees spoke out at the rally like , a representative with Pennsylvania it Could Happen To You, who served 16 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of rape and murder in New York.

"I was exonerated by DNA after 16 years in prison. My life was very difficult for those five years I spent without compensation. When I finally was compensated, I was able to obtain a masters degree, start a non-profit and become an attorney," Deskovic added.

Pennsylvania is one of 12 states in the country that do not compensate exonerees. This is something that exonerees at the rally hope to see change.

"I'm hoping these people, these politicians can do something with compensation because we need it. We need it badly, " Alfredo Domenech, an exoneree, said.

Many exonerees suffer from mental health issues like PTSD and struggle to reacclimate back to the free world after their release.

Yeidja Bostick, spent three years at the Muncy State Correctional Institution in Lycoming County after being wrongfully convicted of vehicular homicide. After being exonerated, she struggled to get back on her feet for years until finding her new purpose in life, fighting for exonerees who are struggling to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives after serving time in prison.

"They can't give us back that time that they took out of their lives. They can heal us from the wounds that were caused that we'll take to our gravers, but they could sure make it a little easier so that we don't have to continue to suffer," Bostick added.

The organizers of this rally hope that by hosting rallies like this across the commonwealth that exonerees will finally get compensation for the time they wrongfully spent in prison.

Both groups will be hosting another rally, Tuesday on the steps of the state capitol building in Harrisburg.