Lunch, Listen and Learn about exoneree Michael Austin's journey from a wrongful conviction and 27 years of incarceration to finding forgiveness. 

Michael Austin was at work, with co-workers and time cards to prove it, when a robbery and murder were committed in East Baltimore. Based on the testimony of a single eye-witness, he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to life plus 15 years on May 5, 1975.  In 2001, after years of working with Centurion Ministries, a New Jersey-based organization dedicated to seeking prison release for the innocent, he was released from prison and, in 2003, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr., granted him a full pardon. 

Through music, therapy, and determination, Michael was able to transition back into society as a free man and find a way forward. Today, he is a successful singer/songwriter/musician and the founder of In This Together Development Inc., a 501cE nonprofit dedicated to serving underprivileged youth in Baltimore through mentorship, connecting young people with music, and community outreach.

The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

Registration required.