Active Client Update
Erik Heard has spent more than 17 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit. Wrongfully convicted in 2012, the State’s case relied on one unreliable eyewitness identification and an incentivized jailhouse informant.
Following years of investigation, Georgia Innocence Project partnered with attorneys from Alston & Bird and the Mercer Habeas Project to pursue state habeas relief in April 2023. The habeas corpus petition raised numerous constitutional violations related to Erik’s conviction like the State’s failure to disclose evidence, including fingerprints from the crime scene that did not match him, as well as failing to correct false and misleading testimony. At Erik’s three-day evidentiary hearing in October 2023, his legal team called several witnesses and presented significant evidence to show that Erik was denied a fair trial and did not commit this crime.
After waiting over two and a half years for a ruling, the court denied Erik Heard’s habeas corpus petition on June 1, 2026.
In the next month, Georgia Innocence Project, along with co-counsel at Alston & Bird and the Mercer Habeas Project, will be filing an appeal to ask the Supreme Court of Georgia to review the habeas court’s decision. Unfortunately, this appeal is not automatic. There is no set timeframe for the Supreme Court of Georgia to make a decision about whether they will hear the appeal. This initial decision can take a year, or longer, in most cases. Erik’s case is an example of the enormous amount of time and resources that can be required to free innocent people from wrongful convictions under Georgia’s current criminal legal system.
Erik and his legal team are determined to continue the fight for his freedom.