Orcas Alumni’s Work Critical to Release of Innocent Man

The following Seattle Times article relates the work of Kathleen Kline, an Orcas Island HS graduate from the class of 2003, a 2007 graduate of Seattle U, and a 2013 UW Law School graduate. While she was in Law School she worked in the Innocence Project Northwest, which was instrumental in the release of an innocent man from prison. Kathleen Kline is currently working as a law clerk at the State Court of Appeals in Seattle. She was sworn in as a member of the Bar Association in November, 2013. Kathleen is the daughter of Barbara and Steve Kline.

— from the SeattleTimes.com —

Wrongfully convicted man released after 10 years in prison:
Two Innocence Project Northwest law students tracked down assailants from a 2003 assault and obtained sworn statements that Brandon Olebar was not present when the victim was robbed, beaten and stuffed in a closet.

By Mike Carter

A Seattle man who spent 10 years in prison after he was convicted of robbery and burglary has been released after the Innocence Project Northwest persuaded King County prosecutors to re-examine the conviction, which was based solely on eyewitness testimony.

Brandon Olebar’s case came to the attention of the IPNW, based out of the clinical-law program at the University of Washington Law School, and two students “developed a body of evidence” that showed Olebar was not among the people who in February 2003 broke into the home of his sister’s boyfriend and pistol-whipped and beat the man unconscious, according to a statement.
…
IPNW Director Jacqueline McMurtrie said two law students, Nikki Carsley and Kathleen Kline, tracked down and interviewed three of the assailants, who signed sworn statements admitting their involvement and denying that Olebar was present during the attack.

(To read the full article, go to https://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/innocenceproject )