The University of Texas at Arlington

Dr. John Stickels

Assistant Professor
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
College of Liberal Arts

UT Arlington Faculty

Dr. Stickels received a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech University in 1983 and a Ph.D. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin in 2003. He is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has over 24 years experience in the criminal justice system including experience as an elected County Attorney of Ward County, Texas, elected District Attorney of the 143rd Judicial District of Texas, and many years experience as both a trial court prosecutor and defense attorney. Dr. Stickels also serves on the Board of Directors of the Innocence Project of Texas, a non-profit Texas Corporation committed to freeing the wrongfully convicted.

Service Learning Class

CRCJ 4370: ACTUAL INNOCENCE AND WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS (3-0) An examination of reasons for wrongful convictions, the law and procedure of exonerations, and how to investigate claims of actual innocence.

CRCJ 4371: THE INNOCENCE PROJECT PRACTICUM (3-0) A practicum that allows students to work with representatives of the Innocence Project of Texas to investigate claims by incarcerated inmates that they have been wrongfully convicted.

Academic Outcomes

• to understand the reasons people are wrongfully convicted
• to understand the law concerning claims of actual innocence
• to understand the procedure for filing a writ of habeas corpus and clemency proceedings
• to identify, investigate, and document claims of actual innocence
• to become involved with the Innocence Project of Texas to educate students, citizens, and public officials about wrongful convictions, how they occur, and how they can be prevented
• to become involved with the Innocence Project of Texas to advocate for criminal justice system reforms to prevent wrongful convictions

Service Learning Project

The Innocence Project in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Innocence Project of Texas is a consortium of independent projects from Texas Tech University, Texas Wesleyan, University of St. Thomas, University of Texas at Arlington, and the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. The projects’ student volunteers devote their time to investigating inmates' claims of actual innocence and to working toward freedom processes for the wrongfully-convicted, who would otherwise become lost in the criminal justice system.

Students involved in the Innocence Project at UT Arlington study the law and procedure of exonerations, the reasons citizens are wrongfully convicted, and how to investigate claims. The students then put this education into practice by investigating claims of incarcerated inmates that have been wrongfully convicted. Within the past two years, the students have investigated cases involving murder, sexual assault, aggravated robbery, and sudden infant death. Currently, students are involved in the examination of pending requests for DNA testing in Dallas County.

In addition to classroom learning, the students participate through training sponsored by various criminal justice organizations. In August of 2006, approximately fifteen students attended a seminar sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association in Austin, Texas, where they heard leading speakers in the field discuss claims of wrongful conviction. Students also attended seminars sponsored by Texas Wesleyan Law, where they heard speakers discussing timely topics such as DNA investigations, the problems associated with eyewitness identifications, and an update on the Dallas DNA Investigations. At each
of these seminars, students ‘networked’ with law students and professors from the various law schools then reflected on the effects of this service to the community.