board

Jan Stiglitz,
Board Chair

Jan Stiglitz,
Board Chair

Jan Stiglitz is a Professor Emeritus at California Western School of Law. During his tenure at California Western, he and Justin Brooks founded the California Innocence Project. As the Project’s Co-Director, Professor Stiglitz represented wrongfully convicted people in habeas corpus litigation and appeals to various Courts of Appeal and the California Supreme Court. His successful efforts resulted in his receiving two California Lawyer of the Year awards for criminal defense work. Shortly after his retirement from California Western, Professor Stiglitz founded The Innocence Center. Professor Stiglitz has served as Chair of The Innocence Center’s Board of Directors since its creation.

Eve Benton,
Board Member

Eve Benton,
Board Member

Ms. Benton is an entrepreneur who has experience managing both for-profit and non-profit organizations. She was a general partner in a private equity firm in Washington DC for 25 years. She is the founder and board member for Vehicles for Change, Inc., a non-profit that awards automobiles to working poor families and trains previously incarcerated individuals to become auto mechanics. Ms. Benton is a graduate of the Harvard Business School. In addition to being past Chairman of the San Diego Blood Bank, she serves on the board of the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD and the San Diego Humane Society. Ms. Benton has lived in San Diego since 2011.

Matthew Binninger, Board Member

Matthew Binninger,
Board Member

Matthew Binninger is a seasoned criminal defense attorney with over 14 years of experience, primarily practicing in federal court. He served as a Trial Attorney with Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. from 2011 to 2019 and currently represents clients as a member of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel in the Southern District of California. Originally from northern Virginia, Matthew earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 2006 and his law degree from California Western School of Law in 2009. He lives in Point Loma with his wife, Megan, their two cats, Max and Maebee, and their dog, Avocado.

Justin Brooks,
Board Member

Justin Brooks,
Board Member

Justin Brooks is a Professor of Practice at University of San Diego School of Law where he teaches criminal procedure, criminal law, evidence, and wrongful convictions law. He was the Co-Founder and Founding Director of the California Innocence Project from 1999-2023, and under his direction the project freed 40 innocent people from prison. He has been recognized several times by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California, and in both 2010 and 2012, California Lawyer Magazine honored him with the “Lawyer of the Year” award.
Professor Brooks travels around the world training lawyers and law students and initiating innocence organizations. He was named “International Lawyer of the Year” by the California Bar International Section in 2020, and in the same year was named “Champion of Justice” by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. In 2024, he was awarded the Ohtli Award for his work freeing innocent latinos and assisting in launching 35 innocence organizations in Latin America. The Ohtli award is the highest award given by the Mexican government to foreigners.
Professor Brooks is the author of the only legal casebook devoted to the topic of wrongful convictions and the author of “You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent,” a book that details the causes of wrongful convictions based on his experience of more than three decades freeing innocent people from prison. He is portrayed by Academy Award nominated actor Greg Kinnear in the feature film, “Brian Banks.”

Abbas Kazerounian,
Board Member

Abbas Kazerounian,
Board Member

Abbas Kazerounian is one of the founding partners at Kazerouni Law Group, APC, and the Injury Recovery Group. Mr. Kazerounian’s areas of specialty are personal injury, consumer rights and class actions.
In 2013, 2014, 2015 Abbas was selected by his peers as a rising star and has been recognized since 2016 as a Super Lawyer (a prestigious recognition given to only 2.5 percent of the attorneys in the state). In 2020, 2021, and 2022 Abbas was also named to the SuperLawyers Top 50 in Orange County and SuperLawyers Top 100 in Southern California. He was also voted as a Rising Star by the San Diego Daily Transcript in 2012. Abbas was honored to be on the list of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 under 40 in 2016 & 2017.
Abbas has litigated over 3000 individual consumer rights cases and is regarded as a one of the preeminent consumer rights attorneys in Southern California. His depth of experience and knowledge in this practice area along with his trial skills, make Mr. Kazerounian one of the premier advocates within this field of law. Abbas has been responsible for over 650 published opinions. He has successfully argued before the Ninth Circuit of Appeals on numerous occasions, including in the landmark case of Knutson v. Sirius XM Radio, No. 12-56120 (9th Cir. 2014). Abbas is currently litigating numerous other cases in the Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Abbas attended the University of Plymouth, U.K., where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English literature & theatre and performance. He then received his masters from the prestigious London Academy of Performing Arts. Subsequently Mr. Kazerounian received his Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law in San Diego, CA.
Abbas is an adjunct professor of law at California Western School of Law where he teaches a three-credit course in consumer law. He also lectures nationwide on class action litigation and consumer law.
Abbas is licensed to practice law in CA, TX, IL, WA, DC, NY, MI and CO. He is also licensed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals as well the United States Supreme Court.

Amanda Knox,
Board Member

Amanda Knox,
Board Member

Amanda Knox is an exoneree, journalist, public speaker, author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Waiting to Be Heard, and co-host, with her partner Christopher Robinson, of the podcast Labyrinths. Her second book, FREE: My Search for Meaning came out March 25, 2025. Between 2007 and 2015, she spent nearly four years in an Italian prison and eight years on trial for a murder she didn’t commit. She has since become an advocate for criminal justice reform and media ethics. She sits on the advisory council for the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice and serves as an Innocence Network Ambassador. And she is the recipient of the 2024 Innocence Network Impact Award. You can find more of her work at: amandaknox.com.

Nikki Semanchik,
Board Member

Nikki Semanchik,
Board Member

Nikki Semanchik is the Founding Attorney of Semanchik Law Group, a San Diego-based law firm that serves nonprofits, businesses, and families with a focus on accessible, mission-driven legal support. As an attorney with deep roots in nonprofit law, Nikki has helped hundreds of charitable organizations form, grow, and stay in compliance — making her a trusted legal partner to social impact leaders across California and beyond.

Nikki’s passion for wrongful conviction work began during law school, where she served as a clinic student at the California Innocence Project. That experience left a lasting impression, sparking a deep and ongoing commitment to criminal justice reform and the fight for the wrongfully convicted. Nikki has supported The Innocence Center since its inception and was honored to join the Board of Directors to help guide the organization’s growth and impact.

Through her work with The Innocence Center, Nikki brings not only her legal expertise but also her dedication to building nonprofit structures that empower justice, accountability, and meaningful reentry support for exonerees. She remains a vocal advocate for innocence work and believes that systemic change starts with legal and community action.

Nikki earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Arizona and her J.D. from California Western School of Law. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.

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