Friends, People have been asking on social media if a governor's pardon would actually clear Keith Cooper's criminal conviction. The answer is yes, depending upon each state's law and based upon the fact that there are different kinds of pardons. Though no one has ever been pardoned based upon actual innocence before in Indiana, the process for such a pardon has been established. I have gotten this explanation from Keith Cooper's lawyer: "I think the distinction is most important. A pardon based upon actual innocence would be a formal acknowledgement from the state of Indiana that Keith Cooper was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. It would restore his civil liberties and put him back in the place he was before he was wrongfully convicted of the crime. In Kelley, the Indiana Supreme Court held that a pardon works not only to relieve the person of the punishment for the crime for which he was convicted, but also acts to obliterate the finding of guilt. Kelley v. State (1933), 204 Ind. 612, 185 N.E. 453; State v. Morris (1978), 55 Ohio St.2d 101, 378 N.E.2d 708; Pennsylvania v. C.S. (1987), 517 Pa. 89, 534 A.2d 1053; State v. Bergman, 558 N.E.2d 1111, 1113 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990). That has been discussed more recently with regard to the effect a pardon has upon expungements in Indiana. “The Governor may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law....” In addition, we have previously held that in carrying out the executive mandate of a pardon, a trial court “[has] no choice but to ‘clear [a defendant's] name’ by expunging the record of [his] conviction.” State v. Bergman, 558 N.E.2d 1111, 1113 (Ind.Ct.App.1990); Blake v. State, 860 N.E.2d 625, 626 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007)." A lot of legal citations there, but they go to make the point: Indiana law has case histories and decisions to show that a pardon from Governor Pence of Keith Cooper based upon his actual innocence (as was recommended by the Indiana Parole Board) would clear his record. So pay no attention to those who would say otherwise. There has been a phenomenal amount of press attention to Keith Cooper's case. Perhaps our biggest media coup is an article in today's Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/06/like-a-slap-in-the-face-mike-pence-wont-act-on-wrongfully-convicted-mans-pardon-request/?utm_term=.4ce63ed67206 The social media news website NowThis has produced a video on Keith Cooper's case which has so far been seen by over 1.1 million viewers: https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1183981341691988/ NowThis is also planning to do a live Facebook feed interview with Keith Cooper today at 1:00 Eastern Standard Time, noon CST. And Roland Martin had a 10 minute segment on Keith Cooper earlier this week: https://vimeo.com/185558194 I usually "unclick" an update option that allows Change.org followers to contribute to promoting a petition. Right now, Keith Cooper is trending, but not this petition. I think many of the people respond this the media are unaware of this petition, so for $10 to Change.org, you can promote this to 1000 potential signers. It's up to you, but if you'd like to promote this to people who are likely already interested, we would welcome your help. Thank you for all that you do. Please see the previous updates for strategies for contacting the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office, Governor Pence's office, and the gubernatorial campaign of Eric Holcomb, who has yet to pledge to pardon Keith Cooper is he is elected governor. Blessings, Jack Heller