The Jefferson County Conviction Review Unit is a part of the Jefferson County District Attorney's office, Birmingham focused on claims of innocence. Their purpose is to function exclusively as an investigatory branch and offer recommendations to the District Attorney. Though affiliated with the District Attorney's office, the Conviction Review Unit conducts complete and unbiased investigations into all credible claims of innocence presented to the District Attorney. These claims must be accompanied by admissible evidence that was not presented during the initial trial or demonstrate how new technologies allow previously collected evidence to be processed. The unit is primarily tasked with investigating claims of innocence, but also occasionally looks into cases where individuals demonstrate concrete evidence of wrongful conviction due to systematic errors. Individuals who wish to file a claim may submit an application directly to the District Attorney's office or work through their defense attorney. For more information about the work of the unit, contact the office using the information provided on the website.