Students heard from panelists, from left, Aimee Maxwell, executive director of the Georgia Innocence Project; John White, who was wrongly accused and spent 22 years in prison before being released, and Jeff Brickman, an Atlanta defense attorney. (Photo by Leita Cowart)

By Rebecca Rakoczy

What does it mean to be imprisoned for a crime you didn’t commit? How would you react to your accuser when you were finally released? Would you be able to forgive them? And what is fair compensation from the state for the time you spent in jail?

These and other questions were asked by students attending a GPC Reads program featuring Aimee Maxwell, executive director of the Georgia Innocence Project; Jeff Brickman, an Atlanta defense attorney, and John White, who was wrongly accused and spent 22 years in prison before being released because of DNA evidence.

The three panelists visited the Clarkston Campus in October to give context to the 2014-15 GPC Reads book selection, “Picking Cotton—Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption,” by Ron Cotton and Jennifer Thompson.

Cotton and Thompson themselves visited GPC in November, speaking to a standing-room only crowd at the Clarkston Campus. Cotton also met with students at GPC Dunwoody Campus to answer questions about his experience.

“Picking Cotton” authors Jennifer Thompson and Ron Cotton spoke to a full house at GPC in November. (Photo by Bill Roa)

Cotton was wrongly accused of rape and spent more than a decade in prison before being released through the help of DNA evidence. Thompson was the accuser who thought Cotton was her attacker and put him in jail. The two became unlikely friends after Cotton was released and wrote the book.

Additional GPC Reads activities related to “Picking Cotton” are planned for spring.