By Christina Beck, Staff October 8, 2016


Indiana Gov. Mike Pence angered many last month when he refused to pardon an innocent man, prompting questions of whether his status as vice presidential nominee for the Republican party affected his decision-making.

Keith Cooper was convicted of armed robbery in 1997 and sentenced to forty years in prison. DNA evidence exonerated him in 2006 and he was released, but legal complications left the stain of his felony conviction on record.

Mr. Cooper has been waiting for three years for a response to his plea for a pardon, but experts say a pardon based on innocence presents different challenges than other types of pardons.


Cooper says that Mr. Pence’s decision to deny his request for pardon by letter, particularly after pardoning three other individuals since he entered the governor’s mansion in 2013, is an affront.


“It’s just a slap in my face. It took him three years, three years to just write that letter,” Cooper said. “He could’ve done that three years ago.”