He is still fighting his conviction, whatever it takes. His case was picked up by the New England Innocence Project - a regional organization that puts its resources towards combating wrongful convictions - and the court’s handling of the eyewitness testimonies incited debate and backlash in the legal world. The case has garnered attention on the internet he has set up a handful of social media pages and petitions calling for justice. When Outing filed an appeal to the habeas corpus decision, it was denied again. After his conviction in 2006, he filed an appeal to the Connecticut supreme court in 2008 - which was denied - and a habeas corpus petition claiming wrongful imprisonment in 2016 - also denied. The legal machinery of the State of Connecticut, however, rests unconvinced. Sixteen years later, J’veil Outing remains in prison and still maintains his innocence. He had a 6-month-old son at home and no prior criminal record nor any forensic evidence tying him to the murder, but Outing was determined a killer - even though the case had hinged solely on eyewitness testimony, and both witnesses had recanted their testimony on the stand. Outing maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The sharp bang of the judge’s gavel at the New Haven County Courthouse almost a year later, on the afternoon of March 29, 2006, signified two things: that the jury at the murder trial, after a seven-day deliberation and two-day deadlock, had unanimously come to a verdict and that 19-year-old J’veil Outing would be sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of Kevin Wright. Later that evening, 21-year-old Kevin Wright - a brother, son and resident of the nearby Dixwell neighborhood - would be shot dead, and the police would accuse J’veil Outing of the murder. None of his family, friends and neighbors who attended the event were prepared for the tragedy that lay ahead.
He would be performing different work duties that day - those of an older brother setting up for his little sister’s birthday party later that evening. On June 23, 2005, Outing left his Stop & Shop uniform in his closet. At least, that is what 19-year-old J’veil Outing did. So when your little sister, fresh out of the intensive care unit, calls you up and asks if you would stay home from work to attend her belated tenth birthday party, you oblige. It is a sad event when a little girl has to postpone her 10th birthday party and an even sadder one if it is because she is recovering from a motorbike accident.
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