Man wrongfully convicted pushes for reform INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A man wrongfully convicted of an Indianapolis murder is using his experience to try to change the law.  Leon Benson spent 25 years in prison for the 1998 murder of Kasey Schoen, based on mistaken eyewitness testimony.  Si nce being released, Benson has moved to Michigan and launched his music career. He returned to Indianapolis to headline Common Unity 2, a concert to commemorate the second anniversary of his release from prison.  “Through the art, you can express something that can’t be seen,” Benson said.  He’s also been back in the Hoosier State to lobby for S.B. 141, which would strengthen standards for how police use eyewitness identification.  The legislation outlines additional steps for law enforcement to take when conducting in-person and photo lineups, even making it illegal for investigators to conduct a lineup based purely on facial recognition technology.  “I know a lot of people that I strongly feel are innocent,” Benson said.  The bill has changed in subsequent drafts, removing a provision to allow the court to suppress eyewitness identification if investigators fail to follow procedures. It passed out of committee on Thursday, and still has a chance to become law.  Benson told News 8 he is not in favor of all of the changes to the bill, but supports the direction the state is taking with the legislation. “We can prevent more Leon Bensons,” Benson said.  Benson is currently suing the Indianapolis government and multiple Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers, along with Kolleen Bunch, the sister of the man Benson was accused of killing. Benson is represented by Elliot Slosar, a Chicago-based lawyer who has already secured the two largest known wrongful conviction settlements in Indiana History. $7.5 million in 2022 for Keith Cooper, then $11.7 million in 2023 for Andrew Royer. Both spent less time in prison than Benson.  While S.B. 141 could help stop wrongful convictions like Benson’s, he’s also looking at art as a way to address the root causes of injustice.  “How can you really have empathy if you’re looking at someone lesser?” Benson said.  Just outside the theatre where Benson will perform Friday, on the second floor of the Athenaeum, is the art exhibit “If Bullets Could Cry: Ammunition for Healing.” It features art from a book of the same name. Benson met the artist, Vernon T. Bateman, while in prison. Bateman is attempting to overturn his own conviction.  “Everything that you see [in the exhibit] came from prison,” Bateman said. “It was a dream inside of a prison and it manifested outside a prison.” The Common Unity 2 concert begins at 6 p.m. at the Basil Theatre, inside the Athenaeum at 401 E. Michigan St. ...read more read less