Kristy Columbia
Executive Director
Kristy is originally from San Antonio, Texas, and she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and History in 1998. She then attended Thomas M. Cooley – Western Michigan University and received her Juris Doctor with a concentration in Litigation in 2001.
She moved to Utah in 2020 and joined RMIC in 2022 with nearly twenty years of litigation experience, primarily as a prosecutor. Her dedication to justice and passion for advocacy brought her to RMIC, where she works to involve the community in advancing the mission of RMIC: preventing and correcting wrongful convictions and incarcerations in Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada. Kristy is licensed to practice law in Texas and Utah.
Jennifer Springer
Managing Attorney
Jennifer has B.S. in Sociology and a J.D. from the S.J. Quinney College of Law. Jennifer began working with the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center as law student clinical intern in the University of Utah Innocence Clinic. She continued her work at RMIC after being awarded the Spurgeon Public Interest Fellowship and was a Teaching Assistant for the Innocence Clinic throughout the 2013-2014 academic year.
Jennifer officially joined the staff of the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center in 2014. She is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. As Managing Attorney she oversees all of RMIC’s cases in investigation and litigation and supervises law students participating in the Innocence Clinic at each of our cooperating schools. Jennifer is licensed to practice law in Utah and Nevada.
Amanda Darcy
Legal Fellow
Amanda is originally from Idaho. She moved to Utah in 2015 to take advantage of the unique mix of career opportunities and the outdoors this state has to offer. In love with Utah and with a passion towards public interest work, Amanda decided to pursue a career in law. In 2021 received her J.D. from the S.J. Quinney College of Law in Salt Lake City, UT. Law school is where she was first introduced to the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center and she interned there as a clinical student. Observing and participating firsthand in the mission of this organization – preventing and correcting wrongful convictions- was exactly the type of career and cause she wanted to be a part of.
Amanda was the recipient of both the Spurgeon and Lionel Frankel Public Interest Fellowships where she continued her internship with RMIC, resuming her work on the cases she had as a clinical student. Advocacy is also important to Amanda; she interned for the Salt Lake City Legal Defenders and competed as a member of S.J. Quinney’s Trial Advocacy team. Amanda earned her Criminal Law Certificate from S.J. Quinney in 2021 and is licensed to practice law in Utah. She currently works full-time for RMIC on a fellowship and absolutely loves the service this job provides for its clients.
Thomas Kelley
Staff Attorney
Tom Kelley was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. After graduating, he served for five years as an engineer officer in the United States Army deploying twice to Iraq. Once his military commitment was complete, Tom moved to Salt Lake City and worked at the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Hospital as a healthcare administration manager.
In 2015, Tom started law school at the University of Utah. During his time at law school, Tom interned with RMIC, was a William H. Leary Scholar, and was the student director of the Veterans Pro Bono Legal Clinic. He graduated with highest honors in 2018. Upon graduating, Tom worked for the law firm of Fabian Vancott before transitioning to public service work as a public defender at the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association. Tom joined RMIC’s team in December 2022. He is licensed to practice in Utah.