Biography Early life and education. Public defenders and advocates for criminal justice reform say Sims case highlights an inherent problem with the Brooklyn CRU and similar conviction review units in DAs offices across the country, in which prosecutors serve as the gatekeepers for potentially innocent people seeking to overturn convictions that resulted from their own misconduct. In court filings and statements to the media, the Brooklyn DAs office has said Hale recused himself from reviewing Sims case. The Legal Aid Society is built upon one simple but powerful belief that no New Yorker should be denied the right to equal justice. Apparently the quickest way to corral the populace into *smart cities* with relentless surveillance is to The loss of that evidence could affect cases and people The Legal Aid Society represents who may have been wrongly convicted. If you are seeking legal assistance for yourself or a loved one, we encourage you to read through our FAQs and reach out to your local Network organization. All of the other officers were also convicted of crimes that involved abuse of power, prosecutors said mostly during undercover work and street level policing. Emily Niedzwiecki. But we know that wrongful convictions happen. Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit. The representative is charged with ensuring equal protection of the law in police surveillance and police investigations and reporting any systematic and repeated violations of individuals civil [], In the summer of 2016, in the course of representing an Uzbek client who had been questioned by FBI agents, CUNYs Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility Clinic (CLEAR) learned of Akram Djumaevs ordeal. Join to connect . To find out if you are eligible to have a criminal record sealed call 212-298-3120 or email [email protected]. Elizabeth Felber, supervising attorney with the wrongful conviction unit at the Legal Aid Society a lawyers organization that represents 11 defendants whose cases will be vacated and dismissed this week noted several collateral consequences of the convictions: loss of public housing, barriers to employment, and deportation. The Brooklyn review grew out of the offices investigation of cases involving Joseph E. Franco, a former narcotics detective who was charged with perjury and other offenses. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Keith Brown makes $142,000 representing his Long Island district and about half a million representing corporate real estate interests. The next day, the jury acquitted Sims of intentional murder and convicted him of depraved indifference murder. The Bronx district attorney has also vacated more than 250 convictions that relied on a single officer, who has since been accused of lying in other cases. The truth is gonna come out eventually.. At his sentencing hearing, he professed his innocence. We cannot stand behind a criminal conviction where the essential law enforcement witness has been convicted of crimes which irreparably impair their credibility, said District Attorney Melinda Katz in a statement. Its just a sad injustice all the way around.. Strong legal professional with a . Eric Gonzalez, right, the Brooklyn district attorney, in 2020. Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023. The Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice (JRP) is hiring entry-level Staff Attorneys for a Fall 2023 class. The Wrongful Conviction Unit continues to grow in size and outreach since its inception in 2019. 199 Water Street. Alfonzo Riley, Case Handler (left), Elizabeth Felber, Supervising Attorney (center), Thomas McCall, Investigator (right), members of The Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit. 40 Worth Street, Suite 606. All Rights Reserved, Anthony Sims, seen here in 2019 with his wife Keisha, has been imprisoned for over two decades for a murder he says he didn't commit, For more than two decades, Sims has tried to overturn his conviction in the appellate courts, without success. It would be among the largest mass dismissal of convictions in the country, according to data collected by the National Registry of Exonerations. Students in the Defenders Clinic advocate for transformative justice in the face of mass incarceration. If you have a maximum of two convictions (one of which is a felony) that are more than 10 years old, you may be eligible to apply for sealing and representation in your application. Phone. All Rights Reserved. New York, NY 10038. Mark Hale, right, was chief of the Brooklyn District Attorneys Conviction Review Unit from 2014 until his retirement in 2021. Subscribe to The Legal Aid Society's newsletters for campaign updates, case victories, client stories, and more. James Davis. Practicing as a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. James Grigson was called upon to evaluate people charged with capital murder crimes. At the time, all we knew was that he had been forced to give up his green card. Elizabeth Felber, a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society's wrongful convictions unit, thanked Katz, who is the first District Attorney in the city to seek to overturn convictions in . He did so much damage to everybody., After dismissing the charges against Cooper, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Ruth Shillingford called for an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to his wrongful conviction, saying, There has got to be an evaluation of what happened in every case. A few months before Graves testified, the Brooklyn DAs office filed a Violation of Probation and scheduled a hearing on the matter for May 10, 1999, the same day he testified at Sims trial. Students gain knowledge and first-hand practice experience in various criminal legal contexts, such as trial, post-conviction, parole, clemency, and reentry cases. Pro Bono Scholar, Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society Each of the NYC DA offices are currently reinvestigating our cases. The NYC health commissioner explains how City Hall plans to support supervised injection sites and other portions of a new initiative to reduce overdose deaths 15% by 2025. Keisha and Kisha, along with Cooper and Collins, are championing Sims innocence. I would just hear them screaming Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!. Law&Crime's managing editor Adam Klasfeld has spent more than a decade on the legal beat. While working to seek exoneration of our clients, we have successfully advocated for the release of incarcerated clients who have gone before the parole board but maintained their innocence. The Wrongful Conviction Unit. The expungements are the result of a campaign by the Legal Aid Society, the Exoneration Project, and other organizations focused on overturning wrongful convictions, which asked prosecutors across the city in May to investigate cases involving 22 NYPD officers who were convicted of crimes at some point in their careers. When he was convicted, she told New York Focus, she thought that was the end of my world.. Member Board of Directors Drama Club Feb 2015 - Jun 2022 7 years 5 . One of those officers, Jerry Bowens, was charged with killing his girlfriend while he was facing charges arising from the corruption case. The hundreds of convictions thrown out in the Bronx involved Mr. Franco. Sims is no longer angry with Graves. The bottom line is that the D.A.s Office is fighting to uphold Anthonys conviction despite overwhelming evidence that Anthony is innocent and never received a fair trial, said his attorney, Jonathan Hiles. | translate }}, {{ "How do I add all the resources in my area?" The Defenders Clinic at CUNY Law and The Legal Aid Society are committed to addressing the systemic inequities in the criminal legal system so that no one is denied their right to freedom and equal justice. To me that's just an inherent dual loyalty," said Elizabeth Felber, a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society's wrongful conviction unit. Legal Aid has secured a group discount at Aloft Long Island City. The Case Closed Project helps people clear their criminal records. Ideally, the new head should have criminal defense experience, to be able to bring a fresh perspective to the unit.. Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Occasionally, the family stayed together in a trailer on the prison grounds. If the true focus of the CRU is to do justice, you need someone whos not going to get everything from a prosecutorial perspective and look at ways to save the conviction, said Collins, a legal analyst with Horizon Research Services. CUNY Policy On Sexual Misconduct. The project team will then locate and test evidence. Units 1 and 2- Heritage and Rights and Freedoms Types of public and private law categories Public: Criminal, Consitiutional, Adminastrative Private: Tort, Labour, Family, Property, Contract, Early history of law - who the people were (Hammurabi, Moses etc. And in Manhattan, more than 140 ongoing cases and convictions that Mr. Franco was central to have also been tossed out. The site contains instructions and forms for applying for commutations and pardons. It was based almost entirely on Julius Graves recantation of his testimony in 2002. This year, our 8th Questioning Forensics is titled A juror, an expert & an algorithm walk into a courtroom: Miscommunication in forensics and will focus on misleading testimony and the role of human factors in forensics. The Wrongful Conviction Unit continues to grow in size and outreach since its inception in 2019. Browse All Categories; Urgent. Thirty-four of those cases were linked to Detective Kevin Desormeau, who was convicted in 2018 for lying about an alleged cocaine sale in Jamaica, Queens. Coopers appellate criminal defense attorney and civil attorney is Tom Hoffman, the same person representing Sims. September 16, 2020 / David Brand / Communities, . At The Legal Aid Society our Civil, Criminal Defense, Juvenile Rights, and Pro Bono practices work tirelessly in and out of thecourtroom to defend our clients and dismantle the hidden, systemic barriers that can prevent them from thriving in New York City. The grant will be managed by the Research Foundation of CUNY. They should be an entirely independent agency, totally separate from any DAs office., A lot of the prosecutors know each other, he said. CRUs are tasked with investigating convictions secured by their own officeoften the colleagues, friends and supervisors of CRU staff. The audience is typically ~100-200 defense attorneys from around the United States. Last year, a New York Supreme Court judge vacated his conviction and, several months later, the DAs office dismissed the charge. Indianapolis, IN 46202. Founded in 1876, the Society provides a full range of civil legal services as w. The Clinic has had tremendous success in securing parole release and sentence commutation. This case presents a number of disputed factual and legal issues which are appropriately resolved in a court of law and not in the media, the statement said. Each summer the WCU will host two CUNY Law students who will receive paid public interest internships. Anyone can read what you share. 2023 New York Public Radio. The Corporate Lawyer Moonlighting as a New York Assemblymember. As a result, the Unit has been able to take on more clients, reinvestigate their cases and advocate for their exoneration and release. This wasnt the only leverage the prosecution had against Graves. Wrongful Conviction Clinic. Wrongful Convictions Under a recent New York State law (CPL 160.59), some people may be able to get their criminal convictions sealed. Update (9/4): This article previously stated that the Brooklyn CRU exonerated seven people during DA Gonzalezs current tenure. ), what are the main parts of each system? George covers Brooklyn for THE CITY with a focus on criminal justice and housing. The justice system can be overwhelming. It is my belief Mr. Graves will indicate he in fact saw the defendant shoot and kill the deceased in this case. | translate }}, {{ "Add or edit any resource" | translate }} Subscribe to The Legal Aid Society's newsletters for campaign updates, case victories, client stories, and more. Anthony should not have to suffer further years in prison while a hearing and likely appeal wend their way through the legal system even as prosecutors possess evidence showing that Anthony belongs home today with his wife and kids.. The Clinic frequently works with the Criminal Trials, Appeals and Case Closed units of The Legal Aid Society. But the CRUs preliminary review may have been undermined by a fundamental conflict of interest: Mark Hale, who led the unit from its creation in January 2014 until July of this year, was the lead prosecutor in Sims murder trial. Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez is searching for a replacement for Hale, and defenders are urging him to hire someone from outside the DAs office to lead the unit. You will get this benefit if you were convicted of possessing up to 16 oz or selling up to 25 grams. Last spring, several defense and civil rights organizations sent a letter to the citys five district attorneys and the special narcotics prosecutor, identifying 20 police officers who had been convicted of crimes and two others who had engaged in work-related misconduct. For Elizabeth Felber, the director of the Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit, . All members of the Legal Aid community have a shared responsibility to support and comply with policies and protocols to protect the health and safety of our . Then, he was unmasked as a quack. Previously a reporter for Courthouse News, he has appeared as a guest on NewsNation, NBC, MSNBC, CBS's "Inside Edition," BBC, NPR, PBS, Sky News, and other . All Rights Reserved, Wrongful Convictions, Appeals, Clemency & Sealing, Empowering People with Disability & Health Issues, Lifting the Voices of Children & Adolescents, Supporting Survivors of Violence & Navigating Divorce, Discrimination Based on Arrest & Conviction Records, What You Need to Know About Marijuana Legalization in New York, What You Need to Know About Marijuana Expungement, What You Need to Know About Loitering & Prostitution Records, What You Need to Know About Sealing Your Criminal Convictions, What You Need to Know After Your Convictions Have Been Sealed, What You Need to Know About Discrimination Based on Arrest and Conviction Records. Lorenzo Johnson served 16 and a half years of a life-without-parole sentence, from 1995 to 2012, when the Third Circuit Federal Court . The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of . However, in 1994, Hunt's legal team filed for DNA testing. For some victims, the impact of the wrongful conviction may be comparable to or even worse than . The Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit represents those wrongfully committed once all appeals have been exhausted. | translate }}, {{ "Why should I sign up for an account?" After taking office in 2014, Thompson expanded the Conviction Review Unit, fulfilling a campaign promise and earning a wave of laudatory national media attention. . With a backlog of 100+ potential clients, The Legal Aid Society will hire a Post-Graduate Fellow to work on the project, and the Defenders Clinic will add a paralegal. Another 20 were tossed because they hinged on the work of Detective Sasha Cordoba, who pleaded guilty in 2018 after prosecutors found she made repeated false statements in a gun possession case in Washington Heights in Manhattan. At the Legal Aid Society, Riley is part of a team that reviews claims of innocence, working to help to those who were wrongfully convicted achieve the vindication they seek and deserve. From 2014 until Thompsons death in the fall of 2016, Brooklyns unit exonerated 21 people. Post-conviction case files will be reviewed to determine which evidentiary item(s) should be initially tested for DNA and/or retested using modern, advanced technologies. Any of the other testimony [] wouldnt really matter unless I can get [Graves].. Defense attorneys point to Hales control of the unit as a key reason for the slow pace of exonerations, New York Focus and The Appeal reported in May. We hope you will pursue all available legal remedies, Felber said. View Case Acceptance Criteria. The mission of the Wrongful Conviction Division is to identify and litigate claims of actual innocence in post-conviction proceedings. Donate today, Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations. A new head of the unit, Sims and his attorneys hope, will give his case a fair review. The Legal Aid Society 4.3. A new review by the CRUunder a different directormay be Sims best chance at exoneration. A PRDU Staff Attorney represents clients accused of violating their conditions of release at administrative parole revocation hearings and recognizance hearings held in the criminal courts, federal detention facilities, hospital prison wards and, where applicable, local . The police stated that if I do not appear tomorrow morning at the trial, they are going to release Anthony and charge me with the murder, he said in his 2002 affidavit. The Legal Aid Society, one member of the 2021 group, urged the city's district attorneys to continue reviewing potentially wrongful convictions "on an ongoing basis and with full transparency . The Exploitation Intervention Project works with trafficking survivors to help them vacate criminal convictions related to their trafficking and seal the records of those arrests. The expertise of renowned forensic scientists at the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, with decades of experience in post-conviction work will enhance this collaboration. On the night of May 18, 1998, Anthony Sims, 22, drove his friend, Julius Graves, 23, to a Chinese take-out restaurant in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. but did not discuss the year that she supervised the Conviction Review Unit before the Bureau was created. As the Court has obviously seen, I have nobody else that has said that, Hale told the court. After taking office in 2014, Thompson expanded the Conviction Review Unit, . Prior to joining the Legal Aid Society, Sherry was Of Counsel Bashian P.C. Brooklyn Prosecutors Seek to Throw Out Scores of Convictions, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/07/nyregion/brooklyn-prosecutors-convictions.html. I want to support him now because hes another one of the many individuals thats in there for something he didnt do, said Cooper. The police department did not respond to a request for comment. Admission & Aid. The Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit Jan 2021 - Present 2 years 2 months. Clemency Enough is Enough: Combating Sexual Misconduct | Notice of Non-Discrimination | Legal Notices | CUNY Copyright | Text Only View | Even if he was not part of the review process, youre still asking a subordinate to make a finding about his superior., Conviction review units, said Sims, should not even be housed in prosecutors offices. District Attorney, Major Crimes Division, Legal Aid Society, Seymour James, Lee Long, NYPD, Lamar Palmer, . Visit Us. New York Focus Two men who died of drug overdoses after leaving Manhattan gay bars last spring died by homicide, according to findings from New York Citys chief medical examiner. After his testimony, however, the Brooklyn DAs office dropped the violation of probation. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The partnership between CUNY Law and the Legal Aid Society is symbiotic: The Legal Aid Society increases the capacity of their client services; experienced attorneys learn about clinical teaching and supervision in an academic setting, and students are exposed to the most current and specialized practice approaches. After spending 17 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, Brooklyn man James Davis is finally coming home. Graves only agreed to testify after his fiance was arrested, according to a statement he gave in 2002, which he has since recanted. Another 78 cases on the prosecutors list arose from two detectives, Edward Martins and Richard Hall, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to charges that they released an 18-year-old woman from custody in exchange for sexual favors. Elizabeth Felber, director of the Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society, said the people whose cases were tossed endured "hardships that should have never been allowed to happen . In statements to the press, the Brooklyn DAs office has claimed that Hale did not review Sims case. Or email: [email protected]. Hale was the trial prosecutor. Member Organizations. Browse 21 WRONGFUL CONVICTION jobs ($60k-$91k) from companies with openings that are hiring now. DECISION AND ORDER BRENDA K. SANNES Chief District Judge. Visit Our Campus Discovering our campus is a breeze, whether you're a high-schooler thinking about attending DU, an admitted student learning your way around, or a teacher or counselor setting up a group visit. Sims has since remarried, to his junior high girlfriend, Keisha Sims. They almost do more damage in terms of eroding peoples trust and confidence in the system.. | translate }}, {{ 'How do I search on One Degree?' This is a very important role; the work of this committee is of extraordinary importance, not just to the Muslim community, but to all communities in New York. Although he did not pull the trigger and was actually nowhere near the shooting, he was charged under New Yorks controversial felony murder law and sentenced to 71 years to life. I. Civil law is the law that controls non-criminal issues.Civil lawsuits generally do not result in jail time or "punishment." Instead, the outcome of a civil case is usually an order from a judge that one person pay another person money to make up for harm that they caused, handling a family law (custody, divorce, etc.) The 378 cases mostly low-level drug and traffic offenses relied on the work of 13 police officers who were later convicted of crimes. Heres what you should know to prevent wrongful discrimination. According to Sims and his attorneys, Hale committed additional misconduct when he failed to disclose that the Brooklyn DAs Office was paying for Graves and his family to enter a witness relocation program. 199 Water Street New York, NY 10038. Notre Dame Law Schools Exoneration Justice Clinic is committed to correcting the miscarriage of justice and investigating, litigating, and overturning wrongful convictions. Quick hits with little oversight, said Charles Linehan, a former Manhattan prosecutor who has run the Brooklyn district attorneys conviction review unit since January.
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legal aid society wrongful conviction unit