Alfonzo Riley, a paralegal in TheLegal Aid Societys Wrongful Conviction Unit, was recently profiled by The Appeal. 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. It has assisted 75 people with parole and clemency applications of which 25 are now home. Convicted but innocent: wrongful conviction and . Im sure that there are hundreds of other cases just like mine, Campos wrote to New York Focus from prison. Montclair State University. Alfonzo Riley, pictured above, worked with the Defenders Clinic on his clemency application; he was granted clemency from Governor Cuomo in 2018 after 30 years in prison. These positions require . Iowa State Public Defender Wrongful Conviction Division Des Moines, IA. For Elizabeth Felber, the director of the Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit, . Lorenzo Johnson served 16 and a half years of a life-without-parole sentence, from 1995 to 2012, when the Third Circuit Federal Court . In 2018, a record number of exonerations involved misconduct by government officials. The Legal Aid Society will be hosting its Wrongful Conviction Day event over Zoom on Oct. 6. 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, 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 Defenders Clinic is on a mission to loosen the crushing hold of incarceration and criminalization in New York State by educating law students to be tireless and skilled criminal legal advocates. Find job opportunities near you and apply! Juvenile Rights Practice Entry Level Staff Attorney- Fall 2023. 8th Annual Questioning Forensics Conference. 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 . PHOTO CREDIT: Eagle Photo by Noah Goldberg. About half of them involved four officers who were involved in a corruption scandal that rocked the police departments narcotics operations in Brooklyn more than a decade ago. Wrongful Conviction Clinic. When he was convicted, she told New York Focus, she thought that was the end of my world., In 2013, controversy over Hynes tactics helped Kenneth Thompson defeat Hynes. Extra Extra: Did someone shortchange this East Hampton 'honor-system' egg stand? Visit website. 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 . Sims is no longer angry with Graves. 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. District Attorney, Major Crimes Division, Legal Aid Society, Seymour James, Lee Long, NYPD, Lamar Palmer, . The judge admonished Hale for committing prosecutorial misconduct. She struck the witnesss testimony, but allowed the case to proceed. By Rebecca Davis OBrien and Troy Closson. 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. | translate }}, {{ 'How do I search on One Degree?' Queens DA Melinda Katz Moves To Expunge 60 Convictions Linked To Corrupt NYPD Officers, We rely on your support to make local news available to all, Overdose prevention centers save lives but remain in legal limbo, as NYC moves toward expansion, Overdoses of two men leaving Manhattan gay bars last spring found to be homicides, A man is dead after an encounter with police in New Jersey, Suspect arrested in connection with NJ State Trooper shot in leg. Two additional witnesses did not identify Cooper from a photo array. For some victims, the impact of the wrongful conviction may be comparable to or even worse than . Despite his obligation to correct false testimony by witnesses, Hale did not challenge Graves claims. The group Families of the Wrongfully Convicted, along with lawyers from the Legal Aid Society, argued that the Conviction Review Unit established in 2014 under the late Brooklyn DA Kenneth . The state has two years to implement the expungement, BUT if you have an expungeable PL 221 offense it is already being suppressed and it should NOT show up on a background check. The WCU played an integral role in bringing these convicted officers to their attention and demanding justice for our clients whose lives were impacted by these corrupt officers. New York, New York, United States . James Davis. 5 Legal arrangements have come into existence with the need for protecting the human honour. Prior to joining the Legal Aid Society, Sherry was Of Counsel Bashian P.C. Over the two-year grant cycle, up to 60 law students will receive the training required to identify the causes of wrongful convictions and develop the vital skills to litigate them, while the volume of cases the WCU can review will expand. damages against the individual defendants in an amount to be determined at trial; b. award plaintiffs, and the members of the class they seek to represent, reasonable. Subscribe to The Legal Aid Society's newsletters for campaign updates, case victories, client stories, and more. But Graves 2002 statement said that he did not see who shot the victim and did not know who did, but that police had threatened to charge him with Chens murder unless he testified against Sims. Heres what you should know about the new sealing law and the sealing process. (2) "Certificate of inspection" means an unsworn statement, declaration, verification, or certificate made in accordance with the requirements of chapter 5.50 RCW by a qualified inspector that states that the landlord has not failed to fulfill any substantial obligation imposed under RCW 59.18.060 that endangers or impairs the health or safety of a tenant, including (a) structural members that . Historically, the parole boards routinely denied parole to people who maintained their innocence because they were not accepting responsibility for crimes they did not commit. , the Brooklyn DAs office has claimed that Hale did not review Sims case. 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. Individuals who believe they qualify for clemency should apply online with the Governors Office. Part of that advocacy has been to work collaboratively with Conviction Integrity Units in the District Attorneys Offices. 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. The strength of our criminal justice system depends on its accuracy its ability to convict the guilty and to clear the innocent. To me that's just an inherent dual loyalty," said Elizabeth Felber, a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society's wrongful conviction unit. 199 Water Street New York, NY 10038. he Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit, Consumer Information (ABA Required Disclosures), Enough is Enough: Combating Sexual Misconduct, Muhammad Faridi 07 Appointed Civilian Representative on NYPD Oversight Committee, The End of Exile: CLEAR celebrates Akram Djumaevs win 7 years in the making. 40 Worth Street, Suite 606. CUNY Policy On Sexual Misconduct. The Wrongful Conviction Unit continues to grow in size and outreach since its inception in 2019. Instead, he received a one page rejection letter stating that it would not investigate the case because the evidence that you are asking the CRU to rely on has already been rejected by multiple courts.. 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. Or email: wcu@legal-aid.org. Section II looks at the role cognitive biases play in wrongful convictions. One eyewitness, who knew both Sims and Graves, called police and told them that she saw Graves, not Sims, running out of the restaurant with a gun in his hand, according to a report by Graves fiancee. Quick hits with little oversight, said Charles Linehan, a former Manhattan prosecutor who has run the Brooklyn district attorneys conviction review unit since January. After taking office in 2014, Thompson expanded the Conviction Review Unit, . Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Since 2015, the DNA Unit of the Legal Aid Society in New York City has held an annual, two-day forensic conference for defense attorneys called Questioning Forensics. Wrongful Convictions We are excited that this collaboration with the Wrongful Conviction Unit will provide more access to legal advocacy for incarcerated New Yorkers, while also growing CUNY Laws relationship with the Legal Aid Society, one of our closest partners, said Nicole Smith Futrell, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Defenders Clinic. Provided direct support to NYC Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner - former long-time attorney-in-chief of NYC Legal Aid Society - including assisting with City Hall and senior staff . For Scandal-Plagued For-Profit Colleges, No State Is More Welcoming Than New York. Alfonzo Riley, Case Handler (left), Elizabeth Felber, Supervising Attorney (center), Thomas McCall, Investigator (right), members of The Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit. Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island Trial Offices, the Homicide Defense Task Force Unit, Wrongful Conviction Unit, Parole Revocation Unit, and the Criminal Appeals Bureau. Defendants offered guilty pleas in 34 exonerations and gave false confessions in 24 cases. It's the daily routine for Elizabeth Felber, Alfonzo Riley and Thomas McCall the trio that runs the Legal Aid Society's new Wrongful Conviction Unit, a small new bureau for New York City . | translate }}, {{ 'Find and save resources 24/7 from anywhere' | translate }}, {{ 'Get the free One Degree App. Maintaining his innocence, he was retried and convicted again to life in prison. Elizabeth Felber, a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Societys wrongful convictions unit, thanked Katz, who is the first District Attorney in the city to seek to overturn convictions in response to the mass exoneration campaign Felbers organization helped spearhead.Felber also directly addressed the 60 people who had their convictions purged, some of whom she said served prison sentences, lost jobs, and had licenses suspended as a result. Coopers appellate criminal defense attorney and civil attorney is Tom Hoffman, the same person representing Sims. Heres what you should know after your conviction has been sealed. On February 2, 2021, the New York legislature repealed the loitering for the purposes of prostitution statute, commonly called the Walking While Trans Ban. This means loitering for the purposes of prostitution is no longer a criminal offense in New York, and the records of past convictions should have been sealed automatically. He only implicated Cooper after police told him his charges would be dropped if he cooperated. On appeal, the conviction was overturned due to the wrongful admission of the interrogation. Brooklyn prosecutors are seeking to throw out 378 criminal convictions mostly low-level drug and traffic offenses, dating to 1999 that relied on 13 former New York Police Department officers who were later convicted of crimes related to their work. Browse Resources . The Cop Accountability Project (CAP) of the Criminal Defense Practices Law Reform and Special Litigation Unit empowers organizations and communities across New York City to hold police accountable for human rights violations. matter, or that someone stop behaving in a way that interferes with another . 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. After being in prison for three decades, he was finally granted clemency and released in early 2019. 207 followers 207 connections. A new head of the unit, Sims and his attorneys hope, will give his case a fair review. Founded in 1876, the Society provides a full range of civil legal services as w. "Most of our cases are 20 to 30 years old and the DNA technology has . From 2014 until Thompsons death in the fall of 2016, Brooklyns unit exonerated 21 people. 155, 156 taxation 148 trade union members, prohibited list of 365 trade unions, against 323, 394, 406 wrongful dismissal see under wrongful dismissal see also compensation declarations 58, 59, 274, 301, 366 agency workers 65 detriment: trade unionism . The loss of that evidence could affect cases and people The Legal Aid Society represents who may have been wrongly convicted. Update (9/4): This article previously stated that the Brooklyn CRU exonerated seven people during DA Gonzalezs current tenure. Her proof: an industry-commissioned study that she refuses to release. | translate }}, {{ "How do I get started with the One Degree app?" All rights reserved. You will get this benefit if you were convicted of possessing up to 16 oz or selling up to 25 grams. Practicing as a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. James Grigson was called upon to evaluate people charged with capital murder crimes. Clemency. Lawyers, scientists, and policy advocates speak on topics of interest to the defense communityeverything to basics of DNA transfer to Bayesian networks, to cross examination techniques to litigating trade secrets. c/o The Legal Aid Society. The Wrongful Conviction Unit was created to address the population of prisoners who have exhausted all avenues of relief and are still fighting for their freedom and to clear their names of crimes they did not commit. In certain cases, video As a result of harmful changes to immigration law and policy, Legal Aids clients are increasingly unable to access justice before the USCIS and the immigration courts. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. | Brooklyn DA. To me that's just an inherent dual loyalty," said Elizabeth Felber, a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society's 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. (c) Comstock, Thinkstock, royalty-free ( see reuse policy ). The Wrongful Conviction Unit continues to grow in size and outreach since its inception in 2019. Inside the restaurant, Sims says he saw Graves take out a small shotgun, point it at the cashier, Li Run Chen, and shoot. Phone: 917-661-4500 or 646-442-3600. The Legal Aid Society is among the first state public defender organizations working in-house to explore our clients' lives through video to convey their character, aspirations, traumas, difficulties, and often, transformation. His conviction was dismissed August 4. Graves did not respond to multiple requests for comment from New York Focus. The Brooklyn cases originated from arrests that took place between 1999 and 2017. When a crime occurs, the person is considered a danger to society. Email. Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit, Iowa State Public Defender Wrongful Conviction Division. Keisha and Kisha, along with Cooper and Collins, are championing Sims innocence. Cooper was imprisoned for the 1992 murder of a subway token clerk. Eric Gonzalez, right, the Brooklyn district attorney, in 2020. In the Clinics Second Look Project: Beyond Guilt, students work diligently on parole and clemency cases to locate and review court documents and records, re-investigate cases, and prepare motions and advocacy petitions. Before the murder, he said, I had everything going for me., I remember looking forward to coming home because my sons would hear me in a hallway, he said. | translate }}, {{ "How do I save resources on the app?" We deliver justice in every borough, working tirelessly to make our city a better place. The average condemned person spends six-and-a-half years on Death Row as their case . 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. 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. Legal Services NYC Website. Notre Dame Law Schools Exoneration Justice Clinic is committed to correcting the miscarriage of justice and investigating, litigating, and overturning wrongful convictions. Graves only agreed to testify after his fiance was arrested, according to a statement he gave in 2002, which he has since recanted. By the numbers, there are 39,683 incarcerated persons in New York State prisons with many of them serving lengthy prison sentences. If you are innocent and have exhausted all appeals for a conviction in New York City, write to The Wrongful Conviction Unit and request our questionnaire to be considered for representation: The Wrongful Conviction Unit For more than two decades, Sims has tried to overturn his conviction in the appellate courts, without success. Sims said he told his trial counsel that he saw Graves commit the crime and asked to testify, but that the lawyer advised him not to testify. 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. On Monday, the Legal Aid Society announced it had proven to the court that Davis did not shoot and kill a man at a 2004 party in East New York. The hundreds of convictions thrown out in the Bronx involved Mr. Franco. Try our guided search" | translate }}, {{ 'Get the free One Degree App' | translate }}, {{ 'Use our apps to find and save resources 24/7' | translate }}, {{existingAffiliation.organization_name}}. Read More. Early-bird registration for the 2023 Innocence Network Conference is NOW OPEN. 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 the year following Sims trial, Graves and his family received more than $22,000. The Legal Aid Society is grateful and honored to partner with CUNY School of Law in this endeavor, and we look forward to making more of a difference in the lives of New Yorkers and communities that we serve.. Emergency services Emergency financial assistance Medical emergency Mental health emergency . he did not see who shot the victim and did not know who did. | translate }}. Read our cookies policies here. Supervising Attorney - Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society Sidwell Friends High School, Northwestern University, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law View profile View profile badges but did not discuss the year that she supervised the Conviction Review Unit before the Bureau was created. A 1990 graduate . New York, NY 10013. Whether it be financially or safety, they are putting themselves in a position of mistrust. DNA; Non-DNA; Yet, when he appeared at trial, Graves testified that he was in court voluntarily and that he regularly checked in with his probation officer. Although he did not pull the trigger and was actually nowhere near the shooting, he was charged under New York's controversial felony murder law and sentenced to 71 years to life. The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) provides direct legal services to taxpayers who have personal income tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service or the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. If you are looking to donate, get involved, or get assistance, find and connect to your local Network organization here. The other six convictions stemmed from the work of former NYPD Detective Oscar Sandino, who was charged in 2010 and pled guilty to sexual assault and other sexual misconduct charges involving arrestees. When questioned by the trial judge after the witnesss outburst, Hale initially denied any knowledge of a lie detector test. Simply put, this grant is a gamechanger and will bolster our capacity to screen more cases and exonerate more New Yorkers who were wrongfully convicted, said Elizabeth Felber, Supervising Attorney of the Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society. 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. During trial, a state witness testified that police had coerced him into implicating Campos, that he had later recanted his statement to Hale, and that he had failed a lie detector test. 2023 Founded in 1876, the Society provides a full range of civil legal services as well as criminal defense work, and juvenile rights representation in . Include a mailing address for the CRU to contact the convicted person or their attorney. Click here to learn more and register. Mark Hale, right, was chief of the Brooklyn District Attorneys Conviction Review Unit from 2014 until his retirement in 2021. Pro Bono Scholar, Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society Visit Us. As the Court has obviously seen, I have nobody else that has said that, Hale told the court. . Prior to joining the Legal Aid Society in 2016, David spent 10 years as the Managing Attorney at the Innocence Project, where he supervised attorneys working to exonerate innocent clients and spearheaded the organization's amicus curiae practice throughout the country. Member Board of Directors Drama Club Feb 2015 - Jun 2022 7 years 5 . The Wrongful Conviction Unit. Seven have been exonerated since his first term began in November 2017, but two others were exonerated while Gonzalez was acting DA. . Indianapolis, IN 46202. The 60 dismissals announced on Monday stemmed from an initial review of three of those officers arrest records. We hope you will pursue all available legal remedies, Felber said. 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. Sims experience wasnt an aberration. Subscribe to The Legal Aid Society's newsletters for campaign updates, case victories, client stories, and more. If you were convicted of a criminal offense as a result of having been sex or labor trafficked, you may be eligible to have your record sealed. {{ "Available to anyone, anytime" | translate }}, {{ "Read about our impact and get recent news:" | translate }}, {{ "See One Degree in the Media:" | translate }}, {{ "Explore helpful videos, webinars, slides and more for Pro members" | translate }}, {{ "One Degree keeps all of our resources up-to-date every 6 months" | translate }}, {{ 'Search by text message available!' New York, NY 10038. 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. I had to forgive him, because I didnt want to walk around bitter., He reassured his son: Everything is gonna work itself out. The Wrongful Conviction Unit continues to grow in size and outreach since its inception in 2019. Hale disclosed none of this to Coopers defense counsel, according to Coopers civil complaint. f Case 1:20-cv-08924-CM Document 741 Filed 09/16/22 Page 43 of 43. a. award plaintiffs, and the members of the class they seek to represent, punitive. | The Legal Aid Society is the nation's oldest and largest provider of legal services to the indigent. Today, DNA testing has developed to a point where reinvestigation, reanalysis, or retesting of biological evidence can help prove innocence. Subscribe to The Legal Aid Society's newsletters for campaign updates, case victories, client stories, and more. Wrongful convictions have likely always been present in Canada's criminal justice system to some degree. | translate }}, {{ "Why should I sign up for an account?" Many of the other officers had been convicted of crimes like perjury, disorderly conduct or civil liberties violations, including Oscar Sandino who pleaded guilty to forcing a woman he arrested to perform oral sex on him in a Queens police precinct bathroom in 2008. Since 2015, the DNA Unit of the Legal Aid Society in New York City has held an annual, two-day forensic conference for defense attorneys called Questioning Forensics. Content may not be reproduced without permission. . Tenant/landlord issues. Hes now 46. Sims trial lasted five days. It would be among the largest mass dismissal of convictions in the country, according to data collected by the National Registry of Exonerations. This conference is for Defense Attorneys only. Criminology 40(1): 1-18; Huff C, Rattner A & Sagarin E 1986. He previously worked for WNYC and Gothamist, and has published stories with NPR, ProPublica, Esquire, and The Intercept among other outlets. Identifying and understanding the causes of wrongful convictions is critical to maintaining the integrity of our justice system. In 2016, Sims wrote a letter to the Brooklyn DAs conviction review unit, or CRU, asking them to investigate his case. 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. WCU hears directly from incarcerated persons seeking help, many have been in prison for over 20 years, and in many cases, evidence was collected but never tested. Each of the NYC DA offices are currently reinvestigating our cases. The collaboration between the Defenders Clinic and The Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit will help the next generation of social justice attorneys develop vital lawyering skills while increasing access to post-conviction legal representation. Donate. 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. Anthony Sims case shows the conflict of interest inherent in Conviction Review Units led by former prosecutors, critics say. 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. According to Sims attorneys, Hale never disclosed this information to the defense. At the time, all we knew was that he had been forced to give up his green card. 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. But at trial, Sims defense counsel said that Graves, not Sims, was the perpetrator. 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.