40 Worth Street, Suite 606. Conviction review units have exonerated more than 500 people from across the country. For Elizabeth Felber, the director of the Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit, . 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. 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. Hochul Projects Horse Racing Renaissance, Declines to Share Evidence. The article has been updated to account for the one exoneration produced in that year. Thompson recruited Harvard professor and former public defender Ronald Sullivan to lead the units effortsbut Mark Hale, the prosecutor from Sims case, was charged with supervising the units day-to-day activities. Her proof: an industry-commissioned study that she refuses to release. Sims told him he couldnt think like that. And in Manhattan, more than 140 ongoing cases and convictions that Mr. Franco was central to have also been tossed out. A new review by the CRUunder a different directormay be Sims best chance at exoneration. The Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit represents those wrongfully committed once all appeals have been exhausted. . 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. Two additional witnesses did not identify Cooper from a photo array. The Legal Aid Society had filed an amended lawsuit to stop illegal apartment layout alterations initiated by the landlords, which threaten to displace long-term rent-stabilized tenants, as reported by Gothamist.. c/o The Legal Aid Society Please register prior to March 10th. Founded in 1876, the Society provides a full range of civil legal services as w. 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. Heres what you should know about the new sealing law and the sealing process. Member Board of Directors Drama Club Feb 2015 - Jun 2022 7 years 5 . 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 According to Sims attorneys, Hale never disclosed this information to the defense. 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 think thats a farce, said Collins. New York, NY 10038. The WCU is also currently collaborating with private firms and criminal justice advocates, such as Jeffrey Deskovic and Derrick Hamilton. Sims has since remarried, to his junior high girlfriend, Keisha Sims. Find job postings near you and 1-click apply! At a virtual hearing on Monday, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz successfully petitioned a judge to expunge 60 convictions linked to three NYPD officers who were found to have committed crimes and fabricated evidence in other cases in years past. No physical evidence linked Sims to the crime. Upon retrial, Hunt was offered a sentence of time served if he would admit guilt. 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. Our services focus on providing support to survivors as they re-build after abuse. Students from the clinic have teamed up on our cases and the forensic scientists routinely consult on forensic science issues. Graves testimony was essential for the prosecutions case. Sims also says he told all his appellate attorneys that he saw Graves commit the crime; his one surviving appellate attorney confirmed this to his current counsel. Pro Bono Scholar, Wrongful Conviction Unit The Legal Aid Society Feb 2023 - Present 1 month. Ideally, the new head should have criminal defense experience, to be able to bring a fresh perspective to the unit.. A new head of the unit, Sims and his attorneys hope, will give his case a fair review. In statements to the press, the Brooklyn DAs office has claimed that Hale did not review Sims case. Had we known about these officers, we would never have brought these cases.. He said he forgave him years ago, during a family visit. Professors and Defenders Clinic Co-Directors Steve Zeidman (left) and Nicole Smith-Futrell (right) discuss their work on clemency. 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. For questions about registration, need-based scholarship, or for more information about this years conference email Jessica Goldthwaite The Legal Aid Societys DNA Unit. Legal Services NYC Website. The Wrongful Conviction Unit continues to grow in size and outreach since its inception in 2019. Lastly David heads Legal Aid's Wrongful Conviction Unit. Pro Bono Scholar, Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society CRUs are tasked with investigating convictions secured by their own officeoften the colleagues, friends and supervisors of CRU staff. Last year, a New York Supreme Court judge vacated his conviction and, several months later, the DAs office dismissed the charge. For Scandal-Plagued For-Profit Colleges, No State Is More Welcoming Than New York. I never got a chance to tell my story, Sims told New York Focus. It reflects a broader push to scrutinize police testimony and a recognition of the catastrophic effects that even misdemeanor convictions can have on people. Research shows challenges to wrongful convictions have extremely low success rates; even defendants who were later exonerated by DNA evidence had their appeals rejected in more than 90 percent of cases, one study found. The justice system can be overwhelming. Keisha and Kisha, along with Cooper and Collins, are championing Sims innocence. About Us. But this is not enough to protect an applicant to the CRU from an inherent conflict of interest, said Collins, who met Sims twenty-five years ago while they were both incarcerated in New York. The Legal Aid Society is taking precautions and implementing safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to comply with New York City's requirements concerning Covid-19. contribute to wrongful convictions, and the best practices that address these factors. "Most of our cases are 20 to 30 years old and the DNA technology has . 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 . . This conference is for Defense Attorneys only. Hammurabi's Law-"Eye for an eye mentality"-The king set clear laws to better govern his . 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. Record Sealing When a wrongfully convicted individual is exonerated, the original crime victim may experience feelings of guilt, fear, helplessness, devastation and depression. 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 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. Strong legal professional with a . Despite his obligation to correct false testimony by witnesses, Hale did not challenge Graves claims. He previously worked for WNYC and Gothamist, and has published stories with NPR, ProPublica, Esquire, and The Intercept among other outlets. matter, or that someone stop behaving in a way that interferes with another . The audience is typically ~100-200 defense attorneys from around the United States. The mission of the Wrongful Conviction Division is to identify and litigate claims of actual innocence in post-conviction proceedings. Sims and Kisha divorced in 2018, but say they have remained close friends. To Jabbar Collins, that conflict of interest makes it imperative that a CRU is led by someone outside the office. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. | translate }}, {{ "Why should I sign up for an account?" {{ "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!' After being in prison for three decades, he was finally granted clemency and released in early 2019. All Rights Reserved. Graves did not respond to multiple requests for comment from New York Focus. 2023 The Legal Aid Society. 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. Read our cookies policies here. Pursuant to a federal grant, our WCU has teamed up with CUNY Law Schools Criminal Law Clinic and the Henry Lee Institute of Forensic Science to broaden its ability to represent the wrongfully convicted. Legal Aid Society Wrongful Conviction Unit. The Wrongful Conviction Unit was created to address the population of prisoners who have exhausted all possible avenues of defense and are still fighting for their freedom. 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. | translate }}, {{ "Add or edit any resource" | translate }} As a result, the Unit has been able to take on more clients, reinvestigate their cases and advocate for their exoneration and release. To find out if The Exploitation Intervention Project is able to assist you in having your trafficking-related convictions vacated and the records sealed, contact Leigh Latimer at 646-385-5025 or lelatimer@legal-aid.org. In a statement responding to questions sent to the DAs office by New York Focus, spokesperson Yaniv characterized Sims account as novel. 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. I believe that many of them are not the same people that they were when whatever offense was committed, and theyre deserving of clemency as well.. . The office spent 10 months reviewing every Brooklyn conviction in which the 13 former officers were involved, flagging for dismissal cases in which they served as the primary witnesses. 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 . 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. The Legal Aid Society can assist with wrongful convictions, applications for commutation and pardon, and the sealing of past criminal records. Seven have been exonerated since his first term began in November 2017, but two others were exonerated while Gonzalez was acting DA. 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. Browse All Categories; Urgent. (Sullivan did not respond to a request for comment.). Job Description The Legal Aid Society's Parole Revocation Defense Unit has an immediate opening for a Staff Attorney. I expected the CRU to interview me, which would give me a chance to answer their questions and give a detailed account of seeing Julius shoot the victim., The CRU did not contact Sims to learn more about his claims. 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. Our work Our Family Law and Domestic Violence Practice provides legal services to survivors of domestic violence throughout New York City. Anyone can read what you share. The Legal Aid Society will be hosting its Wrongful Conviction Day event over Zoom on Oct. 6. 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. The Brooklyn cases originated from arrests that took place between 1999 and 2017. 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. In 2013, controversy over Hynes tactics helped Kenneth Thompson defeat Hynes. Less than 24 hours after Chens murder, Sims was the primary suspect. 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.. On appeal, the conviction was overturned due to the wrongful admission of the interrogation. After the shooting, Graves told police that he took the gun home with him and wiped it down to remove fingerprints. 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. Donate. We deliver justice in every borough, working tirelessly to make our city a better place. 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. Brooklyn Prosecutors Seek to Throw Out Scores of Convictions, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/07/nyregion/brooklyn-prosecutors-convictions.html. This grant will provide us with vital support to expand our work as we train law students to reverse wrongful convictions and decarcerate our prisons. The U.S. Department of Justice has granted CUNY School of Law, in partnership with The Legal Aid Society, nearly $500,000 to establish a project that will review and litigate select wrongful conviction claims of New Yorkers incarcerated in state prisons. Early-bird registration for the 2023 Innocence Network Conference is NOW OPEN. Earlier this year, Graves told the Daily News that Sims killed the victim. Each of the NYC DA offices are currently reinvestigating our cases. An early example is the potential wrongful conviction and execution of Patrick Whelan for the 1868 murder of one of the "Fathers of Confederation," Thomas D'Arcy McGee. Then, two days later, he told the court that he had, in fact, ordered the polygraph and helped formulate the questions, according to a transcript of the proceedings. In New York, most employers and agencies can only deny you a job or license because of your criminal conviction if theres a direct connection between the work and the offense or if giving you the job or license would involve an unreasonable risk to people or property. 2023 The Legal Aid Society. Include a mailing address for the CRU to contact the convicted person or their attorney.
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