Manhattan District Attorney Creates Wrongful Convictions Unit
Great news from the Innocence Blog: “Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr., announced that he is setting up a Conviction Integrity Unit to re-examine closed cases where claims of innocence have been made and to establish standard procedures for new cases to prevent wrongful convictions.
The unit will consist of three components: a Conviction Integrity Committee, a Conviction Integrity Chief and an outside Conviction Integrity Policy Advisory Panel.
The committee will review practices and policies related to case assessment, investigation and disclosure obligations, with a focus on potential errors such as eyewitness misidentifications and false confessions. Comprised of senior members of the DA’s staff, the committee will also lead the investigation of post-conviction cases with credible claims of innocence.
The head of the new unit will be Bonnie Sard, a senior Assistant District Attorney, who will report directly to Vance and the office’s General Counsel. The outside advisory panel will consist of 10 leading criminal justice experts including Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck. The advisory group will advise the DA’s office on how to prevent and address wrongful convictions.”
The Policy Advisory Panel will include:
Rachel E. Barkow, a Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. Professor Barkow teaches criminal law and has written, lectured, and testified before Congress on an array of issues, including criminal and constitutional law, sentencing, and the structure of prosecutors’ offices. She is also the Faculty Director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University.
Zachary W. Carter, former United States Attorney for the Eastern District. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Carter led several prosecutions of nationwide significance. He is now a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where he co-chairs the firm’s white collar practice group.
Richard H. Girgenti, former New York State Director of Criminal Justice and Commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services. Mr. Girgenti is currently the National and Americas Leader for KPMG LLP’s Forensic Services, and has served as a member of KPMG’s Board of Directors.
Bruce A. Green, Louis Stein Professor of Law and the Director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham University School of Law. Professor Green, who previously served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, writes widely on issues on prosecutorial ethics and wrongful convictions. He also serves as Chair-elect of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section.
Howard A. Levine, former judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. Judge Levine is currently a judge who a senior counsel at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. Prior to his tenure on the New York Court of Appeals, he served as an Associate Justice on the Appellate Division (Third Department), and as District Attorney of Schenectady County.
Robert J. McGuire, former Commissioner of the New York City Police Department. Mr. McGuire also served as Chairman and Chief Executive of Pinkerton’s Inc., and subsequently, President of Kroll Associates, an international investigation firm. He is formerly an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District.
Denise O’Donnell, former New York State Commissioner of Criminal Justice Services and Deputy Secretary for Public Safety. In that capacity, Ms. O’Donnell supervised all New York State criminal justice and homeland security agencies. Prior to her tenure at DCJS, she served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, and as a litigation partner at Hodgson, Russ LLP.
Mechthild (Mecki) Prinz, PhD, Director of the Forensic Biology Department in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City. Dr. Prinz has been involved in many high profile criminal cases, and worked on identifying victims of the 9/11 attacks. She oversees evidence examination and DNA testing for homicides, sexual assault cases, property crimes, and other criminal cases for New York City.
Barry C. Scheck, co-founder and co-director of the Innocence Project. The Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, has been responsible in whole or in part for exonerating most of the 250 men and women nationwide to be cleared through post-conviction DNA testing. Mr. Scheck also serves as a Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School.
Read all about it here and here!
Categories: Miscarriages of Justice, Miscellaneous
Tags: Actual Innocence, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions