The Innocence Project in Print - Summer 2011 (PDF)

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22INNOCENCEBY THE NUMBERSINEFFECTIVE DEFENSEIn the Winter 2010 issue of The Innocence Project In Print, we provided statistics aboutprosecutorial misconduct. The other side of that issue, and another major contributorto wrongful convictions, is ineffective defense. While cases of outright incompetencedo exist, and should be addressed, defense attorney’s failings are better understood bywhat they did not do. Negligent attorneys, struggling with a massive caseload and a lackof resources, do not meet their constitutional obligation to advocate for their clients.The data below offers only a glimpse of the problem and indicates only those caseswhere information was available.Number of the 271 DNA exonerees to allege ineffective assistance of counsel in theirpost-conviction appeals 62Number of those 62 in which courts found error, whether harmful or harmless 10Number of those 62 in which courts found “harmful error” that lead to a reversalof the conviction 7Number of the 271 DNA exonerees who paid for their own lawyer at their originaltrials (resulting in the wrongful conviction) 65 1Number of the 271 DNA exonerees who were represented by a public defenderor court-appointed counsel at their original trials 163 1Average hourly rate of lawyers in private practice $ 178 - $ 265 2Approximate hourly rate of court-appointed attorneys in non-capital felonycases $ 50 - $ 65 2Percent increase in criminal caseloads from state public defender programs from1999 to 2007 20% 3Percent increase in number of public defenders employed in state programs for thesame period 4% 31 Based on 228 cases where information was known.2 The Constitution Project, “Justice Denied: America’s Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Rightto Counsel,” (2009).3 Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, “Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases,” (2000).
The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at theBenjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist prisoners who could beproven innocent through DNA testing. To date, 271 people in the United States have beenexonerated by DNA testing, including 17 who served time on death row. These peopleserved an average of 13 years in prison before exoneration and release. The InnocenceProject’s full-time staff attorneys and Cardozo clinic students provided directrepresentation or critical assistance in most of these cases. The Innocence Project’sgroundbreaking use of DNA technology to free innocent people has provided irrefutableproof that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events but instead arise fromsystemic defects. Now an independent nonprofit organization closely affiliated withCardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the Innocence Project’s mission is nothingless than to free the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated andto bring substantive reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.OUR STAFFOlga Akselrod: Staff Attorney, Angela Amel: Director of Social Work and Associate Director of Operations/LitigationDepartment, Anna Arons: Paralegal, Elena Aviles: Document Manager, Rebecca Brown: Senior Policy Advocate forState Affairs, Paul Cates: Director of Communications, Sarah Chu: Forensic Policy Advocate, Scott Clugstone: Directorof Finance and Administration, Craig Cooley: Staff Attorney, Ariana Costakes: Receptionist, Valencia Craig: CaseManagement Database Administrator, Hensleigh Crowell: Paralegal, Jamie Cunningham: Policy Associate, Huy Dao:Case Director, Madeline deLone: Executive Director, Ana Marie Diaz: Case Assistant, Akiva Freidlin: Associate Directorfor Institutional Giving, Nicholas Goodness: Case Analyst, Edwin Grimsley: Case Analyst, Caitlin Hanvey:Development Assistant, Nicole Leigh Harris: Policy Analyst, Barbara Hertel: Finance Associate, William D. Ingram:Case Assistant, Jeffrey Johnson: Office Manager, Matt Kelley: Online Communications Manager, Jason Kreag: StaffAttorney, Jason Lantz: Assistant Director, Information and Communications Technology, Audrey Levitin: Director ofDevelopment, David Loftis: Managing Attorney, Laura Ma: Assistant Director, Donor Services, Vanessa Meterko:Research Assistant, Alba Morales: Staff Attorney, Nina Morrison: Senior Staff Attorney, Cristina Najarro: Paralegal,Peter Neufeld: Co-Director, Karen Newirth: Eyewitness Identification Litigation Fellow, Jung-Hee Oh: AdministrativeAssociate, Legal Department, Corinne Padavano: Finance and Human Resources Associate, Charlie Piper: SpecialAssistant, Vanessa Potkin: Senior Staff Attorney, Kristin Pulkkinen: Assistant Director of Individual Giving,N. Anthony Richardson: Policy Assistant, Stephen Saloom: Policy Director, Alana Salzberg: CommunicationsAssociate, Barry Scheck: Co-Director, Chester Soria: Communications Assistant, Maggie Taylor: Senior Case Analyst,Elizabeth Vaca: Assistant to the Directors, Marc Vega: Case Assistant, Elizabeth Webster: Publications Manager,Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg: Case Analyst, Emily West: Research Director, Karen Wolff: Social Worker
Page 1 and 2: James Lee Woodard 9/30/09Jerry Lee
Page 3 and 4: FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR3LOOKING
Page 5 and 6: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY5Haynesw
Page 7 and 8: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY7Instead
Page 9 and 10: 9WHO WILL PROSECUTETHE PROSECUTORS?
Page 11 and 12: WHO WILL PROSECUTE THE PROSECUTORS?
Page 13 and 14: STRENGTH IN NUMBERS13the criminal j
Page 15 and 16: STRENGTH IN NUMBERS15I want to see
Page 17 and 18: IN THEIR OWN WORDS17certain educati
Page 19 and 20: EXONERATION NATION19Dupree and his
Page 21: IP NEWS21rights claim in federal co

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