I blogged about this case before when the judge granted the monkeys a hearing. But I find it fascinating and wanted to post an update. In a case watched closely by animal rights activists, a State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan recently denied a petition by a not-for-profit animal rights…
Meet my future client. This week a New York judge granted two chimpanzees a hearing to challenge their confinement at Stony Brook University. Well, actually the judge granted the hearing to the chimps’ lawyers, who are said to be a bit more articulate than their clients. The action was brought…
If you’ve been wrongfully convicted of a crime, and you want to be compensated for it, you need to explore several legal avenues of redress. If there was some government wrongdoing – on behalf of the police, prosecutor, or judge — you may be able to bring a case based…
Wrongful convictions in New York are probably a lot more common than we think. But proving a wrongfully conviction is indeed rare. It’s not easy peeling away at a skillful prosecutor’s evidence, especially from behind bars. But some convicts have done it. And when they do, we should all rejoice…
These days, thanks to the “Innocent Project” and advances in DNA testing, more and more victims of wrongful conviction are able to prove their innocence, even after many years behind bars. This gets them out of jail, and under certain conditions, arms them with a claim against the State of…
A small, inconspicuous article caught my eye in the Geneva Finger Lakes times today. It was titled, “Teen Inmate Found Hanging in Jail Cell” and described how a 17-year old at the Yates County Jail in Penn Yan had apparently hung himself Friday evening by tying his bed sheet to…
Eighteen years is a long time, especially if you spend them in jail for a crime you did not commit. Just ask Frank Sterling of Rochester, New York. Local news sources report that DNA evidence recently cleared Mr. Sterling of murder. He had spent 18 long, hard, bitter years in…