Firm Fights to Clear Name of Wrongly Convicted
Brown & Nieto this week filed a federal habeas petition on behalf of Christopher Jones, who was falsely convicted in 2015 by allegedly corrupt Baltimore City Police officer Daniel Hersl. Jones has maintained his innocence since he was first arrested in Baltimore City and charged with drugs and a gun. According to Jones, Officer Hersl…
Syed Files Appellate Brief
Adnan Syed today filed his “Brief of Appellee/Cross-Appellant” with the Court of Special Appeals. To recap, on June 30, 2016, the Baltimore City Circuit Court vacated Syed’s conviction and granted him a new trial. The Baltimore City Circuit Court found that Syed’s trial counsel had been constitutionally ineffective, in violation of the Sixth Amendment, at Syed’s original…
Message to Non-Citizens with Prior Convictions
The election of Donald Trump will have sweeping consequences for everyone, but perhaps no group should be more concerned than non-citizens who have criminal records. Trump has already stated that he will target this group, and, as president, he now has the means to follow through on his promise. Many of these non-citizens are legal…
Syed files Conditional Cross Appeal
Syed today filed his conditional application for leave to cross appeal. Essentially, we are asking the Court of Special Appeals that, if it hears the State’s appeal of Judge Welch’s Order, we also want to appeal. The state wants to appeal the cell tower issue, upon which the new trial was granted, and we would want to…
Firm Wins Important Coram Nobis
Brown & Nieto won an important coram nobis proceeding this month that could take a decade off a client’s sentence in federal court. Leonard Shelley was facing a mandatory 15-year federal sentence as an “Armed Career Criminal.” This was in large part based on his prior convictions in state court – essentially a three-strikes sentencing…
Fourth Circuit Disappoints… Yet Again
Remember when it looked like the Fourth Circuit was on the brink of a significant change? When, after Obama got his nominees on the court, it would go from being super conservative to progressive? Well, that day has not yet come. The court today issued a major opinion that is heartbreaking for a class of…
Whiteside: New Relief for Career Offenders
A recent Fourth Circuit opinion gives some needed relief for a limited class of federal inmates. Whiteside v. United States opens the door for convicted defendants to bring post-conviction claims, under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, based on their erroneous classification as career offenders. This is likely to have the most impact on individuals who were…
Firm Wins Coram Nobis for Immigration
The Firm won another coram nobis petition this week — this time for a Cuban immigrant who was facing collateral consequences from an old second-degree assault conviction in Baltimore City. This is the second consecutive coram nobis petition we have won in Baltimore City.
In this case, we argued that the old conviction should be thrown out because it was obtained in violation of our client’s Sixth Amendment right to be represented by a lawyer in a criminal trial. In fact, the Petitioner was forced to represent himself at a district court trial — even though he did not speak English and he was not familiar with our legal system. As a result of this conviction, he was subject to a removal order and he was unable to leave the U.S. to visit his family — for fear that if he left he would not be able to return.
How did we win it? …
