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…

Life Sentence Defeated in Federal Court

The Firm is happy to announce that today we defeated a life sentence in federal court. Eleven years ago, while represented by different counsel, D.E. was sentenced to life imprisonment for a non-violent drug offense. Because he had at least two prior drug convictions, he received a mandatory life sentence, without the possibility of parole….

Reform on Hold?

In the past two years we have heard that Congress is on the brink of passing legislation that would reform our criminal justice system — by shifting away from the practice of warehousing drug offenders in prison, and moving in the direction of rehabilitation. This was one thing, it was reported, upon which Republicans and…

Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Armed Career Criminal Act

Lost in the excitement over the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decisions last week was a significant, albeit technical, case dealing with federal sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The ruling should help a significant number of federal defendants who are serving harsh mandatory sentences. These people may be entitled to substantial sentence reductions. In…

Fourth Circuit Disappoints in Whiteside

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals this month issued a disappointing en banc opinion in U.S. v. Whiteside. At issue was whether Whiteside could obtain relief from a sentence in which he had been wrongly classified as a career offender. The panel held that he could not get relief because his petition was filed too late. The…

Drug Reduction to be Retroactive

In an extraordinary decision with sweeping consequences to federal drug sentencing, the United States Sentencing Commission has voted unanimously to make the two-point drug reduction for federal prisoners fully retroactive. According to the Commission, the amendment will have an instruction that prohibits any person from getting released until Nov 1, 2015. It is estimated that…