Federal judge ruled police officer may have fabricated confession that led to imprisonment of Partner Don Thompson’s client and Innocence Project Exoneree Freddie Peacock
Partner Don Thompson and Nick Brustin of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin comment on District Court Judge Michael Telesca’s decision finding that a “reasonable jury” could conclude that the officer who claimed Freddie Peacock raped a woman in 1976 “concocted (Peacock’s) confession out of whole cloth,” leading to his wrongful conviction. Read the Democrat and Chronicle article...
read morePartner Don Thompson comments on forensics expert Jerry Grant, whose testimony was used to try and secure new trial for Adnan Syed.
“In February, defense attorneys used the testimony of Rochester-based computer forensics expert Gerald “Jerry” Grant Jr. to try to secure a new trial for Adnan Syed, the man imprisoned for murder and the focus of the phenomenally popular podcast Serial. * * * * ‘He’s completely self-taught and he has a work ethic like nobody else,’ said local defense lawyer Donald Thompson, whose firm, Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP, often uses Grant. ‘He is like one of...
read moreMurder indictment dismissed
“A state Supreme Court justice has dismissed the murder charges against two men accused of a May 2015 homicide, deciding that the evidence presented to the grand jury was not strong enough to justify the indictments. Acknowledging that a ‘dismissal of an indictment is an exceptional remedy,’ state Supreme Court Justice Judith Sinclair decided in an April 7 ruling that the charges against Rochester residents Demetrius Bordeaux and Sean Osuna should be dismissed. * * *...
read morePartner and former Capital Defender Bill Easton scheduled to discuss capital punishment on Connections
Bill Easton will address capital punishment on Connections with Evan Dawson on WXXI-AM 1370 or WRUR-FM 88.5 in Rochester and WEOS 89.5 FM in Geneva, on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 12:00-2:00 p.m. UPDATE: Listen to the radio segment...
read moreFourth Department reversal of partner Bill Easton’s trial case
“A state appeals court has ordered a new trial for a woman charged with manslaughter and assault due to faulty jury instructions by the presiding judge. The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, ruled unanimously that Monroe County Supreme Court Justice Francis Affronti erred when he refused a defense request to charge the jury at Nancy James’ 2012 trial on the justification defense of the use of deadly physical force.” Read the entire article published...
read moreDon Thompson comments on the Monroe County District Attorney’s proposed conviction integrity unit
“Local attorney Donald Thompson, who has been involved in the reversal of several murder convictions in Monroe County, said New York is lagging behind other states by not mandating the videotaping of interrogations — which police sometimes do in Monroe County — and adjusting witness identification procedures to acknowledge the weaknesses of past processes. ‘Sometimes it’s not good to be one of the 13 colonies,’ he said. ‘We do things because we always have done...
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