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Amicus Brief Bank

The Amicus Brief Bank is an online archive of all Amicus Briefs filed by the Innocence Network in cases around the country.
What is an Amicus Brief?

An amicus brief is a written legal argument filed by someone not directly involved in a case on appeal to help educate the court about particular issues. The Network decides when to file amicus briefs based upon many factors including which jurisdiction the case is in, what the particular issues being advocated are, and what kind of an impact the brief might have.

Submit an Amicus Brief Request

See our amicus brief request page to submit a request to the Innocence Network’s Amicus Committee

View the Amicus Brief Bank
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Amicus brief
Unreliable Forensic Science
Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues
Areli Escobar v. State of Texas (2024)
Position: DNA can have an outsized influence on jurors and false DNA evidence presented was enormously prejudicial. Shoeprint and latent fingerprint evidence is also unreliable.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Goodwin Procter LLP

Courts:  

Supreme Court of the United States

Case #: No. 23-934
Amicus brief
Eyewitness Identification
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Cheri Hayden v. Frederick Boutte
Position: Eyewitness identification testimony is far more susceptible to errors than juries realize, and reasonable attorneys must investigate the circumstances of identifications and challenge them, especially where such an identification is the only evidence of guilt.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, LLC

Courts:  

Supreme Court of Louisiana

Case #: No. 2023-KP-864
Amicus brief
Unreliable Forensic Science
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Erika Mabes v. Shannon Thompson (2024)
Position: The court should be wary of granting the field of child abuse pediatrics the deference the AAP requests
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Papetti Samuels Weiss McKirgan LLP

Courts:  

U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Case #: Nos. 24-1048 and 24-1082
Amicus brief
Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Derek Murchison (2024)
Position: Proving innocence should not be a requirement for new trial in postconviction DNA testing cases.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Wiseman & Schwartz, LLP

Courts:  

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District

Case #: 13 EAP 2024
Amicus brief
Informant Testimony
Police or Prosecutorial Misconduct
James Skinner v. Darrell Vannoy (2024)
Position: Risk of wrongful conviction is heightened when the State relies solely on incentivized witnesses to build its case—calling into question the fairness and accuracy of the verdict, particularly in light of new Brady evidence relating directly to the benefits received by the incentivized witnesses.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

NEUNERPATE

Courts:  

Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana

Case #: No. 2024-KP-0142
Amicus brief
Police or Prosecutorial Misconduct
False Confessions
State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures
People of the State of Illinois v. Jose Vidaurri (2023)
Position: Court should set a fair and reasonable bar for similarity of conduct for litigants seeking to make newly discovered evidence claims based on a pattern of police misconduct under Illinois law.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Exoneration Project

Courts:  

Supreme Court of Illinois

Case #: 129551
Amicus brief
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures
John Taylor v. Superintendent Dallas SCI (2023)
Position: Trial counsel's actual conflict of interest (where he represented the defendant and the state's star witness) fundamentally undermines representation so thoroughly that a habeas petitioner need not also establish prejudice under Strickland.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Pennsylvania Innocence Project

Courts:  

U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Case #: 23-2511
Amicus brief
Eyewitness Identification
People of the State of California v. Steven Dewayne Cheatham (2023)
Position: Eyewitness certainty does not correlate to accuracy and the jury likely was confused by a misleading certainty instruction and the court should provide a legal framework that allows relief in cases of likely wrongful conviction.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Courts:  

Supreme Court of California

Case #: Capital Case #: S172432; LA County Superior Court #: TA77801
Amicus brief
Unreliable Forensic Science
Jason Smith v. State of Arizona (2023)
Position: Because forensic science has an outsized impact on jurors, cross-examination must include the analyst who actually performed the forensic testing, not a surrogate.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Tonkin Torp LLP

Courts:  

Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One

Case #: 22-899
Amicus brief
State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures
Danny Jacobs v. Ryan Thornell (2023)
Position: The Ninth Circuit should overrule its prior precedent and hold that amendments made to federal habeas corpus petitions that have been adjudicated in the district court, but remain pending on appeal, do not constitute a second/successive petition.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Federal Defenders of Montana

Courts:  

U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Case #: No. 22-16822
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