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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
New Evidence of Innocence
Other Issues
Ali Tuckett v. New York (2024)
Position: The Court should reject the notion that recantations are inherently unreliable and adopt a multifaceted test for evaluating the reliability of the recanted testimony.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Covington & Burlington LLP

Courts:  

Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Case #: 129488
Amicus brief
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Katie Garding v. Montana Department of Corrections
Position: Because jurors are heavily influenced by expert testimony, defense counsel must meaningfully assess the need for expert services.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Courts:  

US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Case #: 23-35272
Amicus brief
Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues
New Evidence of Innocence
State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures
State of Washington v. Cory Kloepper (2024)
Position: Post-conviction DNA test results in this case provide strong evidence of innocence, and in such situations, a new trial must be granted where a jury can consider the new exculpatory DNA evidence.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences

Courts:  

Supreme Court of the State of Washington

Case #: 1031840
Amicus brief
Unreliable Forensic Science
Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues
Lawrence K. Johnson v. State of Florida (2024)
Position: Unreliable DNA evidence can mislead a jury and result in wrongful conviction; the court should at a minimum hold an evidentiary hearing allowing the defendant to explore the flaws in the DNA evidence presented against him.
Decision: Pending
Counsel:  

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

Courts:  

District Court of Appeal of Florida Fourth District

Case #: 4D2024-1818
Amicus brief
Eyewitness Identification
Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues
People of the State of New York v. Tyrone Hicks (2013)
Position: The DNA evidence here is highly probative of innocence, and the evidence offered at trial was weak.
Decision: Decided: February 27, 2014. Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Darcel D. Clark, J.), entered October 26, 2012, which granted defendant's motion to vacate a judgment of conviction and directed a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence, unanimously affirmed.
Counsel:  

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Courts:  

Supreme Court of the State of New York

Case #: No. 2592/98
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
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