Th i s I s sue:

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

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Meet NDS’s Family Defense Team

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Join the Conversation with NDS

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A Message from the Director: Does Justice Exist?

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The Defender A Newsletter of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem

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NDS has launched a brand new website!

Come visit at www.ndsny.org

Presumed Guilty Until Proven Innocent submitted a Brady letter identifying a second witness who identified the assailant as having

light skin and blond hair – the op-posite of Harold. Based on this new discovery, Libby asked that Harold be released. The DA still refused to reevaluate it’s position on the case. Not taking no for an answer, Libby wrote a bail appeal to the judge, proceeded with an oral argument and the judge agreed to release Harold after 8 months of detention. This case, however, was far from

done. Over the next two years, Libby built her case for Harold and with the help of NDS Staff Attorney Felice Conte, won a critical Frye hearing which allowed the expert to testify.

Before the trial began the DA offered Harold a youthful offender adjudication, which Libby re-quested two years prior. Harold refused the plea bargain saying, “I am not going to say I did this, if I didn’t.”

In court, the woman testified and identified Harold as the robber. In an incredible turn of events, the night after she testified, she sent an email to the DA noting that she was no longer sure that Harold robbed her, but thought it could be his brother whom she had found a picture of on Facebook. When she testified a second time, the DA asked, “How do you feel about your ID?” She replied, “I have my doubts.”

Despite all of this, the DA still refused to dis-miss the case. Incensed, Libby wrote a letter to the judge outling the ethical violations and pros-ecutorial misconduct and finally the case was dismissed. After three years of struggle, 8 months in jail and an ineffable amount of worry, as of July 2014, Harold was truly free. Due to the hard work of Libby Fischer, Felice Conte and his NDS social worker Johanna Neufeld – Harold was able to walk away from this nightmare with a clear name and his integrity intact.

A robbery, a black teenager and a curious case of mistaken identity. This was the combination that sparked a three year legal battle by NDS on behalf of sixteen year old Harold James (name has been changed). On August 5th a woman was robbed of her cell phone at the Polo Grounds Towers in Harlem, where Harold James lived. In her first conversation with the police, she noted that she had never seen the assailant before, though she described him as a “black teenage male” and gave a clothing descrip-tion. There was no video of the robbery, no wit-nesses and she was unable to identify anyone in photos provided to her.

Eleven days later, the woman was visiting the Polo Grounds Towers again. She encountered Har-old in the elevator in the building where he lived. She proceeded to the apartment she was visiting and called 911. She noted to the police that due to “tension in the elevator” and “the way he looked at me” Harold must have been the one who robbed her. The police came and immediately arrested Har-old. In order to identify him for the police, the woman looked down from an 8th floor window of the building and made an affirmative gesture.

NDS attorney Elizabeth “Libby” Fischer was as-signed Harold’s case. He was held on a $10,000 bail. From the beginning, Harold insisted that he was innocent. The prosecutors assumed Harold’s guilt and decided to move forward with the case. Libby began building a defense case for Harold, all while advocating for a bail reduction, which the judge continually refused.

In addition to a complicated alibi provided by Har-old’s girlfriend, Libby knew she needed an expert in order to prove that this was a case of mistaken identity. She enlisted the help of a misidentification expert psychologist from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In the midst of litigating the issue of the admissibility of the defense expert, the DA

W i n t e r 2 0 1 4

NDS Staff Attorney Libby Fischer

P a g e 2

“Listening

is critical to

providing

[clients]

with the

help that

they need.”

-Michelle

Burrell

NDS Family Defense Team

Meet the NDS Family Defense Team OnthemorningofJuly1st,2014,NDS’freshlyformedFamilyDefenseTeamsteppedintothefamilycourthouseat60LafayetteStreet.Ithadbeenover20yearssinceNDShadasigni icantpresenceintheNewYorkFamilycourthouseandthere-turnfeltnothinglessthantriumphant.Forsomeoftheteammembers,thiswasventur-ingintonewterritory,forothers,itwasalltoofamiliar.Onethingwastrueforallandthatwasafeelingofexcitement.Theywereready!

Forthelastfewmonthsthisincredibleteamhasbeenusingthatexcitementandreadi-nessto iercelyadvocateforupperManhat-tan’smostvulnerablefamilies.Andthey’vebeenwinning!

Meet the Team :

Fromleft:DanielDietz,StaffAttorneyJeffreyOakley,StaffAttorneyTeghanDeLane,StaffAttorneyKarinaPantoja,ParentAdvocateMichelleBurrell,SeniorTrialAttorneyAshleighGeorgia,StaffAttorneyAyishaBruce,SocialWorkerWandaChambers,SocialWorkerStacyCharland,SupervisingAttorneyColleenManwell,StaffAttorneyHelenMontalvan,ParentAdvocate(notpic-tured)

TEAMMEMBERSPOTLIGHT

ThiseditionwewantedtospotlightoneofourFamilyDefenseTeamAttorneysandlearnabitaboutwhattheydo,thelessons

they’vebeenlearningandwhatmusicmakesthemhappy!

MichelleBurrell,SeniorTrialAttorney

WhatdoyoudoatNDS?ProblemSolver/Advocate/Strategizer

WhatmakesworkingatNDSunique?

NDS'uniquenessstemsfromit'scommunitybase.I'vehadclientsveryresistanttomeet-ingandtalkingabouttheircasecompletelylightupwhentheyrealizethatthemeetingisonlystepsfromwheretheyliveandina

familiarpartoftownforthem.

Whatisthemostimportantlessonyou’velearnedatNDSsofar?

I'velearnedthatourclientsaretheexpertsontheirlives.Althoughtimemaybelimited,listeningtowhatpeoplehavetosayaboutwhattheyneediscriticaltoprovidingthem

withthehelpthattheyneed.

Whenyouarenotattheof iceorincourt,whatdoyouenjoydoingwithyourfreetime?Ilovecooking,reading,singing,spendingtimewithmyfriendsandfamilyand

exploringthisgreatcity!

Top3songsonthesoundtrackofyourlife:1.RedemptionSongbyBobMarley,

2.There'sHopebyIndiaArie3.BlessedbyJillScott

T h e D e f e n d e r

P a g e 3 I s s u e 3

I would like to attend:

Please reach out to LWinston@ndsny.org and you will be sent

an RSVP form to reserve your space at the event and purchase tickets OR

get your tickets online HERE.

Cannot attend, but want to support:

Make checks payable to “Neighborhood Defender Service”. Neighborhood Defender Service

317 Lenox Avenue, 10th Fl. New York, NY 10027

*Please note “Benefit 2014” on your check.

Join the Conversation with NDS

Your Support Continues to Help NDS Grow! Your support allows NDS to make good on its commitment to providing the highest quality legal ser-vices to those who need them most. Your donations will help change the lives of Harlem residents.

NDS is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

This year we are featuring Bill Keller & Wynton Marsalis. Please join us for a lovely evening of music and a great discussion!

The following are the paraphrased remarks of Rick Jones, at the Champion of Justice Award ceremony at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA on August 1, 2014.

When Jerry Cox told me that he wanted to give me this award, The Champion of Justice, I literally had to stop and ask myself “justice- is that still a thing?” And if it is still a thing, I’m certainly not the champion of it. But I work at an incredible place, The Neighborhood Defender Service Of Harlem. Some of you know it.

When I do see justice, it’s in the work of my colleagues at NDS who are, in my estimation, true heroes who save lives every day. In fact, the motto of our office is “Making Justice A Reality For Those Farthest From Its Reach.” When I do see jus-

tice, it’s in the work of Norm and Angelyn, Kyle, Quintin, Ivan and all the folks at NACDL. NACDL has changed the criminal justice landscape in this country. From reforms in discovery, forensics, eyewitness identification and drug laws, to the Clemency Project, indigent defense, combatting overcriminalization, collateral consequences and ra-cial disparity, NACDL has changed the debate.

Make no mistake, the work that you are doing on the board, on committees, as members and as practitioners matters. Your work and the work of NACDL is changing the national mindset on crime and punishment in this country. There is a momentum shift underway. The Attorney General came and spoke to you this morning. The pendulum is beginning to swing - ever so slowly - from mass arrest, prosecution and endless punishment, to for-giveness, redemption and restoration. Keep up the fight - the tide is turning.

Mostly, when I see justice, when I see righteousness - it’s in the faces of the people we represent every day. 68 million people living with a conviction in this country - more than the entire population of France. 14 million new arrests every year. 2.2 million people will sleep in a prison cell tonight - more than anywhere else on earth. Most of them black or brown. Overwhelmingly poor. They face injustice everyday. They face oppression everyday. They can legitimately ask “Does justice exist?”

The thing that keeps me going—and I’ve been all over this country listening to people—is that they never give up hope. Their spirit never dies. They never quit fighting. And neither can we. Its for their struggle that we do what we do. Its for their struggle that NACDL exists. And its for their struggle that I accept this award.

Thank You.

(To watch the video of the speech at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK2-LxwD9-g OR click HERE. )

317 Lenox Ave. 10th floor New York, NY 10027

Phone: 212-876-5500 Fax: 212-876-5586

E-mail: info@ndsny.org

Board of Trustees

Rowan Wilson, Chair Jonathan Abady B. Seth Bryant LaShann DeArcy Miriam Gohara Pamela Lipp-Hendricks Matthew L. Mazur Melody Rollins Downes David Sanford Gerald L. Shargel

Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem Making Justice A Reality For Those Farthest From Its Reach

A Message from the Executive Director