Settlement Comes After Attorneys Uncovered Damning Evidence of a Frame-up That Put an Innocent Man Behind Bars for 33 Years (BALDWIN PARK, CA) The City of Baldwin Park has agreed to pay $19.1 million to settle a wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by exoneree Daniel Saldaña, the national civil rights firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann &…
Read articleNamed defendants in federal lawsuits include the estate of notoriously corrupt Police Captain Roger Golubski, as well as police responsible for fabricating a false eyewitness identification and hiding evidence (KANSAS CITY, KANSAS) The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF), and the local firm Morgan Pilate LLP and national firm Bryan…
Read articleInglewood Police Department knowingly put an innocent man behind bars for more than 38 years while the real killer went free [Inglewood, CA] — With a trial date approaching this month, the City of Inglewood agreed to pay a record $25 million to settle a wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by exoneree Maurice Hastings, the national…
Read articleThe national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF), together with co-counsel Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP (KLLF), Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin LLP, and Levy Firestone Muse LLP, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the Estate of David Blakeney and his mother Ginetta…
Read article(KANSAS CITY, MO) The Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners on April 29th, 2025 approved a $14 million settlement in the wrongful conviction case of Ricky Kidd, who spent over 23 years wrongfully incarcerated for a 1996 double homicide he did not commit. Mr. Kidd was exonerated in 2019. In 2021, the law firms…
Read articleNSBHF joined amicus briefs supporting Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, and now Susman & Godfrey, as those firms challenge the White House’s unlawful Executive Orders targeting them and flouting the basic principles that underlie our profession. You can read each brief together with the appendix noting the firms that signed on below. Jenner & Block …
Read articleRoberts Spent Nearly 18 Years in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit, Due to Corruption, Misconduct and Cover-Ups by Fairbanks Officials (Fairbanks, AK) — Marvin Roberts, who is Alaska Native, spent nearly 18 years wrongly incarcerated for a crime he did not commit: the brutal 1997 murder of John Hartman, a white 15-year-old in Fairbanks, Alaska.…
Read articleSuit seeks justice for wrongful conviction which led to legislative change (MINNEAPOLIS, MN) The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) today filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit on behalf of Marvin Haynes, who was arrested at 16 and served almost two decades in prison for a murder he did…
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As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Public Health and Political Science, a legal career wasn’t on the horizon for Baltimore native Samiha Abd-Elazem. But her interest developed when she began tutoring incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through a college program. “I wanted to look at the harm caused by the legal system…
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NSBHF paralegal Lucia Geng developed a taste for trivia after joining her high school’s Quiz Bowl team, so much that she earned herself a place on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in 2016. While she didn’t achieve champion status, she held her own up to the semi-final, won $10,000, and got to meet the legendary Jeopardy! host Alex…
Read article“His Innocence Was Apparent From the Beginning,” Lawsuit Charges (NEW YORK, NY) — The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) today filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit on behalf of Leonard Mack, whose 1976 conviction for rape is the longest to be overturned by DNA evidence. Mack, a Black Vietnam War veteran,…
Read articleCalls for mental health intervention led to a SWAT-team response with “tragic but predictable consequences,” lawsuit charges (JERSEY CITY, NJ) — The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) and New Jersey attorney Randy Davenport today filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Andrew “Drew” Washington, a Black…
Read articleThe 2024 honorees of “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40,” Bloomberg Law’s prestigious annual award recognizing the accomplishments of stellar young lawyers nationwide, this year includes NSBHF partner Amelia Green. The 40 awardees, according to executive editor Lisa Helem, “inspire their law firms, companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies to elevate, innovate and serve — not…
Read articleCity Faced its First-Ever Wrongful Conviction Trial After Judge Rejected Attempt to Dismiss Rubalcava’s Claims Against Police (SAN JOSE, CA) The City of San Jose today is expected to approve a $12 million settlement in the wrongful conviction case of Lionel Rubalcava, a 46-year-old resident who was incarcerated 17 years for a drive-by shooting he…
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Two men who were wrongfully convicted of murder as teens in 1997 and exonerated after 23 years behind bars will share a $24 million settlement from Los Angeles County, The Los Angeles Times reported. “The lies behind John Klene and Ed Dumbrique’s decades-long wrongful imprisonment were exposed before their criminal trial began when a witness described how…
Read articleA wrongful conviction lawsuit from a man incarcerated 17 years for a San Jose drive-by shooting — based on flimsy witness identifications that were later recanted — has been allowed to proceed toward trial by a federal judge, according to the San Jose Mercury News. As reporter Robert Salonga recounts, “federal Judge Beth Labson Freeman allowed claims against…
Read articlePolice coerced a false confession and fabricated evidence, and then buried DNA evidence of innocence, leaving Calhoun wrongfully imprisoned for over 15 years. (DETROIT, MI) The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) and Detroit based law firm Goodman Hurwitz & James, P.C. (GHJ) filed a federal lawsuit…
Read articleLawsuit seeks accountability for overwhelming evidence of police misconduct after St. Louis Circuit Court declared Johnson “factually innocent” (ST. LOUIS, MO) Today, the Kansas City law firm Morgan Pilate, LLC (Morgan Pilate) and the national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit on behalf of…
Read articleClear Signs Pointing to the Real Perpetrator Were Ignored by Police, Lawsuit Charges (LOS ANGELES, CA) National civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) today filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit on behalf of Maurice Hastings, who served 38 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Earlier this…
Read articleSettlement Is One of the Largest Per-Year of Wrongful Incarceration in Los Angeles History (LOS ANGELES, CA) National civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP, with co-counsel Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Angela Berry and criminal defense and civil rights attorney Ian Wallach, today announced that Los Angeles has agreed to…
Read articleNational Civil Rights Law Firm Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP Announces Three Partners and a New Firm Name Leading Civil Rights Trial Attorneys $43 million+ award against Nassau County for police misconduct that framed two innocent men, John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, who spent nearly 18 years in prison for a rape and murder DNA…
Read articleIn an article titled “Where It’s Been, Where It’s Heading,” Super Lawyers profiles six Rising Stars who “will carry the legal mantle into the middle of the 21st century.” Among them, singled out for her civil rights litigation expertise, is NSBHF partner Amelia Green. “It was my first job out of law school,” Green told Super Lawyers. “The…
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As an associate at a Big Law firm in 2019, Tony Joe was thrilled to join a pro bono case team working on the exoneration of a client wrongfully convicted for murder. It was akin to the criminal justice work he’d done as a law student – interning at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Capital Defense…
Read article(LOUISVILLE, KY) The law firms of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP and Loevy & Loevy today announced that Louisville has agreed to pay $20.5 million to their clients Keith Hardin and Jeffrey Clark, who each spent 22 years of their lives behind bars for a heinous murder they did not commit. The settlement stems from egregious…
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