Lawsuit 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 Lamar Johnson, who served 28 years of a life sentence for a murder he did not commit. “This lawsuit is about accountability,” said Emma Freudenberger, a partner with NSBHF. “The defendant officers framed a young man with his life ahead of him. Even after the Court declared his innocence, there have been no apologies and no consequences. The City of St. Louis cannot continue to simply ignore the glaring police misconduct that has caused Mr. Johnson and his family so much harm.” Johnson, a St. Louis native, was a young father who was working and

Clear 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 year, a court ruled Mr. Hastings, 70, “factually innocent” after DNA evidence pointed to the real perpetrator. Emma Freudenberger, a partner with NSBHF, called Mr. Hastings’ case “a stunning example of the some of the worst consequences that can result from intentional police misconduct.” She added: “We look forward to exposing the breadth and scope of the wrongdoing that caused Maurice’s wrongful conviction and failed to protect the real perpetrator’s other victims.” The lawsuit seeks damages for Mr. Hastings’ 38 years of wrongful incarceration for the 1983 carjacking, rape, and murder of Roberta Wydermyer and

Settlement 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 pay $8 million to their client Ruben Martinez and his wife Maria, in compensation for the 12 years Mr. Martinez spent behind bars for a series of robberies he did not commit.  The extraordinary settlement—one of the largest per-year wrongful incarceration settlements ever paid by Los Angeles—recognizes not only the anguish Mr. Martinez and his family experienced throughout his wrongful imprisonment, but also the egregious police misconduct and missteps that came to light through discovery arising from the civil lawsuit. “Ruben Martinez was exonerated due to the heroic efforts of his wife Maria and his

National 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 later proved they did not commit. (Note: An extended list of wins and settlements is available here.) The transition announced today marks the third name change for the firm. The firm was officially founded in February 2000. Johnnie Cochran (who died in 2005), Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck were founding partners. In 2009, the firm moved from Cochran Neufeld & Scheck (CNS) to Neufeld Scheck & Brustin (NSB). Hoffmann joined the firm as a junior attorney in 2006 and Freudenberger as a Cochran Fellow in 2008; they became partners in 2013 and equity partners in

In 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 cases I do are some of the most serious police misconduct cases. Many of my clients have been wrongfully convicted and framed by the police—evidence fabricated against them, forced to falsely confess. Representing that client base in high-stakes litigation with really big systemic issues—the combination was a great fit.” Read the full article here.

(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 misconduct committed by officers from the Louisville Police Department, including disgraced former Louisville Metro Police detective Mark Handy. Still pending is the law firms’ civil case against two additional sets of defendants: the Meade County Sheriff’s office and the Kentucky State Police, whose officials’ misconduct contributed significantly to the wrongful convictions of Hardin and Clark in 1995. Today’s settlement comes after the two national legal teams, working with Louisville attorney Larry D. Simon, brought a civil lawsuit in 2018 presenting overwhelming evidence of police misconduct and conspiracy to hide evidence in the 1992 murder investigation

NSB has won a $5.5 million settlement on behalf of John Floyd, who was wrongfully sentenced to life in Angola prison for the 1980 stabbing death of William Hines. A federal judge overturned his conviction in 2017, after finding “that Floyd has met the demanding standard of actual innocence.” The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in 2018, agreeing that Mr. Floyd was denied a fair trial and there was extensive evidence of his innocence. According to the Times-Picayune, the settlement is several times larger than those in other suits for wrongful convictions in Orleans Parish in recent years. As detailed in NSB’s complaint, filed in 2019, Mr. Floyd was wrongfully convicted after New Orleans police fabricated nearly identical false confessions to two separate murders and then took advantage of Mr. Floyd’s intellectual deficits to coerce him into signing them. Not only did no physical or forensic