NSB has won a $7.5 million settlement on behalf of Davontae Sanford, who entered prison as a teenager and spent eight years there before he was freed. As reported by The Detroit News, Davontae Sanford was just 15 when he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal shootings of four people at a drug house on Runyon, two blocks from his home on Detroit’s east side in 2007. Two weeks after the teen went to prison, professional hit man Vincent Smothers confessed to 12 killings, including the September 17, 2007 homicides on Runyon – but police suppressed the information and fought attempts by innocence advocates to exonerate Mr. Sanford. Mr. Sanford was released on June 8, 2016 and on July 19, 2016, the charges were dismissed. In September 2017, NSB lawyers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Sanford’s behalf, seeking damages from the police officers involved and the city of

On April 5th, 2021, NSB attorney Katie McCarthy joined members of Free the People Roc, the National Lawyers Guild Rochester, and ten individual plaintiffs on the steps of city hall in Rochester NY after filing a “landmark civil rights lawsuit” to address a decade-long pattern of racist violence by the Rochester Police Department.  The 96-page complaint outlines a systemic use of excessive force on the residents of Rochester, notably during protests in September 2020 that resulted from the release of the footage of the treatment of Daniel Prude at the hands of officers in March 2020, ultimately leading to his death. The plaintiffs are represented by NSB partners Nick Brustin and Emma Freudenberger, associate Katie McCarthy and fellow Julian Clark, with case support by paralegal Kayla Jessup, along with co-counsel Roth & Roth, LLP; BakerHostetler; Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP; and Joshua S. Moskovitz, Esq. Read the complaint here.  Read

NSB has won a $9.8 million pre-filing settlement against the City of Philadelphia for client Chester Hollman. Mr. Hollman spent 28 years wrongfully imprisoned for a 1991 murder he did not commit before he was exonerated in 2019. Mr. Hollman’s wrongful conviction was the result of police misconduct: Philadelphia homicide detectives not only coerced two witnesses to sign fabricated statements falsely implicating Mr. Hollman, but also hid powerful evidence that other people with no connection to Mr. Hollman had committed the crime. The $9.8 million payout is one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements in Philadelphia history. Mr. Hollman is represented by NSB partners Amelia Green, Emma Freudenberger, and Peter Neufeld, and fellow Yasmin Dagne.  NSB Paralegal Ty Parks provided case support to Mr. Hollman’s matter Read the Philadelphia Inquirer’s coverage here.

Valentino Dixon received accolades this past holiday season for his incredible artwork.  Former First Lady Michelle Obama purchased one of Valentino’s works, “Augusta The Beautiful”, as a gift for former President Barack Obama, who was so moved by the piece and the story behind the artist that he posted about it on his Instagram account. Read more about this incredible honor and Valentino’s story here.

On August 17, 2018, in a precedent-setting decision, the Ninth Circuit reinstated NSB client Susan Mellen’s wrongful conviction lawsuit. Ms. Mellen, a single mother of three, spent more than 17 years incarcerated for a brutal murder she didn’t commit. She was convicted by the perjured testimony of June Patti, an infamous liar with a long history of making false accusations to police. In her lawsuit, Ms. Mellen alleged that LAPD detective Marcella Winn, whose role in causing two other wrongful convictions has cost Los Angeles more than $13 million in settlements, buried a damning statement from Patti’s sister, a police officer, eviscerating Patti’s credibility. The Ninth Circuit ruled that Detective Winn should have produced the statement, that “other evidence suggests that Detective Winn would have taken any means necessary to secure Mellen’s conviction,” and remanded for trial. Ms. Mellen is represented by NSB partners Nick Brustin and Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann

NSB client Valentino Dixon’s drawings were on display on March 13 at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York City. Check out Golf Digest’s coverage of the show here.

NSB client Mark Denny will run the NYC Half Marathon on Sunday, March 17. Check out the full coverage of Mr. Denny’s accomplishment from Pix 11 News here.