NSB in the News

A jury on Wednesday awarded $150,000 in punitive damages to the family of a Ramapough Indian who was fatally shot by a state park ranger five years ago in Mahwah. With a 7-0 vote, the panel found that former Park Police Officer Chad Walder’s actions were “malicious or wanton” when he drew his gun and…

See the video of Seemona Sumasar with Nick Brustin appearing on the Today Show here. Read more about Seemona Sumasar’s case: A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns Dan Bilefsky, New York Times, July 25, 2011 Soon after Seemona Sumasar started dating Jerry Ramrattan, she had an inkling that something might be wrong. He…

Fernanda Santos, “$6.5 Million Settlement in Wrongful Conviction,” New York Times, April 13, 2011 Jeffrey Deskovic spent half of his life in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit, but it was only this week, four and a half years after his release, that he received some measure of justice: a $6.5 million…

Gary Craig, “Douglas Warney’s bid for restitution is restored,” Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, March 31, 2011. Rochester police likely coerced a false confession from Douglas Warney, a city man who spent more than nine years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, New York’s highest court ruled today. The New York Court of Appeals ruled…

NSB partner Nick Brustin has been selected as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School for the 2011-12 academic year. The Wasserstein Committee selected Mr. Brustin for his outstanding public service accomplishments and ongoing work at the firm.

Rocco LaDuca, Utica Observer-Dispatch, Jan. 7, 2011 Not much has changed yet for Steven Barnes after recently receiving a check for $3.5 million from the state as payback for all those years he was wrongfully blamed for killing 16-year-old Kimberly Simon in 1985. The humble Marcy man still goes to work everyday helping youths through Oneida…

Alfonso A. Castillo, Newsday, November 8, 2010 Nassau County Monday unveiled the team tasked with reviewing the case of Jesse Friedman, the convicted child molester who has maintained his innocence since shortly after pleading guilty 22 years ago. And among those on the list is one well-known advocate for the wrongly accused. Barry Scheck, founder of…

John Marzulli and Larry McShane, Daily News, June 3, 2010 The man framed for murder by “Mafia Cop” Louis Eppolito won a record $9.9 million settlement from the city on Thursday – and promptly wished his jailed tormentor continued good health. “I hope he has a long life in prison and suffers,” Barry Gibbs said after…

Martha Neil, ABA Journal, September 18, 2009 A high-school dropout with two children who went on to get her general educational development certificate, graduate from college and earn a juris doctor degree so that she could represent her brother in a wrongful conviction case has now won $10.7 million in damages from a federal judge in…