In the news

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    Brooklyn Prosecutor Returns to Private Practice to Co-Found Wrongful Conviction Boutique

    The Law Journal covers the launch of NEWIRTH LINEHAN and highlights what sets the firm apart.

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    Brooklyn Conviction Review Unit discussed at KCCBA seminar

    Charlie and CRU colleague, Celia Gordon, provide insight into Brooklyn CRU processes and discuss successes and challenges in the unit’s efforts to correct past wrongs.

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    Father of Raiders star Malcolm Koonce has 1983 conviction tossed after DA says it was tainted

    Karen wins exoneration for Jeffrey Koonce in 40-year-old wrongful conviction.

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    Brooklyn Judge Targeted in Advocates' Campaign to Remove 'Unfit' Jurists

    Judge singled out in multiple CRU exonerations during Charlie’s tenure is targeted for removal by activists, including Karen.

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    Putnam reaches $20M wrongful conviction deal with Krivak in Josette Wright's 1994 murder

    Karen and co-counsel, Oscar Michelin, win historic settlement after re-trial and acquittal in Andrew Krivak rape and murder case.

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    For Years, He Demanded to See the Video. Finally, It Set Him Free.

    Under Charlie’s leadership, Brooklyn CRU secures the exoneration of a man who spent 16 years in prison despite video evidence in the case file proving his innocence.

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    Brooklyn Conviction Review Unit Wants to ‘Correct Mistakes’ Quicker — But Still Silencing Cases

    Charlie sits for an interview with The City and discusses his efforts to reduce delay in the Brooklyn CRU.

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    Prosecutors Review Dozens of Cases After NYPD Informed Them — Eight Years Later — of a Detective’s Fingerprint Mistake

    Karen prods federal and state prosecutors to re-examine cases handled by NYPD fingerprint unit personnel later found to have been involved in fingerprint misidentifications.

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    Westchester DA Moves To Vacate 26 Convictions Following Release of Police Whistleblower’s Secret Recordings

    Karen takes prosecutors to task for failing at their critical responsibility to keep sham arrests from proceeding.

  • White text on black background reads 'Seton Hall Law'.

    Justice Served by Law School’s Exoneration Project: Another Freed!

    Sheldon Thomas is exonerated 18 years after being wrongly convicted; Karen supported his attorneys in their efforts for more than a decade.

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    Man Freed After 18 Years in Prison Caused By Deceptive Photo ID

    Sheldon Thomas’s conviction is vacated by the CRU led by Charlie after Thomas spent 18 years in prison as the result of a flawed photo identification.

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    'It's about time': Krivak acquitted in child's rape, murder after 24 years in prison

    Karen and co-counsel Oscar Michelen win acquittal for client Andy Krivak following a seven week retrial for a 1996 rape and murder he did not commit.  

  • Rolling Stone logo in red with black shadow on black background.

    He Was Convicted of a 12-Year-Old’s Murder. Will a Retrial Prove His Innocence?

    Rolling Stone details the failed investigation and misconduct that led to the wrongful conviction of two teens, Andy Krivak and Anthony DiPippo, in 1997 – and kept them imprisoned for decades.  

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    Brooklyn Prosecutors Seek to Throw Out Scores of Convictions

    Charlie leads the Brooklyn DA’s successful effort to vacate nearly 400 convictions tied to dirty cops.

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    Brooklyn DA Hires Corruption Fighter, Investigator to Lead Wrongful Conviction Unit

    Brooklyn District Attorney, Eric Gonzalez, recruits Charlie to lead the Brooklyn CRU, the nation’s “gold-standard” unit tasked with reviewing allegations of wrongful conviction.

  • Logo for The Legal Aid Society in black and white.

    The Exoneration Project, Legal Aid and Others Call on New York City’s Five District Attorneys to Vacate Convictions in Cases Where Corrupt NYPD Officers Played an “Essential Role”

    Karen spearheads effort by public interest legal organizations to vacate convictions tied to corrupt police.  In response to these efforts and over the next three years, more than a thousand convictions will be vacated by the district attorneys of Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester.

  • Rolling Stone logo in red with black and white outline on a black background.

    The Devil You Know

    Rolling Stone breaks down the wrongful conviction of Andy Krivak in advance of his retrial that will lead to Karen and co-counsel, Oscar Michelin, securing Krivak’s  acquittal of the rape and murder of Josette Wright.

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    The Mount Vernon Police Tapes: In Secretly Recorded Phone Calls, Officers Say Innocent People Were Framed

    Karen weighs in on bombshell revelations about egregious wrongdoing in the Mount Vernon Police Department.

  • The New York Times logo in black and white.

    Are Police Lineups Always Fair? See for Yourself

    Karen lends her expertise to this New York Times piece on the myriad problems associated with eyewitness identifications.

PUBLICATIONS

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    The Dirty Secret about our justice system

    Charlie explains why the appellate process is ill-equipped to address the very real problem of wrongful convictions.

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    Eyewitness Testimony: Civil and Criminal

    Karen is an author of the authoritative legal textbook on eyewitness testimony in civil and criminal trials.

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    Karen A. Newirth’s PUBLISHED RESEARCH

    Karen’s articles on the law and science of eyewitness identification.

  • Arizona State University logo with ASU initials and sun graphic, and 'Arizona State University' text below.

    Miscarriages of Justice: Litigating beyond Factual Innocence

    Karen is an author of an essential guide for attorneys litigating cases involving miscarriages of justice. 

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    Conviction Integrity in Real Time

    Charlie and QRI colleague, Tyler Maroney, propose a process to help prevent future wrongful convictions.

  • Black background with the white text 'The Marshall Project' and a logo consisting of vertical white lines forming a stylized 'M'.

    More than 70% of the nation’s 333 people proven innocent through DNA testing were misidentified, making eyewitness misidentification a leading contributing cause of wrongful conviction.

    Karen and colleagues Barry Scheck and Rebecca Brown weigh in on the myriad problems inherent in eyewitness identifications.