Post-Conviction Project victory reported in NY Law Journal

The Pace Law Post-Conviction Project team successfully got a judgment overturned on appeal, and was granted the right to complete further DNA testing in an effort to prove their client innocent. 

The team, comprised of Pace Law students Aharon Diaz, Nick Weiler, Danielle Brown, Sidney Lister, and faculty advisor, Professor Adele Bernhard, has spent thousands of hours working to prove their client, Keith Bush, innocent. The case focuses on a murder that occurred after a party in 1976 for which Bush was found guilty. Since that verdict, witnesses have recanted and DNA evidence has surfaced that may prove Bush innocent.

In 2009, a Suffolk County judge denied a request to test the remaining fingernail scraps, underwear, and a hat for DNA. Over two years, later the Pace Law Post- Conviction Project team has seen that ruling overturned in their clients’ favor. The Appellate Division, Second Department decided in an unsigned opinion on December 20, 2011 to allow testing of the fingernail scraps and upheld the exclusion of the underwear and hat. This ruling should go a long way in proving Mr. Bush innocent.

Professor Bernhard said the panel’s holding was “incredibly important,” noting that the ability to match someone else’s profile “increases the persuasiveness of the evidence” of Mr. Bush’s innocence.

Read the full article here