Reed Smith partner David Fawcett had pursued the wrongful conviction case since 2008, co-counseling the matter with Jason Hazlewood, who is managing partner of the Pittsburgh office.
After more than a decade of hard work, the firm’s pro bono efforts with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project culminated in Greg Brown, now 44, securing a deal that ultimately led to his release. Brown was convicted of arson when he was 19 – based upon bad arson science and the testimony of two witnesses whom the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms secretly paid for their testimony.
“Greg’s 25-year nightmare can now be put behind him but his situation calls out for action to prevent wrongful convictions in the future,” Fawcett said. “There has to be accountability for government officials who don’t follow the law and – for that to happen – there needs to be change.”
Reed Smith’s pro bono efforts won Brown a new trial. After finding evidence of outrageous government abuses and deception in the case, the pro bono team secured an award vacating Brown’s conviction in 2014. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the Court of Common Pleas’ decision, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied the District Attorney’s request for another appeal.
State court charges against Brown were then finally dismissed in 2016.
Brown was re-charged with the same crimes by federal prosecutors, despite all the evidence of innocence and government misconduct from the start of the case. Although the Reed Smith pro bono team won Brown’s release from prison back in 2016, since then Brown had to live with the possibility of a second trial, continued use by prosecutors of unreliable evidence and the risk of another wrongful conviction.
The pro bono team helped Brown reach the best possible option with an Alford Plea deal, in which he pleaded guilty while maintaining his innocence, bringing finality to Brown and the case in June 2022.
“It is an honor that our team’s collective efforts are being recognized with the Edward D. Ohlbaum Volunteer Award, whose namesake was a strong advocate for the American justice system and a champion on behalf of the wrongfully convicted,” Hazlewood said. “We are most proud to have advocated for an innocent man who has spent all of his adult life in jail for a crime he did not commit.”
Reed Smith is a long-standing pro bono partner of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The Edward D. Ohlbaum Volunteer Award recognizes efforts to carry out the vision of public service advocated by Ohlbaum, a professor, lawyer and expert on trial evidence.
Reed Smith’s pro bono team is dedicated to its partnership with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project to help those wrongfully convicted. The award was presented on Oct. 6, during the Pennsylvania Innocence Project’s annual celebration titled “Write the Story of Justice” with receptions to be held at the Free Library of Philadelphia and at Reed Smith’s Pittsburgh office.
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