A Hallmark of Jenner & Block's Pro Bono Program
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The Heart of the Matter PRO BONO & COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT 2011-2012 CHICAGO LOS ANGELES NEW YORK WASHINGTON, DC In 2011, Jenner & Block attorneys dedicated more than 71,000 hours to work on pro bono matters © 2012 Jenner & Block LLP. 353 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60654-3456. Jenner & Block is an Illinois Limited Liability Partnership including professional corporations. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice but to provide infor- mation on legal matters and Firm news of interest to our clients and colleagues. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to matters mentioned in this publication. The attorney responsible for this publication is Gabriel A. Fuentes. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Message from the Co-Chairs Julie M. Carpenter Brian J. Fischer As Co-Chairs of Jenner & Block’s Pro Bono Committee, it is our pleasure to present the latest edition of The Heart of the Matter. A commitment to pro bono and public service is at the core of our values and mission as a Firm and Jenner & Block attorneys take that responsibility very seriously. Their dedication is reflected not only in the numbers of hours devoted to the representation of those who would not otherwise be able to afford legal counsel, but also in the pride that is taken in providing the same level Gabriel A. Fuentes of professionalism and service to our pro bono clients that is provided to our corporate clients. We are proud to have been ranked the top pro bono law firm in the nation by The American Lawyer in 2012. Because our attorneys are encouraged to pursue cases and causes of interest to them, the types of matters the Firm undertakes are as diverse as we are, and our pro bono work makes a significant impact in a wide range of substantive areas of law. Rather than focus on one or two signature projects, our attorneys may, at any given time, provide pro bono litigation and transactional assistance to individuals Andrew J. Thomas and organizations in areas such as human rights; civil liberties; asylum and immigration; death penalty litigation and other indigent criminal defense; not-for- profit incorporation; corporate governance; property acquisition and tax; public health; education; disability rights; domestic and family law; environmental law; elder law; fair housing; real estate; and veterans’ benefits. While we receive numerous accolades for our leadership in the pro bono arena from the legal press, the organized bar and many respected organizations nationwide, ultimately, we make pro bono work a priority because we believe it is the right thing to do. In this newsletter, we have not attempted to provide an exhaustive accounting of all pro bono work performed by Jenner & Block attorneys in 2011-2012. Rather, this issue spotlights some of the Firm’s major efforts and achievements and demonstrates how we partner with the courts, not-for-profit organizations and governmental agencies in matters both of large-scale significance and of significance solely to the individual represented. Pro bono is an important part of Jenner & Block’s history. As this Heart of the Matter demonstrates, the proud tradition continues. Julie M. Carpenter Brian J. Fischer Gabriel A. Fuentes Andrew J. Thomas INDIGENT CRIMINAL DEFENSE Jenner & Block Plays a Part in Landmark Victory in 20-Year Fight for Justice: Illinois Appellate Court Reverses Guilty Verdict on DNA Evidence Jenner & Block attorneys played an important role in winning a high-profile Juan Rivera at his release on January 6, 2012 and long-running indigent criminal defense matter in Lake County, Illinois. In an opinion released on December 9, 2011, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District reversed, outright, the first- degree murder conviction of our client Juan Rivera, holding that “the State’s evidence was insufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” On January 6, 2012, the Lake County State’s Attorney stated he would not seek an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court and Mr. Rivera was released from Stateville Correctional Center, after serving 19 years in prison. Twice convicted of the same crime – the sexual assault and murder of an 11-year-old in 1992 – Mr. Rivera’s first conviction was overturned in light of questions surrounding trial procedure and evidence and his second conviction was vacated when new DNA testing obtained through the efforts of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Law School revealed he was not the source of sperm found in the victim. Jenner & Block joined Mr. Rivera’s defense team for a third trial in 2009, addressing issues raised in the prior convictions. As it had in the first two trials, the State relied heavily upon statements given by Mr. Rivera during extensive interrogation. The State attempted to explain away the DNA evidence by arguing that the rape kit may have been contaminated or that the 11-year- old victim may have had sexual relations with someone else before she was murdered. Despite the lack of any physical evidence linking him to the crime scene, and strong defense evidence that incriminating statements our client made to police during unrecorded interrogations were false, inaccurate and obtained after a psychotic breakdown, the jury found Mr. Rivera guilty and he was sentenced to life without parole. PRO BONO & COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT 1 INDIGENT CRIMINAL DEFENSE From left to right: Andrew W. Vail, Thomas P. Sullivan, Juan Rivera, Terri L. Mascherin Addressing the jury’s verdict, the appellate court opinion stated, “After viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we hold that no rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” On appeal, Mr. Rivera was represented by Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, Stanford University Law Professor Lawrence Marshall and Jenner & Block. The case received widespread media attention, including in the national press. There are few reported decisions in Illinois (or elsewhere) reversing murder convic- tions outright, as the Court did in the Rivera case, and this case is unique among those decisions in that it involved evidence of a confession. The Rivera decision is likely to have significant implications in future cases involving evidence of false confessions. Practitioners with innocence projects nationwide refer to the decision as one of the most important criminal law decisions of the year. A feature article in the Sunday New York Times strongly criticized the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office for continuing to prosecute Mr. Rivera in the face of the DNA evidence exonerating him. That press coverage led to the resignation of the prosecutor who prosecuted Mr. Rivera, as well as pressure to reform the Lake County office. The Firm’s team, led by Partners Terri L. Mascherin, Thomas P. Sullivan and Andrew W. Vail, with assistance from Associate Daniel T. Fenske and several others, devoted more than 12,000 pro bono hours to Mr. Rivera’s trial and appeal. PRO BONO & COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT 2 INDIGENT CRIMINAL DEFENSE Jenner & Block Team Achieves Victory in Long-Running and Complex Criminal Cases: Rehabilitated Juvenile Offender Released from Prison after 27 Years Jenner & Block attorneys achieved another fight (“the Livingston County case”). The remarkable victory when they won the re- death sentence was later commuted to life lease of a 43-year-old man who had been without the possibility of parole by then- imprisoned for 27 years (10 of those years Illinois Gov. George Ryan. on death row) – since he was 16 years old. The client moved pro se to set aside his The Firm began representing the client in guilty plea in the Chicago case as invol- his long-running and complicated cases in untary because he had been incorrectly 2007. As a 16-year-old runaway in Chicago told he was eligible for the death penalty. in 1985, he stabbed to death a 49-year-old Due to his age, he was not. Eventually, his man who was sexually assaulting the teen conviction was vacated and a new trial or- while giving him a place to stay. He pled dered. In 1999, during his second Chicago guilty to murder and received a 35-year trial, the prosecution improperly introduced sentence (“the Chicago case”). and deliberately misused evidence of the defendant’s Livingston County conviction. In 1992, while incarcerated at the Pontiac Correctional Center, the client was convict- Following the 1999 re-trial in the Chicago ed of murder and sentenced to death for case, the defendant was convicted of fel- the killing of another inmate during a prison ony murder and armed robbery (he stole PRO BONO & COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT 3 INDIGENT CRIMINAL DEFENSE Jenner & Block Team Achieves Victory in Long-Running and Complex Criminal Cases: Rehabilitated Juvenile Offender Released from Prison after 27 years, continued $124 from the victim). This time, he was case. Noting this was an extraordinary sentenced to life in prison without the pos- case, the court found the defendant was sibility of parole. On appeal, despite find- completely rehabilitated and, with credit for ing “intentional and systematic misconduct time served, the case was over. of the prosecutor,” the Illinois Appellate Yet, the client remained incarcerated, Court upheld the guilty verdict. Additional awaiting a new trial for the 1985 crime that appeals followed until his state court rem- initially landed him in prison when he was edies were exhausted. At this point, Judge 16 years old. The State took the position Elaine Bucklo of the United States District that, his youth at the time of the offense Court for the Northern District of Illinois notwithstanding, if convicted, the pun- appointed Jenner & Block to represent ishment would be mandatory life without the defendant.