CONTACT:
Erin Duggan
Cy Vance for Manhattan DA
(646) 248-4370
eduggan@cyvanceforda.com

Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, prominent national civil rights attorneys who founded the Innocence Project, today will announce their personal support for Cy Vance, Democratic candidate for Manhattan District Attorney. Scheck and Neufeld pointed to Cy’s distinguished service as both a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, his plan for a Conviction Integrity Panel and his blueprint for the Office as reasons he is the right choice for Manhattan District Attorney.

“I’m proud to have the support of Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. Their work in freeing the wrongfully convicted at the Innocence Project and reforming the criminal justice system is an inspiration to all in the legal community,” said Vance. “As District Attorney, my Office will be committed to keeping innocent New Yorkers out of jail. So far, at least 240 wrongfully convicted individuals have been exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States. These are men and women who have spent years in prison – sometimes on death row – for crimes they did not commit. I will appoint a Conviction Integrity Panel to ensure that the Office as an institution is always following best practices - and that if we find problems we are prepared to solve them. We have nothing to fear from self-examination. What we should be afraid of is putting innocent people in jail.”

Barry Scheck, Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School, co-founder of The Innocence Project and partner at the civil rights law firm of Neufeld, Scheck and Brustin, said: “Cy Vance understands the problems facing the justice system and has powerful plans to solve them. Most importantly, he has tremendous personal integrity and passion for justice. I am confident that he will make vital progress in preventing wrongful incarcerations.”

Peter Neufeld, also a partner at Neufeld, Scheck and Brustin and co-founder of The Innocence Project, said: “As a defense attorney and prosecutor, Cy Vance has seen firsthand that freeing the innocent and capturing the guilty is not easy; mistakes are sometimes made. Cy has the courage and the wisdom to lead the District Attorney’s Office in examining errors and making sure that justice is always done.”

Vance’s Conviction Integrity Panel will be tasked with examining every step of an investigation and prosecution – including pre-indictment, pre-trial, and post-trial – to ensure that best practices are followed. The Panel, comprised of senior ADA’s and outside experts as necessary, will also ensure ongoing training for all lawyers to identify mistakes that typically result in wrongful convictions: misidentification, false confessions, mishandling of evidence, and government and legal misconduct.

As District Attorney Vance will also work to amend the rules related to pre-trial discovery in criminal cases to provide for expanded pre-trial discovery. This will help to ensure greater fairness in the critical, pre-trial discovery process and will help reduce the chances of wrongful conviction. Vance will also advocate for double-blind lineups and videotaped interrogations to reduce the risks of wrongful conviction.

To ensure fairness in prosecutions, Vance also called for an examination of the District Attorney’s Office for racial bias in prosecutors' decisions regarding bail, charges, plea bargains, and the severity of sentences.

Cy Vance has received overwhelming support from the legal community, on both sides of the courtroom. In addition to the endorsement of current District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, Vance has the support of more than 100 former ADA's, many of whom worked with all three candidates, prominent defense attorneys from New York and around the country, and nationally respected former United States Attorneys like Robert Fiske, Zachary Carter and Alan Vinegrad. Last week the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents 45,000 members in New York City, called Vance the best choice to protect working families, and on Sunday Vance won the strong endorsement of the New York Daily News.