St. Francis professor fights to overturn Friedman’s conviction

April 2, 2013 St. Francis College

ron kuby and friends with jessie friedman.jpg

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Last year, St. Francis College sociology professor Emily Horowitz introduced students and the St. Francis community to civil rights attorney Ron Kuby and his client Jesse Friedman, who appeared in the documentary “Capturing the Friedmans.” The film takes a look at alleged misconduct by Nassau County police in the conviction of Friedman for sexually abusing a string of young children.

Now, Professor Horowitz brings back Friedman and Kuby to answer questions and show new evidence that contradicts the claims made in the original case on Tuesday, April 9 at 4 p.m. in Room 4202 of St. Francis College located at 180 Remsen St. in Brooklyn Heights. The event is free and open to the public.

Kuby and Friedman have been fighting for almost a decade to get that conviction overturned. Professor Horowitz, who runs a class and special lecture series on wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice and directs the Institute for Peace and Justice at St. Francis College, has added some academic support to the battle.

She recently wrote “Destruction of Innocence: The Friedman Case: How Coerced Testimony & Confessions Harm Children, Families & Communities for Decades after the Wrongful Convictions Occur” with renowned security and predation expert Gavin De Becker (author of “The Gift of Fear”). This 42-page brief highlights the absurdity of the charges and offers a societal context of the hysteria surrounding these types of cases.

The paper also includes new testimony from witnesses who say they were coerced into making false accusations about Friedman.

The report has been featured on the Hollywood news website Movieline and is providing background to a series of related stories in other mainstream media outlets.

“We hope that the attention from these stories will help get Jesse cleared once and for all,” said Professor Horowitz.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice is expected to soon release the results of an investigation into the conviction that may result in Friedman being exonerated.