Brooklyn Boro

Thompson appoints attorneys to review contested convictions

February 24, 2014 Kings County District Attorney's Office
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Kings County District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson on Friday announced the appointment of three attorneys to assist in evaluating the cases involving allegations of unlawful convictions. The three attorneys, Bernard W. Nussbaum, Jennifer G. Rodgers and Gary S. Villanueva, will consult with the Conviction Review Unit (“CRU”), which has recently been expanded and reorganized.   

Thompson said, “I wish to thank these distinguished members of the bar for volunteering their services in this pursuit of justice. Their combined experience and uncompromising integrity will prove invaluable in my office’s efforts to meticulously examine available evidence in order to right wrongs or confirm convictions.  My ultimate goal is to ensure that the people of Brooklyn have faith in the fairness of our criminal justice system.”

The panel will meet on an as-needed basis with the District Attorney’s Office and review findings of individual cases that have been investigated by the CRU. They will advise on a range of issues, including whether a conviction should stand, needs additional review or should possibly be overturned.  

The CRU will consist of experienced prosecutors, investigators and support staff tasked with the responsibility of conducting a thorough reinvestigation of cases identified as having a possible claim of actual innocence or gross violations of a defendant’s constitutional rights.

Bernard Nussbaum has been a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz since 1966.  He was counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1993-’94. In 1974 he served as a senior member of the staff of the House Judiciary Committee, which conducted the Watergate Impeachment Inquiry.  He also served as an assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  

Jennifer Rodgers became the executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity at Columbia Law School in November 2013. She served as an assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2000-’13. In 2012, she was named a deputy chief of the Appeals Unit.  In addition, Rogers was a law clerk for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Gary Villanueva has been a solo practitioner since 1999, specializing in state and federal criminal litigation.  From 1990-’99 he was a partner at Ricco & Villanueva, a firm he founded with attorney Anthony Ricco, where he also specialized in criminal law. He is a former assistant district attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. Villanueva is a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Southern and Eastern District Courts of New York.
 

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