Mission The New England Innocence Project (NEIP) provides pro bono legal assistance to inmates who have claims of actual innocence. The New England Innocence Project’s mission is to represent persons wrongly convicted in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont and to advocate for the reform of our criminal justice system.
Case Submission Guidelines Your case falls with in our mission if:
Board Of Trustees Wayne A. Budd is a senior counsel in the Litigation Department at Goodwin Procter LLP, where he specializes in business and commercial litigation. He was previously a partner of the firm from 1993 to 1996. Prior to rejoining Goodwin Procter in 2004, Mr. Budd served as Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel at John Hancock Financial Services Inc. Before joining Hancock, Mr. Budd was Group President-New England at Bell Atlantic Corporation. Before entering the private sector, Mr. Budd was Associate Attorney General of the United States, appointed to the position by President George H.W. Bush in 1992. From 1989 to 1992, he was the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Jennifer L. Chunias is a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP. Her practice focuses on business litigation, white collar criminal defense, and government investigations. She has been a Lecturer at Harvard Law School, where she was a faculty supervisor of the Harvard Project on Wrongful Convictions, and an Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University School of Law. Robert N. Feldman is a founding partner at the Boston law firm, Birnbaum & Godkin, LLP. Mr. Feldman's practice focuses on business and intellectual property litigation. Mr. Feldman represents large public companies, new businesses and individuals. Through his pro bono work with the New England Innocence Project, Mr. Feldman has represented five wrongly convicted individuals, assisting each in proving his actual innocence through DNA testing or other means. Stanley Z. Fisher is Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law. He teaches courses in criminal procedure, criminal law, and wrongful convictions. He has studied and written articles on faulty eyewitness identification procedures, police and prosecution suppression of exculpatory evidence. In April, 2002, the Illinois Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment used his British research in framing recommendations for fundamental reform of police and prosecutorial conduct of investigations. Daniel Givelber is Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law where he previously served as dean for ten years. He teaches in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. In recent years, his research interests have focused on the relationship between capital punishment and criminal procedure, with a particular emphasis on the accuracy of criminal adjudication. David E. Meier is a partner at the law firm of Todd & Weld, where his practice focuses on both civil and criminal litigation. Prior to joining Todd & Weld, Mr. Meier was chief of the homicide unit of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Boston for twelve years. As Chief of Homicide, Mr. Meier supervised the investigation, prosecution, and trial of all homicides occurring within the City of Boston. He was also involved in the post-conviction review and investigation of numerous cases leading to the release of defendants wrongfully convicted of murder and other criminal charges. Joseph F. Savage, Jr. is a partner in the Litigation Department at Goodwin Procter LLP. He concentrates on complex civil litigation, white collar criminal defense and governmental investigations work. His practice involves representing individuals and companies in a wide variety of fraud, tax, public corruption, health care, securities, environmental and other investigations by federal, state and local law enforcement and government regulators. Mr. Savage is the Chairman of the NEIP Board of Trustees. David M. Siegel is Professor of Law at the New England School of Law. He teaches Comparative Criminal Procedure, Criminal Advocacy, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Clinical Evidence and Evidence. He has written articles on the history of mental health defenses in criminal law, the ethical obligations of criminal defense lawyers, and involuntary medication of criminal defendants. FAQs 1) How does NEIP select which cases it will pursue? To be considered by NEIP for representation, an inmate must first submit an Initial Screening Questionnaire. 2) Once selected, what is the process by which NEIP pursues exoneration? NEIP attorneys and personnel screen and respond to requests for legal assistance from inmates, review completed questionnaires, supervise law students as they conduct initial case review and investigation, provide direct legal representation to inmates who are seeking to vacate their convictions through scientific testing, and work to secure legal representation for inmates through the NEIP network of attorneys. 3) How long does it take to prove someone innocent? A case can take anywhere between two to three years and up to a decade to complete litigation. There is no way to predict a time frame. The amount of time needed to complete a case rests on the individual facts and circumstances of the case. Additionally, in Massachusetts, there is currently no law guaranteeing the preservation of evidence or right to post conviction scientific testing. In cases like these, there are legal obstacles that can delay and challenge the efforts of the defense. 4) Must an inmate be the one to write the initial correspondence letter, or can it come from someone else? Anyone on behalf of an inmate can request legal assistance from NEIP for a wrongful conviction. Whether it is the inmate, a family member or concerned individual, NEIP will start a file for an inmate when it receives the initial correspondence letter. However, once NEIP receives a request, all future communications will be directed towards the inmate. 5) Will NEIP reopen a case once it has been closed? NEIP will reconsider a case only if presented with information or evidence that was previously unavailable. Because of the recent expansion of our mission, people who claim factual innocence and who previously submitted are encouraged to contact us again. 6) Is NEIP affiliated to or a regional branch of the Innocence Project? NEIP is an independent organization and is not affiliated with the Innocence Project. NEIP is, however, a member of the Innocence Network, which was created as a way for many of the independent Innocence organizations to exchange ideas, experiences and resources. 7) How does NEIP support itself? The project is housed by Goodwin Procter and operates on revenue from fundraising events, as well as by private donations. If you would like to assist NEIP financially, please refer to our Donations page 8) What are the leading non-DNA causes of wrongful convictions?
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