In an unprecedented stream of successes, Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent secures the release of three individuals wrongfully convicted in one month. Jaime Ponce, was convicted and sentenced to 47 years to life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, among other charges. Although Mr. Ponce consistently maintained that he was never affiliated with any gang, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office presented expert testimony which profiled him as a gang member. The Project for the Innocent was able to establish that his trial attorney failed to interview a single witness and did not even meet with Mr. Ponce until the first day of trial, and without any evidence, told the jury that he was driver and the shooter, essentially leaving the jury no choice but to convict him. After pouring over the case file and re-interviewing witnesses, lawyers and law students from Project for the Innocent convinced the District Attorney’s Office to support his release from custody after nearly 20 years behind bars.
Mr. Ponce is the third person whose release was secured by the Project for the Innocent in a single month. Marco Contreras spent 20 years in jail for a shooting which he did not commit. A judge declared him factually innocent. Another judge threw out the conviction of Andrew Leander Wilson, who served 32 years in prison after being convicted of a 1984 stabbing he did not commit.
Andrues/Podberesky applauds the outstanding work of lawyers and students who are a part of Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent. Mary Carter Andrues is the Vice Chair of the Board for the Project and the firm supports the Project’s dedication to exonerating those wrongfully convicted. Please take the opportunity to see the unparalleled success of the Project by visiting the following website:
http://www.lls.edu/academics/clinicsexperientiallearning/socialcriminaljusticeclinics/projectfortheinnocent/
Mary Carter Andrues
Partner
Arent Fox LLP | Attorneys at Law
Gas Company Tower
555 West Fifth Street, 48th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213.443.7574 DIRECT | 213.629.7401 FAX
mary.andrues@arentfox.com | www.arentfox.com