U.S. Attorney’s Office Launches Conviction Integrity Committee to Review Innocence Claims

Press release from the Department of Justice: 

United States Attorney Ismail Ramsey today announced that the United States Attorney’s Office is establishing a new committee to review innocence claims brought by defendants convicted in the Northern District of California.  The Conviction Integrity Committee (Committee) will review and consider claims of factual innocence brought by defendants who were convicted in the Northern District of California.

The purpose of the Committee is to promote fairness and integrity at every stage of a criminal prosecution. It is designed to ensure that credible claims of factual innocence are investigated and addressed. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Bornstein, who also is a Senior Litigation Counsel for the Northern District of California, will Chair the Committee whose members will include the United States Attorney, the First Assistant United States Attorney, and the Executive Assistant United States Attorney.  Additional members of the United States Attorney’s Office may participate in review of certain claims filed under the new program depending upon circumstances described in the policy.

In announcing this new program, United States Attorney Ramsey said that he and his office “are committed to ensure that any person who is actually innocent is not the subject of a wrongful conviction.”

The new process is partly modeled on committees that have been formed in other United States Attorney’s Offices including for the Southern District of New York, the Central District of California, and the District of Columbia. In the Northern District of California policy, decisions—including decisions on the merits and whether to reinvestigate a claim of actual innocence—are based only on an independent assessment of the facts and the law; factors such as a defendant’s choice of counsel, media coverage, or political influence play no role in the consideration of cases presented to the Committee.

An application to submit actual innocence claims to the Committee has been placed on the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California’s website. The process is afforded to all convicted persons regardless of the nature of the offense, whether there was a trial or plea bargain, and whether they are represented by an attorney. Priority may be given to convicted persons who are currently incarcerated or on parole or supervised release.