End-of-Summer Updates From MAIP

This summer was a busy one for MAIP.
On top of continuing to fight for the freedom of David Faulkner and Jonathan Smith, we:

  • Filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court in the “8th & H” case, involving seven co-defendants who were wrongly convicted of a brutal 1984 murder in DC. The government withheld substantial evidence that pointed to their innocence and impeached its already problematic witnesses, including evidence that another man – who currently is in prison for a similar crime – was seen fleeing the scene.
  • Sought a new trial for Matthew Horner, who was wrongfully convicted in Baltimore County of attempting to kill his wife, based on her testimony and the testimony of a repeat jailhouse snitch who has now recanted. The client’s wife initially said she had shot herself, a theory that far better matches the crime-scene and physical evidence in the case; she also had a history of suicide attempts and was under the influence of eight different narcotics that affected her memory when she ultimately implicated our client. The defense did not investigate any of these issues. In addition, the state never disclosed that the snitch was a paid police informant who had been shown police reports in this case, and the defense did nothing to investigate his history. We are hopeful that our strong legal claims will carry the day.
  • Negotiated agreements with prosecutors to conduct DNA testing in two cases, one in Baltimore City and one in Roanoke, Virginia, and received favorable DNA results in a case where we will soon seek a posthumous pardon.