Tagged: Pace Criminal Justice Institute

The Newburgh Sting Event Wrap-Up

On behalf of Prof. Lissa Griffin who was instrumental in making this event a reality.

What could be better than a terrific film documentary about a sensational criminal case and a panel discussion with the director and the lawyers who defended the four defendants, several of whom were Pace Law grads. That was Tuesday evening in the Moot Court Room. Many thanks to Prof. Lou Fasulo, Prof. Lucie Olejnikova, Iris Mercado, Jessica Dubuss, Joan Gaylord, Judy Jaeger, Janice Dean, Kay Longworth, Tony Soares, Glen Quillen, Ann Marie Stepancic, and of course the Criminal Justice Society and its president, Erica Danielson,  for their help in making this such a successful event. We had approximately 130 people – an interesting mix of students, CLE participants, alums, and the public – attend the screening of The Newburgh Sting HBO documentary, an almost unbelievable critique of one investigation and prosecution in the government’s “War on Terrorism.”

The government certainly has a legitimate interest in uncovering people in the United States who are intent on joining a terrorist plot against the Country.  In this case, that is what it apparently set out to do.  But here, four poor African American men from Newburgh, NY, previously unknown to the government, were induced by an FBI informant – with the most lavish kinds of benefits – to attempt to bomb synagogues in Riverdale, NY and military transports on Stewart Air Force Base. They never saw a Stinger missile in their lives – indeed, they were unemployed and owned no cars or even bicycles – until such a weapon along with non-functioning bombs were produced by  the undercover agent. As the trial judge stated, they would have done nothing unlawful or remotely terrorist-related if the government  had left them alone. Still, they were convicted as willing joiners in this plot.   The jury took eight days to convict, and the Second Circuit upheld the convictions, with a dissenting judge holding the defendants were entrapped as a matter of law. It’s a fascinating and provocative case.

The panel of lawyers addressed important issues about the nature of our criminal justice system, the role of defense lawyers and prosecutors, the law on entrapment, trial tactics, and the legitimate government interest in the prosecution of prospective terrorists, and the director, who was an attorney and ex-prosecutor himself, brought a unique perspective to the issues.

Thanks to all who made this possible!  Lissa

REMINDER: The Newburgh Sting – HBO Documentary Screening with Director and Attorneys

On February 3, 2015 at 6:00 pm in the Moot Court Room of the Gerber Glass building at Pace Law School, the Criminal Justice Institute and Criminal Justice Society at Pace Law School will host a screening of the HBO Movie The Newburgh Sting, with the film’s director, David Heilbroner. This film, which was shown at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, tells the story of United States v. Cromitie, a 2013 terrorism case that arose out of Newburgh, New York and was tried in White Plains. The defendants were young men who joined the efforts of an undercover FBI agent posing as a terrorist in his plan to bomb a synagogue in Riverdale. United States v. Cromitie, 781 F. Supp. 2d 211 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). It has been said to involve the most outrageous government entrapment methods of any post-9/11 terrorism case. But did it? Or was it rather a successful prosecution of young men willing to join the efforts of an apparently well-armed, well organized terrorist? The jury took eight days to render its verdict, rejecting the entrapment defense. The defendants were sentenced to twenty-five year prison sentences. The Second Circuit affirmed in a divided opinion. United States v. Cromitie, 727 F.3d 194 (2d Cir. 2013).

After the screening, the attorneys involved in the case will join the director for a panel discussion addressing the many provocative issues raised by the film. Among these issues are:

  • Were the defendants entrapped as a matter of law or were they properly convicted for willingly joining a terrorist plot?
  • How can the government discover and prosecute people who are not members of a known terrorist organization but who are willing to join a plot to bomb US targets?
  • What are the differences between a film director trying to show “what happened” and a lawyer trying to prove “what happened” in a courtroom?
  • What do those differences say about our criminal justice system?
  • What do these lessons mean for lawyers and law students?

Several of the attorneys taking part in the panel discussion are graduates of Pace Law School: Susanne Brody is a 1988 graduate and an attorney with Federal Defenders of New York; Heather Bird is a 2010 graduate and is an attorney in Toronto, Canada; Gonul Aksoy is a 2008 graduate and an attorney with a White Plains firm; and Giovanni Rosania is a 2006 graduate also in private practice in White Plains. The panel also includes two well respected and well known criminal defense lawyers who were defense counsel in the case: Sam Braverman of Fasulo Braverman & Di Maggio, LLP, President of the Bronx County Bar Association, and Kerry Lawrence of Calhoun & Lawrence, LLP, a former Assistant United States Attorney.

The Pace Criminal Justice Institute generates educational opportunities for Pace Law students and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars, policymakers and practitioners in and outside the Pace community. The Institute supports and encourages creative research, teaching, and discussion concerning the theory and practice of Criminal Law. The Institute created and maintains an online forum, Pace Criminal Justice Blog, fostering and encouraging the discourse of important current issues in domestic and international criminal law and procedure.

The Newburgh Sting – HBO Documentary Screening with Director and Attorneys

On February 3, 2015 at 6:00 pm in the Moot Court Room of the Gerber Glass building at Pace Law School, the Criminal Justice Institute and Criminal Justice Society at Pace Law School will host a screening of the HBO Movie The Newburgh Sting, with the film’s director, David Heilbroner. This film, which was shown at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, tells the story of United States v. Cromitie, a 2013 terrorism case that arose out of Newburgh, New York and was tried in White Plains. The defendants were young men who joined the efforts of an undercover FBI agent posing as a terrorist in his plan to bomb a synagogue in Riverdale. United States v. Cromitie, 781 F. Supp. 2d 211 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). It has been said to involve the most outrageous government entrapment methods of any post-9/11 terrorism case. But did it? Or was it rather a successful prosecution of young men willing to join the efforts of an apparently well-armed, well organized terrorist? The jury took eight days to render its verdict, rejecting the entrapment defense. The defendants were sentenced to twenty-five year prison sentences. The Second Circuit affirmed in a divided opinion. United States v. Cromitie, 727 F.3d 194 (2d Cir. 2013).

After the screening, the attorneys involved in the case will join the director for a panel discussion addressing the many provocative issues raised by the film. Among these issues are:

  • Were the defendants entrapped as a matter of law or were they properly convicted for willingly joining a terrorist plot?
  • How can the government discover and prosecute people who are not members of a known terrorist organization but who are willing to join a plot to bomb US targets?
  • What are the differences between a film director trying to show “what happened” and a lawyer trying to prove “what happened” in a courtroom?
  • What do those differences say about our criminal justice system?
  • What do these lessons mean for lawyers and law students?

Several of the attorneys taking part in the panel discussion are graduates of Pace Law School: Susanne Brody is a 1988 graduate and an attorney with Federal Defenders of New York; Heather Bird is a 2010 graduate and is an attorney in Toronto, Canada; Gonul Aksoy is a 2008 graduate and an attorney with a White Plains firm; and Giovanni Rosania is a 2006 graduate also in private practice in White Plains. The panel also includes two well respected and well known criminal defense lawyers who were defense counsel in the case: Sam Braverman of Fasulo Braverman & Di Maggio, LLP, President of the Bronx County Bar Association, and Kerry Lawrence of Calhoun & Lawrence, LLP, a former Assistant United States Attorney.

The Pace Criminal Justice Institute generates educational opportunities for Pace Law students and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars, policymakers and practitioners in and outside the Pace community. The Institute supports and encourages creative research, teaching, and discussion concerning the theory and practice of Criminal Law. The Institute created and maintains an online forum, Pace Criminal Justice Blog, fostering and encouraging the discourse of important current issues in domestic and international criminal law and procedure.

Know Your Rights Event at Pace

KnowYourRighsFall2014The Pace Criminal Justice Society (CJS), the Pace Criminal Justice Institute (PCJI) and the Pace Alumni Relations Office are co-hosting an event titled Know Your Rights on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 4:30-5:30 PM in the Preston Hall Tudor Room during which our Criminal Justice Clinic Students under the leadership of Prof. David N. Dorfman will explore the appropriate responses to and the underlying issues that arise from police car stops, street stops, cell phone searches and more. Immediately after this event, the Annual Criminal Practice Networking Reception will take place at 5:30-6:30 PM in the Student Lounge, across the hall from the event, during which alumni, local prosecutors and defense counsel are invited to learn about the resources of the Pace Criminal Justice Institute, meet with other criminal law practitioners, and get to know and talk with students interested in pursuing a career in criminal practice.

Reflections on a Criminal Justice Summer

It has been quite a summer. Having been involved in the criminal justice system for more than forty years, I feel as if there has never been a summer with so much going on – and so much attention being paid to it. Ferguson, Missouri, is the most recent and most alarming event, following so closely on the Staten Island chokehold case. These cases have focused serious attention on the police-citizen relationship that was front and center last year in the stop-and-frisk decision and the settlement of that lawsuit by the new New York City mayor.

We have been witness to the unprecedented actions of the Brooklyn, New York Conviction Integrity Unit in the District Attorney’s office, and to the dismissal of erroneous convictions in that county. These dismissals have been followed by substantial financial settlements by New York City. The New York Times ran a series of editorials urging the decriminalization of marijuana possession in some circumstances, and another editorial calling for revisions in the virtually-non-existent clemency process. Four state governors are either being tried, charged, or investigated.

Rampant prisoner abuse has been exposed just as claims made by prisoners has spiked, and there is now dialogue about the excessive use and destructive results of solitary confinement. The entire capital punishment process has come under scrutiny because the drug companies who provide the lethal drugs to accomplish our executions are no longer willing to do so. There is increasing focus on our entire system of punishment because of international attention on our disgracefully large prison population.

On an international level, we have also been witness to mass executions in Egypt and a long-awaited English investigation of the poisoning of a Russian journalist in London. Scotland abolished its long-standing and unique corroboration requirement. We were witness to an historic event:  a Black, South African, and female judge presiding at the trial of a young white male, who happened to be an internationally acclaimed athlete.

Having been raised on a September to September calendar, and having continued with that conception of the “year” as a law professor, I am pausing to wonder what we will witness in the next twelve months.

For now, the staff of the PCJI are taking a two-week break. We will resume our blog after Labor Day, on September 4.