Overview
(May 30, 2025, New York) – Steptoe LLP submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Innocence Project, Inc. and the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law to the Court of Appeals of the State of New York urging reversal of People v. Wright. Mr. Wright was convicted of assault in connection with a shooting that occurred in April 2017, largely based on the in-court identification of one eyewitness. Notably, the eyewitness failed to identify Mr. Wright at a lineup that occurred the day after the shooting and only identified him two years later in a highly suggestive, single-suspect courtroom procedure.
The Steptoe-authored brief highlights the extensive body of scientific research on the malleability of eyewitness memory and argues that a scientific consensus exists that only the first identification procedure conducted with the same eyewitness and same suspect can provide reliable evidence. The brief further contends that the Court should abolish the independent source doctrine in the context of eyewitness identifications obtained through unduly suggestive identification procedures. The brief argues:
"As a matter of law and science, when a witness is unable to identify a suspect in an initial identification procedure, there can be no independent source for an in-court identification. The notion that Ms. Fabre's memory could somehow improve over the two years between the lineup and trial and thus allow her to make the in-court identification based on an independent memory of the event is fanciful. Recognition memory does not work that way. The prosecution therefore failed to meet its burden to show an "independent source" by clear and convincing evidence."
Partner Jim Brochin led the Steptoe team, along with associates Gilana Keller, Ciara Davis, and Stephanie Sebastian.
About Steptoe
In more than 110 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
