Stephen Braga, partner in law firm Ropes & Gray's Government Enforcement Practice in Washington, D.C., and renowned white-collar criminal defense and innocence lawyer, began teaching a seminar yesterday at the University's Law School concerning his involvement with the prominent West Memphis Three Case. The course is available to second- and third-year Law students, and will run through Nov. 4.
Braga helped negotiate the liberation of three Arkansas teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who allegedly killed three young boys in 1993. Echols was sentenced to the death penalty, and the other two were convicted to life sentences.
Upon the 2007 revelation that certain DNA evidence could not be tied to either the victims, or the defendants, lawyers argued for the teenagers' freedom before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Ultimately in August 2011, defense counsel reached a deal with prosecutors that sentenced the three men to the 18 years they had already served in prison. Braga's course, "Innocence Cases: The West Memphis Three," will cover his pro bono experience of freeing these three men after nearly 20 years in prison.
"West Memphis Three is the perfect case study," Braga said. "It presents a number of factors seen in wrongful convictions, which are not usually all seen in one case, including false confession and mistaken eye-witness account."
Law Prof. Anne Coughlin, professor of criminal law and procedure and public service, helped coordinate with the University to bring Braga to the Law School to teach this course on wrongful conviction. Coughlin said the seminar was originally supposed to allow students to aid Braga in preparing for the evidential hearing of the case, but in August Braga was able to overturn the wrongful conviction.
"He's the perfect resource for students," Coughlin said. "[He is] an example of a model of a lawyer who goes into private practice but continues to do a ton of public work."
Coughlin said Braga has been able to continue to help his community while working in a private firm by teaching students and participating in public work and pro bono cases like the West Memphis Three Case.
Coughlin and Braga also mentioned their desires for students to gain litigation skills needed in such cases.
"The innocence cases are really complex," Coughlin said. "They involve legal skills and knowledge, litigation skills and negotiation skills, also how to speak wisely to reporters to get good publicity."\nThis type of experience, Coughlin said, can sometimes be difficult for students to get in the classroom.
This will be the first time Braga has taught this particular course. He said the University was an ideal place to teach the West Memphis Three Case because Law Prof. Brandon Garrett "has written the leading book on wrongful conviction."
Braga hopes to help students gain a "more global awareness of wrongful conviction and how it affects us in society"
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