08/14/09 CLSR Professor Submits Amicus Brief to SJC

Students Martha Drane ‘10 and Maria Giraud ‘10 worked with an associate at Goodwin | Proctor and CLSR Professor David Siegel on an amicus brief for Commonwealth v. Brandon Watson on behalf of the New England Innocence Project. The focus of the amicus brief was the remedy for unnecessary and suggestive identification procedures.   The amicus asserts that upon a defendant’s timely request, the remedy would include cautionary jury instructions and the presumptive admissibility of qualified expert testimony on factors affecting the reliability of the identification procedures in question. Click here to view the entire amicus brief.

On September 9, 2009, oral arguments were held before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on this case, and the case is presently under advisement. To watch a webcast of the oral arguments, click here.