Barry Scheck
Encyclopedia
Barry C. Scheck is an American
lawyer. He received national media attention while serving on O.J. Simpson's defense team, winning an acquittal
in the highly publicized murder case
. Scheck is the director of the Innocence Project
and a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
in New York City.
, New York
. He graduated from the Horace Mann School
in Riverdale, New York in 1967. He then went on to receive a B.S.
from Yale University
in 1971 and a J.D. and M.C.P. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1974.
case, in 1987. He both defended her and assisted in getting the charges against her dropped, while also assisting in ensuring Joel Steinberg
's arrest and suing him in the civil case, Nussbaum vs. Steinberg . Scheck was part of the team that defended O. J. Simpson
in his 1995 trial
. He was associated with clearing in 1999 of Dennis Fritz
and Ron Williamson
who had spent 11 years in prison of wrongful murder convictions. He was also the lead lawyer who defended British au pair Louise Woodward
in her 1997 murder trial. More recently, he served as attorney of the wrongly accused Duke University
lacrosse player Reade Seligmann to represent him in a civil lawsuit filed on October 5, 2007 against the city of Durham, North Carolina
, its former district attorney, Mike Nifong, He also was responsible for clearing John Restivo, Dennis Halstead, and John Kogut after 18 years in prison for the 1985 Lynbrook rape and murder of Theresa Fusco, when DNA evidence proved them innocent and implicated others.
in 1992 with Peter Neufeld
, also his co-counsel on the O.J. Simpson defense team. The Project is dedicated to the utilization of DNA evidence as a means to exculpate individuals of crimes for which they were wrongfully convicted. As of May 28, 2008, 217 wrongful convictions have been overturned by DNA testing thanks to the Project and other legal organizations. The Innocence Project does not use legal technicalities
to challenge convictions; the Project accepts only cases in which newly discovered scientific evidence can potentially prove that a convicted person is factually innocent.
Scheck is a professor
at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he established the first Innocence Project. He is Director of Clinical Education for the Trial Advocacy Program and the Center for the Study of Law and Ethics, and a former staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society
of New York. From 2004–2005 he served as president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
. In 1996 he received the Robert C. Heeney Award, the "NACDL’s most prestigious award... given annually to the one criminal defense attorney who best exemplifies the goals and values of the Association, and the legal profession"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer. He received national media attention while serving on O.J. Simpson's defense team, winning an acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
in the highly publicized murder case
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
. Scheck is the director of the Innocence Project
Innocence Project
An Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to...
and a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University, located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The school is named for Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Cardozo's success as a young school has been remarkable, leading some to characterize Cardozo as a...
in New York City.
Early life
Scheck was born in QueensQueens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He graduated from the Horace Mann School
Horace Mann School
Horace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...
in Riverdale, New York in 1967. He then went on to receive a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1971 and a J.D. and M.C.P. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1974.
Cases he defended
Before becoming nationally-known, Scheck became the personal lawyer for the Hedda NussbaumHedda Nussbaum
Hedda Nussbaum is an American woman who was the caretaker for a six-year old girl who died of physical abuse in 1987. The death of the girl, known as Lisa Steinberg, sparked a lengthy and controversial trial and media frenzy...
case, in 1987. He both defended her and assisted in getting the charges against her dropped, while also assisting in ensuring Joel Steinberg
Joel Steinberg
Joel Steinberg , a former New York criminal defense attorney, attracted international media attention when he was accused of murder and convicted of manslaughter in the November 1, 1987, death of a six-year-old girl, Elizabeth , whom he and his live-in partner Hedda Nussbaum had illegally adopted...
's arrest and suing him in the civil case, Nussbaum vs. Steinberg . Scheck was part of the team that defended O. J. Simpson
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
in his 1995 trial
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
. He was associated with clearing in 1999 of Dennis Fritz
Dennis Fritz
Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were wrongly convicted of the murder of Ada, Oklahoma resident Debra Carter. Fritz was given a life sentence, while Williamson was sentenced to death in 1988. Fritz and Williamson were the subjects of a non-fiction book, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a...
and Ron Williamson
Ron Williamson
Ronald "Ron" Keith Williamson was a former minor league baseball catcher/pitcher who was one of two men wrongly convicted in 1988 in Oklahoma for the rape and murder of Debra Sue "Debbie" Carter. His friend Dennis Fritz was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Williamson was sentenced to death...
who had spent 11 years in prison of wrongful murder convictions. He was also the lead lawyer who defended British au pair Louise Woodward
Louise Woodward
The Louise Woodward case concerned a young English au pair convicted, at age 19, of the 1997 involuntary manslaughter of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen while he was in her care in his home in Newton, Massachusetts, in the United States...
in her 1997 murder trial. More recently, he served as attorney of the wrongly accused Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
lacrosse player Reade Seligmann to represent him in a civil lawsuit filed on October 5, 2007 against the city of Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, its former district attorney, Mike Nifong, He also was responsible for clearing John Restivo, Dennis Halstead, and John Kogut after 18 years in prison for the 1985 Lynbrook rape and murder of Theresa Fusco, when DNA evidence proved them innocent and implicated others.
Innocence Project
Scheck co-founded the Innocence ProjectInnocence Project
An Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to...
in 1992 with Peter Neufeld
Peter Neufeld
Peter Neufeld is an American lawyer and is most famous as a cofounder, with Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, located at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law...
, also his co-counsel on the O.J. Simpson defense team. The Project is dedicated to the utilization of DNA evidence as a means to exculpate individuals of crimes for which they were wrongfully convicted. As of May 28, 2008, 217 wrongful convictions have been overturned by DNA testing thanks to the Project and other legal organizations. The Innocence Project does not use legal technicalities
Legal technicality
The term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of...
to challenge convictions; the Project accepts only cases in which newly discovered scientific evidence can potentially prove that a convicted person is factually innocent.
Scheck is a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he established the first Innocence Project. He is Director of Clinical Education for the Trial Advocacy Program and the Center for the Study of Law and Ethics, and a former staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society
Legal Aid Society
The Legal Aid Society in New York City is the United States' oldest and largest provider of legal services to the indigent. It operates both traditional civil and criminal law cases.-History:...
of New York. From 2004–2005 he served as president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is an American criminal defense organization. Their stated mission is to "Ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime. Foster the integrity, independence and expertise of the criminal defense profession...
. In 1996 he received the Robert C. Heeney Award, the "NACDL’s most prestigious award... given annually to the one criminal defense attorney who best exemplifies the goals and values of the Association, and the legal profession"
Selected bibliography
- Scheck, Barry, Peter NeufeldPeter NeufeldPeter Neufeld is an American lawyer and is most famous as a cofounder, with Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, located at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law...
, and Jim DwyerJim DwyerJim Dwyer is an American journalist who is a reporter and columnist with The New York Times. A native New Yorker, Dwyer wrote columns for New York Newsday and the New York Daily News before joining the Times...
. Actual Innocence. New York: Doubleday, 2000. ISBN 0-385-49341-X. - Scheck, Barry, Peter NeufeldPeter NeufeldPeter Neufeld is an American lawyer and is most famous as a cofounder, with Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, located at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law...
, and Taryn Simon. The Innocents. New York: Umbrage Editions in association with The Innocence ProjectThe Innocence ProjectThe Innocence Project is a BBC television series.The Innocence Project may also refer to:*The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization in the United States founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld...
, 2003. ISBN 1-884167-18-7. [Photographs and Interviews by Taryn Simon; commentary by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck.]
See also
- Conviction (film) - in this film based on a true story Peter GallagherPeter GallagherPeter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
portrays Barry Scheck who helps to vacate Kenneth Waters's conviction.