The Legal Aid Society is the nation’s largest public defense and civil legal services provider. The largest law firm in New York City is home to over 2000 attorneys, paralegals, social workers, investigators, and more. Each brings their unique perspective to the fight for justice in every borough.

What inspired you to work at Legal Aid?
As a native New Yorker who has spent 30 years defending and vindicating people’s rights in the criminal legal system, it is an honor to join The Legal Aid Society to lead the Wrongful Conviction Unit. I’ve long admired Legal Aid’s unwavering commitment to protecting the dignity of New Yorkers across so many areas of life. I’ve collaborated with Legal Aid lawyers throughout my career, and I’m thrilled now to work alongside them.

What’s a recent project or piece of work you’re proud of, and why?
Since I only started recently, there isn’t a particular accomplishment I want to highlight just yet, but I’m excited to dive into the work with the team. For instance, they recently exonerated Ronnell Sheffield, who maintained his innocence for more than 35 years following his conviction in 1989 for sexual assault on Staten Island before his conviction was finally vacated after DNA testing excluded him as the source of evidence from a related rape kit and the sole eyewitness believed she had identified the wrong person.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
It is incredibly difficult to undo a wrongful conviction, and New York makes it so much harder than it needs to be. Innocent people have no right to post-conviction discovery or legal counsel, we lack robust evidence preservation rules, and obligations on police and prosecutors to find and provide existing records are weak. It is heartbreaking to represent an innocent person and not be able to prove it.

What’s something about your work that most people misunderstand?
Proof of innocence does not automatically overturn a conviction. Pushback from prosecutors, skepticism from judges, and steep legal and evidentiary hurdles keep innocent people convicted and incarcerated. Further, even the clearest-cut cases take a frustratingly long time to resolve. It takes years for a person to prove their innocence.

What is the impact of your work on the lives of New Yorkers?
We seek to restore people’s freedom, reunite families, lift the enormous burdens of having a criminal record, and expose errors and misconduct that cause wrongful convictions with the aim of reducing their recurrence. New Yorkers do not want people incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. Nor do they want criminal cases lacking accurate resolution and accountability, or a system that takes years – if ever – to fix its mistakes. By urgently seeking to vindicate the rights and dignity of people wrongfully convicted, we stand for justice for all.

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Ezekiel Edwards is a Supervising Attorney in the Criminal Defense Practice’s Wrongful Conviction Unit.