BARRY SCHECK

DNA Evidence: The Innocence Project

Monday, March 1 at 7:30pm · Mountainlair Ballroom

Known for his years of landmark litigation, which set standards for the use of DNA evidence in courts throughout the country, Barry Scheck has spearheaded a nationwide movement to re-examine the fairness and efficacy of our criminal justice system.

He and Peter Neufeld created the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School. The project uses DNA evidence to assist wrongly convicted inmates in overturning their convictions. In the past decade, the Innocence Project has either represented or assisted in the representation of 123 men who were exonerated through postconviction DNA testing. Many of those set free were on death row.

Scheck is a frequently sought-after expert by many federal agencies, including the FBI. He serves as a commissioner of the Forensic Science Review Board for New York State, which oversees all state crime labs, including DNA labs. He also provides expert assistance to law enforcement officials investigating unsolved crimes and has covered the Oklahoma City bombing and other high-profile trials for NBC News, where he is a legal analyst.

Scheck is best known as the DNA expert on the defense team of the O.J. Simpson trial. He was also part of the defense team for Louise Woodward, the British au pair accused of murdering eight-month-old Matthew Eappen in Massachusetts. For 19 years, he has been a professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. He teaches legal ethics and is the director of the Criminal Education and Trial Practice Program.

Scheck has written several publications on DNA evidence. His latest, Actual Innocence, was described by Publishers Weekly as "an alarming wake-up call to those who administer our justice system that serious flaws must be addressed to protect the innocent."

Scheck received his BS from Yale and his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a former staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, and serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, having received their highest award as the Most Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer in America.