Attorney General Mark Herring announced Tuesday that he has hired three former capital/public defenders as part of his efforts to expand his new Conviction Integrity Unit.
In January, Herring announced the creation of a Conviction Integrity Unit to identify and overturn wrongful convictions in Virginia. The unit is a distinct entity with a singular focus on evaluating and investigating claims of wrongful conviction, taking proactive steps to overturn wrongful convictions, and implementing important changes in the law that will finally allow for more wrongly convicted people to pursue their claims in the courts.
“A wrongful conviction denies someone not only their freedom but indefinable opportunities and the ability to choose their own path in life – it is a wrong that can never be fully righted, but we must try.” Herring said. “These new members of my team bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Conviction Integrity Unit that will ensure any potential wrongful conviction cases get the attention and consideration they truly deserve. As a Commonwealth, we must always strive for justice and truth, but when the system fails or gets it wrong, we have an obligation to right that wrong and give someone a second chance.”
Herring has hired two attorneys and an investigator to join his Conviction Integrity Unit:
- Emilee Hasbrouck has been hired as an attorney in the new Conviction Integrity Unit. Prior to joining Herring’s team, Hasbrouck worked for 11 years in Virginia’s public defender system, including serving as a supervising attorney in the Richmond Public Defender’s Office and as an Assistant Capital Defender in the Capital Defender’s Office for Central Virginia for the past two years. Hasbrouck is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the University of Richmond School of Law.
- Kyle Richardson has been hired as an investigator in the new Conviction Integrity Unit. Prior to joining Herring’s team, Richardson was an investigator with the Office of Capital Defender for Central Virginia for the past twelve years. Recently, he served as lead defense investigator on a capital murder prosecution resulting in dismissal of all charges at trial. Richardson is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute.
- Seth Shelley has been hired as an attorney in the new Conviction Integrity Unit. Prior to joining Herring’s team, Shelley worked for 13 years in Virginia’s public defender system, including service as a supervising attorney in the Richmond Public Defender’s Office and as an Assistant and Deputy Capital Defender in the Capital Defender’s Office for Central Virginia for the past seven years. Shelley is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
The work of the Conviction Integrity Unit has grown in light of important changes to Virginia’s laws around wrongful convictions and the issuance of “writs of actual innocence,” which are orders issued by either the Court of Appeals of Virginia or the Virginia Supreme Court after the court finds that an individual did not actually commit the crime for which they were convicted and that they are actually innocent.
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