Lisa Kavanaugh’s Victory for Frederick Clay

INCREDIBLE!

CONGRATULATIONS to our colleague, Atty. Lisa Kavanaugh, Director of the CPCS Innocence Program, and her co-counsel, Atty. Jeff Harris of the Boston law firm Good, Cormier, Schneider and Fried, on their victory in convincing the Commonwealth to vacate the conviction of Frederick Clay, convicted of first degree murder in 1981.

Clay was convicted on the evidence of two eye witnesses who confirmed his identity only after being hypnotized by police investigators and shown the same array of photos several times.  New identification science reveals that this type of identification is profoundly flawed.  In addition, other witness statements that should have led police to investigate other suspects who more accurately fitted descriptions of the perpetrators were never followed up by them or by Clay’s trial attorney.

Below are links to some of the media reports that followed this incredible outcome, as well as to the press release issued by CPCS:

• http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2017/08/it_s_been_a_long_time_coming_ex_murder_suspect_freed_after_38_years
• http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2017/08/frederick_clay_wins_freedom_innocence_back_after_nearly_four_decades_in
• https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2017/08/08/prosecutors-agree-to-toss-conviction-in-1979-cabbie-slaying?s_campaign=Email:BComToday
• https://www.necir.org/2017/08/08/convicted-age-16-man-emerges-38-years-later-prison-innocent-man/
• https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/08/suffolk-drops-murder-case-against-man-convicted-murder-cabbie-roslindale/went3XJGb8AbbryRX9ZXAJ/story.html
• http://www.wbur.org/news/2017/08/08/frederick-clay
• http://masslawyersweekly.com/2017/08/08/cpcs-conviction-vacated-after-man-serves-38-years-in-prison/?platform=hootsuite
• http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/I-Lost-38-Years-of-My-Life-Frederick-Clay-Man-Convicted-of-Cab-Drivers-Killing-Released-439231463.html
• CPCS Press Release