Audrey McGinn
Audrey McGinn is an American attorney who works at the California Innocence Project (CIP), a nonprofit organization at California Western School of Law that provides pro bono legal services to individuals who maintain their factual innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted.[1] McGinn has participated as an attorney in at least seven exonerations of convicted prisoners.[2][3][4] She authors petitions on behalf of clients, and also directs and supervises clinic student casework and the project's volunteers.[1][5][6] McGinn helped found ten Innocence Projects in Latin America,[4][7][8] and has lectured to law schools in those countries about exonerations and the use of DNA in criminal cases.[9] She has trained Spanish-speaking lawyers in Latin America in trial advocacy skills.[1][10]
From September 2015 to September 2016, McGinn served as Director of the Wrongful Convictions Division (WCD) of the Iowa State Public Defender's office, where she reviewed past convictions to determine if any should be reversed for improper evidence.[2][3][5][7] She is an LL.M. Professor at California Western School of Law (CWSL).[1]
Education and early experience
McGinn, a native of North Bend, Nebraska,[2] received her B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle, majoring in International Studies with a minor in Spanish and Portuguese.[1][6][10]
She then attended California Western School of Law in San Diego. As a first-year law school student at CWSL, she took a course taught by California Innocence Project director Justin Brooks, which stimulated her interest in freeing convicted prisoners.[9] Brooks recruited her as a volunteer for the law school clinic, where she translated letters and other correspondence received from Spanish-speaking inmates.[9] She received her J.D. from CWSL in 2010.[1][6][10]
Career
McGinn has worked at the California Innocence Project since May 2011.[6] She was initially hired by the CIP as an investigator, eventually becoming Staff Attorney.[1] McGinn authors legal documents on behalf of clients, including motions for DNA testing, motions for appointment and petitions for writ of habeas corpus.[6] She has participated as an attorney in at least seven exonerations of convicted prisoners.[2][3][4] She supervises the case investigation of law student interns, and co-supervises in-office volunteers.[6] She also authors articles on CIP's website detailing activities of other Innocence Projects throughout the U.S.[11]
While still a law school student, McGinn's interest in Latin America led her to join Proyecto ACCESO, a CWSL program promoting the rule of law in Latin America through education and outreach to legal professionals and the public.[9] At the suggestion of director James M. Cooper, she spent the summer of 2008 in Santiago, Chile, where she interned with the public defender's office.[9] McGinn has trained Spanish-speaking attorneys "in the skills and techniques involved in oral advocacy including: development of the theory of the case, opening and closing statement, direct examination, and advanced cross-examination."[6]
In late 2010, McGinn helped CIP establish Inocente!, a network of innocence organizations in Latin America, including the Argentinian, Chilean, Columbian and Mexican Innocence Projects, becoming Project Manager of the program.[5][9] Like the CIP, Inocente! is "a nonprofit public advocacy and education program focused on the release of the wrongfully convicted and reforming laws that lead to wrongful conviction and incarceration."[9] McGinn spent four months in the summer of 2010 in Concepción, Chile, working with Chilean attorneys to establish Inocente! She gave lectures to law students and legal professionals at Chilean universities to educate them on the use of DNA evidence in criminal cases and how it can lead to wrongful incarcerations.[9]
From September 2015 to September of the following year, McGinn worked for the Iowa State Public Defenders Office as Director of its Wrongful Convictions Division (WCD).[2][6] Her appointment was officially announced by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.[2][3][12] The position was established to provide "a systemic approach" to address post conviction relief for prisoners.[2] It was noted that minority groups are disproportionately affected by such wrongful convictions.[2]
The focus of the review was to be on those convicted in Iowa between 1980 and the early 1990s based on microscopic hair analysis. The FBI noted serious errors in such cases in many states.[2] Adam Gregg, the State Public Defender, remarked that "of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory's microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of 268 trials reviewed. Those cases included 32 inmates sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have either been executed or have died in prison."[2] As many as 100 cases may be reviewed by the WCD.[12] For each wrongfully incarcerated inmate, it is estimated that taxpayers pay $34,000 per year.[2][13]
In the position, McGinn worked in partnership with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Innocence Project of Iowa.[13] She also collaborated with Drake University Law School students and volunteers from both the Iowa Innocence Project and the Midwest Innocence Project.[13] McGinn also "worked with Iowa public officials on legislation, a systematic arson review, and a systematic microscopic hair comparison review."[6]
Said McGinn of the assignment, "I'll go through those [cases] one by one. Where those may have a potential error, we'll be contacting those inmates in prison. We're looking for cases, where yes, it's probably going to be a long sentence. Those are the more serious crimes."[14] She also said, "We know that this has been a problem elsewhere and I think it would be presumptuous to say that it would not be a problem in Iowa. It's just a matter of finding these cases and finding the appropriate legal means to prove their factual innocence if we have the ability to do so."[13] In September 2016, McGinn left her position at the WCD and returned to the California Innocence Project.[15]
Awards and honors
McGinn was named "Professor of the Year" in 2018 at California Western School of Law, where she is an LL.M. Professor.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Our Staff: Meet the Team". California Innocence Project. California Western School of Law. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Petroski, William (October 26, 2015). "Branstad: State will investigate wrongful convictions". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "New Iowa government office to investigate possible wrongful convictions". The Gazette. October 26, 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Audio of Gov. Branstad's press conference [mp3 file]". Radio Iowa. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 desmoinesdem (October 28, 2015). "New state office will seek to identify and exonerate wrongfully convicted Iowans". Bleeding Heartland. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 "Audrey McGinn [downloadable résumé]". LinkedIn. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Audrey McGinn - Intake Outtakes: What Does and Doesn't Work in the Client Application Process". The Innocence Network Annual Conference (2016). Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ Simmons, Kent A. (January 28, 2016). "The Age of Innocents" (PDF). Midwest Innocence Project. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Sherwin, Doug (October 14, 2010). "Cal Western launches Latin American Innocence Project". San Diego Source. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Audrey McGinn: Staff Attorney". Faculty and Staff Directory. California Western School of Law. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ↑ McGinn, Audrey. "Audrey McGinn, Author at California Innocence Project". California Innocence Project. California Western School of Law. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Russell, Joyce. "Possible Wrongful Convictions Probed for 100 Iowa Inmates". Iowa Public Radio. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Henderson, O. Kay (October 26, 2015). "New effort to find wrongful convictions in Iowa (AUDIO)". Radio Iowa. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ↑ Powell, Claire (October 26, 2015). "Branstad, public defender announce division to help wrongly convicted people". WeAreIowa.com. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ↑ Foley, Ryan J. (December 1, 2016). "Iowa's new wrongful conviction unit sees leadership change after one year". Sioux City Journal. Iowa City, Iowa. Associated Press. p. A5. Retrieved March 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
External links
- California Innocence Project Archived 2023-09-07 at the Wayback Machine
- California Western School of Law
- CIP Attorneys Raquel Cohen & Katherine Bonaguidi on the Luis Vargas Case
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