Lindsey Boney and Kevin Newsom Serve on Pro Bono Defense Team Seeking to Reverse Conviction of Death Row Inmate

Lindsey Boney and Kevin Newsom are working on the appellate team advocating for the reversal of Florida Death Row inmate Clemente Aguirre’s capital murder conviction in light of new DNA evidence that points to an alternate suspect. Recently, a dozen former government attorneys who have handled death penalty cases filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Mr. Aguirre’s appeal in the Florida Supreme Court.

“Regardless of where you stand on the death penalty – and I count myself a supporter – no one supports the execution of someone who could well be innocent,” said Newsom, former Solicitor General of Alabama from 2003 to 2007, in a press release. Boney added, “Particularly in light of such compelling new DNA evidence, we hope the Florida Supreme Court will see that he deserves a genuine opportunity to prove his innocence before the ultimate punishment is imposed.”

Newsom and Boney represent Aguirre on a pro bono basis in teamwork with the Innocence Project, an independent nonprofit organization closely affiliated with Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. The Innocence Project provides direct representation or critical assistance to prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing, exonerating the unjustly imprisoned and strengthening the legitimacy of the justice system.

Read the complete press release on the Innocence Project’s website.