Shearman & Sterling’s litigation attorneys, working on a pro bono basis with the Criminal Justice Act Panel, achieved two significant victories this month.

In United States v. Crawford, a team led by partner Jeremy Epstein (New York-Litigation) represented Eugene Crawford, who was convicted of gun possession in a case before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appeals court ruled that the defendant is entitled to a new trial, as the US District Court judge in the original trial had allowed additional information to be presented to the jury after deliberations had begun. The decision marks the first time that the Court has addressed the propriety of reopening a trial during jury deliberations. Associates Andrew Agor (New York-Litigation) and Owen Russell (New York-Litigation) worked on the brief.

In another case, United States v. Evans, Epstein led a team working on the appeal of Robert Evans, who was found guilty of drug possession with intent to distribute, but acquitted of possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, by the US District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Evans raised the defense of entrapment, arguing that a government informant originated the idea of the exchanging drugs for firearms and induced Evans to make the exchange with an undercover FBI agent. To rebut this defense, the government relied on the unnoticed and unqualified expert testimony of two FBI agents and a "guilt-by-association" argument in summation to demonstrate that Evans was predisposed to commit the crimes charged. In its appellate brief, the Shearman & Sterling team argued that the trial court’s erroneous admission of the FBI agents’ improper expert testimony over defense counsel’s objections and the government’s impermissible "guilt-by-association" argument denied Evans a fair trial. After reading the brief, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut agreed that the testimony was admitted in error and moved to vacate Evans’s conviction and remand the case to the district court for a new trial. The Second Circuit granted the government’s motion. The Shearman & Sterling team also included associate John Scalzo (New York-Litigaiton) and former associate Dan Fisher.

The Criminal Justice Act Panel’s members agree to represent low-income individuals accused of crimes. Epstein serves on the Second Circuit Criminal Justice Act panel, partner Patrick Robbins (San Francisco-Litigation) serves on the federal court’s panel in the Northern District of California, and partner Tai Park (New York-Litigation) serves on the panel for the Southern District of New York.