ETKS Partner Brian Shiffrin Obtains an Order Vacating a 1995 Conviction for Double Murder

Brian Shiffrin obtained an order vacating a 1995 conviction for double murder for which the client had served 30 years on a sentence of 50 years to life.

The only forensic evidence purportedly linking him to the crime was a hair found in the hand of one of the murder victims which, based on the crime lab’s expert’s microscopic comparison, the prosecutor at trial urged matched the client's hair. Brian brought a motion for DNA testing of the hair. The test excluded the client as a source of the hair.

The District Attorney and the Court agreed to set aside the murder conviction and sentence with the client agreeing to enter a plea to manslaughter, without making any factual admissions, since he continues to profess his innocence.

And now, after 30 years of incarceration, the client is home with his wife.