Ronald Sullivan: How I help free innocent people from prison
Ronald Sullivan: Como ajudei a libertar pessoas inocentes da prisão
Ronald Sullivan is a leading theorist in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, trial practice and techniques, legal ethics and race theory. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
a 19-hour, very long drive
bem longa, de 19 horas,
nessa viagem de 19 horas,
impõem que vos perguntem:
a hundred more times, easily,
mais de cem vezes, facilmente,
wonderful, wonderful trip.
de volta para casa
were away in Florida.
estavam na Flórida.
who will listen,
and Minnie and my kids!"
a Minnie e os meus filhos!"
I have worked on
in Brooklyn, New York,
em Brooklyn, Nova Iorque,
no processo da polícia,
in the prosecutor's file,
na pasta do promotor,
to his public defender.
ao advogado de defesa.
and we found it,
e encontrámo-lo.
committed the crime.
praticara o crime.
from the Brooklyn District Attorney.
do advogado do Distrito de Brooklyn
in designing a program
interessado em desenvolver um programa
de acusação".
a unit in a prosecutor's office
no gabinete do promotor
they made mistakes.
se houve ou não algum erro.
encontrámos 13 condenações erradas.
tempo significativo atrás das grades.
significant time behind bars.
of the men and women
de homens e mulheres
in the course of this program.
I've been framed.
Fui incriminado."
muito simples e óbvio
like it was open and shut,
por uma única testemunha
esses casos com mais atenção.
a little bit closer at those cases.
disse ter ouvido um tiro,
and turned around and looked,
virou-se e olhou,
estava na cadeia há 17 anos.
and in jail for 17-some-odd years.
por isso fomos ver.
so we took a look at it.
and there was an inconsistency.
e havia uma incoerência.
from where she said she was
até ao outro local.
que aquilo não era verdade.
that he didn't do it,
que ele não fizera aquilo,
about this witness.
estava errado com a testemunha.
had a number on it.
que tinha um número.
that this witness had a record.
que a testemunha tinha cadastro.
of non-digitized papers
de documentos não digitalizados
era esse cadastro.
29 years later.
29 anos depois.
parecia claramente estabelecido.
it looked open and shut.
que as confissões de jovens,
that juvenile confessions
comprovaram isso várias vezes.
were police and prosecutors.
eram os polícias e os promotores.
que pessoa foi,
a confissão fora forçada,
e fizemos uma investigação forense,
different hairstyle,
com diferentes penteados,
uma "audição de anulação"
McCallum sair dali.
that judges say all the time,
que os juízes dizem sempre
teve um significado especial.
his codefendant, Mr. Stuckey,
at counsel table in his place.
em vez dele.
the rest of my life.
no resto da minha vida.
não tinha feito isso."
não tinha feito isso."
anything that I've learned,
algo que eu aprendi,
a integridade das condenações,
acontecer a justiça.
that just descends from above
wouldn't have died in prison.
Stuckey não teria morrido na prisão.
just an extra minute --
find the receipt,
para o processo, achar o recibo,
and say, "That cannot be."
para o vídeo da confissão e dizer:
would be alive today.
um dos meus poemas favoritos.
would always recite,
sempre citava,
give account if I abuse it.
prestar contas, se o desperdiçar.
uma coisa a toda a gente,
their careers and their lives,
que passam a vida e a sua carreira
a fazer justiça todos os dias.
o que quer que façam,
whatever you do,
se sinta melhor.
he was released from prison.
ele abraçou uma sobrinha
you want to do?"
to walk on the sidewalk
about two weeks ago.
aqui há duas semanas.
da sua libertação.
when we met with him
quando nos encontrámos,
e a sua carreira
is locked up unjustly.
seja preso injustamente.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. - Clinical professor of lawRonald Sullivan is a leading theorist in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, trial practice and techniques, legal ethics and race theory.
Why you should listen
Professor Ronald Sullivan is the faculty director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute and the Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop. Sullivan also serves as Faculty Dean of Winthrop House at Harvard College. He is the first African American ever appointed Faculty Dean in Harvard's history. He is a founding member and Senior Fellow of the Jamestown Project.
Sullivan has merged legal theory and practice over the course of his career in unique and cutting-edge ways. In 2014, he was tasked to design and implement a Conviction Review Unit (CRU) for the newly elected Brooklyn District Attorney. The CRU, designed to identify and exonerate wrongfully convicted persons, quickly became regarded as the model conviction integrity program in the nation. In its first year of operation alone, Sullivan discovered over 10 wrongful convictions, which the DA ultimately vacated. Some of the exonerated citizens had served more than 30 years in prison before they were released.
In 2008, Sullivan served as Chair, Criminal Justice Advisory Committee for then-Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In this capacity, his committee made policy recommendations on a range of issues in an effort to put into practice some of the best research in the field. He also served as a member of the National Legal Advisory Group for the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign. Finally, Sullivan was appointed Advisor to the Department of Justice Presidential Transition Team.
In 2007, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Sullivan was asked to create a system to solve a criminal justice crisis. More than 6,000 citizens were incarcerated in and around New Orleans without representation and with all official records destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Sullivan designed an indigent defense delivery system that resulted in the release of nearly all the 6000 inmates.
Sullivan still maintains an appellate and trial practice. He has represented persons ranging from politicians to professional athletes to recording artists to pro bono clients in criminal jeopardy. Representative clients include: The family of Michael Brown, former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez and the family of Usaamah Rahim.
Sullivan is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and the Harvard Law School, where he served as President of the Harvard Black Law Students Association and as General Editor of the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal.
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. | Speaker | TED.com