2022 NEWS ARCHIVE
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OCTOBER 31, 2022
Shanies law OBTAINS $36 MILLION FOR MEN wrongfully convicted IN MALCOLM X CASE
Shanies Law successfully negotiated settlements totaling $36 million with the City and State of New York in the case of Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, the two men wrongfully convicted of murdering Malcolm X in 1965. The historic settlements were covered extensively by international news media. In a public statement, David Shanies said the government “made the right decision by settling these lawsuits immediately and not prolonging the injustice,” adding that the firm and its clients were “extremely grateful for the judge’s considerable efforts to facilitate a fair and speedy resolution.”
July 15, 2022
Shanies law client james irons exonerated in 1995 subway booth murder case
Shanies Law successfully moved to vacate the conviction and dismiss all charges against client James Irons, who was wrongfully convicted in the 1995 murder of a New York City subway employee. The exoneration came at the culmination of a years-long reinvestigation conducted with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
From left to right: Summer Associate Haley Talati (Columbia Law School), David Shanies, James Irons, Deborah Francois, and Summer Associates Lindsay Campbell (NYU Law School) and Cara Eisenstein (NYU Law School)
David Shanies, acknowledging the District Attorney’s conclusion that Mr. Irons’ so-called “confession” was false, told the court that detectives used “threats, lies, sleep deprivation and physical violence” to obtain the false confession. The New York Times reported that Shanies both “thanked the district attorney’s office for its work” and “criticized it for a ‘carefully tailored’ set of conclusions that discredited only the police, remaining silent on the prosecutors’ conduct.” “This will not be the last word on that matter,” Shanies told the court.
july 14, 2022
shanies law files federal civil rights lawsuit for malcolm x case exonerees
National and international news coverage followed the firm’s filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Muhammad A. Aziz and the Estate of Khalil Islam, the two men exonerated in November 2021, more than 55 years after their wrongful convictions for the murder of Malcolm X.
The convictions were “the result of outrageous government misconduct and violations of their constitutional rights,” David Shanies told the New York Times. “These men and their families should not be delayed compensation for the gross injustices they suffered.”
“They got a small measure of justice when their convictions were vacated,” Deborah Francois, told NBC News in a Thursday interview.
“But we want to hold government officials accountable for misconduct that led to their wrongful convictions and decades of living with the stigma of being labeled Malcolm X’s murderers.”
MAY 5, 2022
shanies law secures $10.5 million for brooklyn wrongful conviction victim
Today the New York Times reported on the settlement Shanies Law and the firm’s co-counsel, global powerhouse law firm White & Case LLP, have reached on behalf of client Shawn Williams. Mr. Williams was arrested at the age of 19 for a murder he did not commit. His case was one of many homicide-related convictions overturned due to misconduct attributed to former NYPD Detective Louis Scarcella. The $10.5 million represents by far the largest settlement obtained in more than a dozen cases arising from Scarcella’s conduct.
David B. Shanies told the Times, “Shawn has been through the fire for nearly 30 years. It’s satisfying to see him come out the other side with his name cleared and some reparation for his ordeal.” The White & Case team, led by partner Samuel P. Hershey, who represented Mr. Williams throughout his post-conviction litigation, also included associate Wyatt R. Smith. The Shanies Law team included Counsel Deborah I. Francois.
March 1, 2022
shanies law WINS SECOND CIRCUIT APPEAL, REVERSAL OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT DISMISSAL
Shanies Law won an important victory at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a racial discrimination and retaliation case, Sce v. City of New York. The Second Circuit reversed in part the district court’s grant of summary judgment, reinstating retaliation claims under federal and state law that Shanies Law client Andre Sce, a Black NYPD sergeant, brought against New York City and numerous individual defendants. The case, which has previously been covered in the press, was featured on legal news website Law360 Deborah Francois argued the successful appeal, and together she and David Shanies wrote the briefs.
february 3, 2022
shanies law clients and attorneys featured on abc’s “X/ONERATEd”
ABC ran a prime-time special timed to coincide with Black History Month: an hour-long episode of the network’s Soul of a Nation programming called “X / o n e r a t e d.” The special featured the exonerations of Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, two men wrongfully convicted for the 1965 murder of El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, also known as Malcolm X. In addition to Mr. Aziz and members of his and Khalil Islam’s families, David B. Shanies and Deborah I. Francois spoke about the firm’s clients and our ongoing quest for justice on their behalf. Vanessa Potkin, one of the firm’s co-counsel from the Innocence Project, spoke about the importance of robust and cooperative conviction integrity review processes.
