Bruce Barket, Donna Aldea and the Barket Epstein team played a significant role in the exoneration of a man who served over 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit and then won multi-million-dollar government settlements on his behalf.
In a tragic story that brought a judge to tears and was covered by international media, the role of Barket Epstein in the exoneration and settlements for Samuel Brownridge make the firm extremely proud.
As Bruce Barket observed, “Sam Brownridge came to us as a convicted murderer, incarcerated facing a life sentence and penniless. He left us a free man, exonerated of the crime for which he was wrongly convicted, and within two years of that exoneration, a multi-millionaire. The work we did here was enormously satisfying, even as we remain heartbroken for the 25 years Sam lost while incarcerated. One can’t ever fully repair the damage done when an innocent person is sent to prison, but we can, at least, end the incarceration and seek compensation for the decades spent behind bars. Sam’s story, as all exoneration cases are, is complicated and unique.
“Ultimately, his friend Don Taylor, a paralegal at our firm who was also wrongly convicted of murder and then exonerated, came to us, and asked us to look into the case. They met when they were both in prison. Don got out first then went back for his friend. We agreed to help.
“Donna Aldea led the charge and convinced the prosecutors that they made a mistake, and then convinced the court to vacate the conviction and dismiss the indictment. Following that we used our resources to expedite the largest settlement in the history of wrongful conviction cases in New York. I wish every case had such a happy expeditious ending, but for now I will settle for the wonderful result Sam was able to achieve.”
Read more about the cases:
The New York Times on the exoneration:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/nyregion/queens-da-exoneration-samuel-brownridge.html
The New York Daily News on the NYC settlement:
