News Archives - The Office of the Appellate Defender

OAD Alumni Directory

In honor of OAD’s 30th anniversary, we are proud to present this first-ever OAD Alumni Directory. We have listed our former staff members’ names, current place of business, and position while at OAD. As this Directory powerfully demonstrates, OAD-trained attorneys have become state and federal public defenders, scholars, policy-makers, jurists and private practitioners. OAD’s alumni…

OAD@30

In honor of OAD’s 30th anniversary, we are sharing 30 ways that OAD makes a difference. From our courtroom success, reinvestigation project, esteemed alumni, client advocacy programs, and social services–follow along on Twitter and Facebook, or click here to see all of the ways revealed thus far! #WeRepresent #OAD@30

OAD Appellate Update (October 23 to November 5, 2018)

Appellate Update (October 23, 2018 to November 5, 2018) Court of Appeals People v. Jakim Grimes (Oct. 23, 2018) Opinion by Judge Di Fiore with Judges Stein, Fahey, Garcia and Feinman concurring; Judge Wilson dissents in an opinion joined by Judge Rivera The Court of Appeals previously held in People v Andrews (2014) that an…

Two Wins in the Appellate Division

On June 7, 2018, the First Department vacated Mr. Travis Breckenridge’s first degree assault conviction after concluding that “the court’s jury charge failed to convey that an acquittal on the top count of attempted second-degree murder based on a finding of justification would preclude consideration of the count of first-degree assault.” On May 31, 2018, the First Department…

OAD Receives Open Society Foundations Grant

Today, the Open Society Foundations (OSF) announced that OAD’s President and Attorney-in-Charge, Christina Swarns, is one of eight new leaders of nonprofit organizations who has been awarded a New Executive Fund grant to “help implement their vision of change.” You can read more about this exciting grant here.

OAD is Selected as a Host Site for NLADA’s Inaugural AmeriCorps VISTA Program

The National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) has selected the Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) to serve as a host site for NLADA’s inaugural AmeriCorps VISTA program. This initiative is designed to train AmeriCorps VISTA members in best practices in Community Oriented Defense by placing them in public defense agencies to help establish…