The team at Chartier & Nyamfukudza includes (l-r) Nicole Hoskins, Lizzy Cary, Takura Nyamfukudza, Mary Chartier, Tony Palmer-Peterson, Marisa Vinsky, and (seated) Kurt E. Krause and Kim Barrus.
Photo courtesy of Chartier & Nyamfukudza
Chartier & Nyamfukudza has had its second exoneration in six months. Shawn Brown was convicted of manslaughter and child abuse with the government advancing a theory of abusive head trauma, formerly known as shaken baby syndrome.
The Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan began representing Brown after his initial appeal affirmed his convictions. The Michigan Innocence Clinic presented significant medical evidence that contradicted the evidence presented by the government at trial.
After Brown served 9 years in prison, the case was remanded for a retrial, and Mary Chartier was contacted by the Innocence Clinic and asked to take on the case. Chartier explained, “We looked at the case, and we believed strongly in Mr. Brown’s innocence. The evidence used to convict him was fundamentally flawed and medically unsound. Mr. Brown was a loving father wrongfully convicted of a horrendous crime. We were eager to take on his case and fight for him.”
The Chartier & Nyamfukudza team, with offices in Okemos and Grand Rapids has years of experience defending cases that involve significant forensic science issues and began mounting a defense that would present the new medical evidence to the jury. After nearly two years of preparing for trial, the preparation proved successful when the prosecutor dismissed the case.
Brown was finally vindicated, and he is now listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.
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