AG Herrings hires ‘Conviction Integrity Unit’ team

RICHMOND (April 13, 2021) – Attorney General Herring has hired three former capital/public defenders (two attorneys and an investigator) as part of his efforts to expand his new Conviction Integrity Unit. In January, Attorney General Herring announced the creation of a Conviction Integrity Unit to identify and overturn wrongful convictions in Virginia. The Unit is a distinct entity with a singular focus on evaluating and investigating claims of wrongful conviction, taking proactive steps to overturn wrongful convictions, and implementing important changes in the law that will finally allow for more wrongly convicted people to pursue their claims in the courts.

“A wrongful conviction denies someone not only their freedom but indefinable opportunities and the ability to choose their own path in life – it is a wrong that can never be fully righted, but we must try,” said Attorney General Herring. “These new members of my team bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Conviction Integrity Unit that will ensure any potential wrongful conviction cases get the attention and consideration they truly deserve. As a Commonwealth, we must always strive for justice and truth, but when the system fails or gets it wrong, we have an obligation to right that wrong and give someone a second chance.”

Attorney General Herring has hired two attorneys and an investigator to join his Conviction Integrity Unit:

• Emilee Hasbrouck – Emilee has been hired as an attorney in the new Conviction Integrity Unit. Prior to joining Attorney General Herring’s team, Emilee worked for eleven years in Virginia’s public defender system, including serving as a supervising attorney in the Richmond Public Defender’s Office and as an Assistant Capital Defender in the Capital Defender’s Office for Central Virginia for the past two years. Emilee is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the University of Richmond School of Law.

• Kyle Richardson – Kyle has been hired as an investigator in the new Conviction Integrity Unit. Prior to joining Attorney General Herring’s team, Kyle was an investigator with the Office of Capital Defender for Central Virginia for the past twelve years. Recently, Kyle served as lead defense investigator on a capital murder prosecution resulting in dismissal of all charges at trial. Kyle is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute.

• Seth Shelley – Seth has been hired as an attorney in the new Conviction Integrity Unit. Prior to joining Attorney General Herring’s team, Seth worked for 13 years in Virginia’s public defender system, including service as a supervising attorney in the Richmond Public Defender’s Office and as an Assistant and Deputy Capital Defender in the Capital Defender’s Office for Central Virginia for the past seven years. Seth is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

The work of the Conviction Integrity Unit has grown in light of important changes to Virginia’s laws around wrongful convictions and the issuance of “writs of actual innocence,” which are orders issued by either the Court of Appeals of Virginia or the Virginia Supreme Court after the court finds that an individual did not actually commit the crime for which they were convicted and that they are actually innocent.

The addition of an in-house investigator is a major development that will expand the Conviction Integrity Unit’s ability to follow the facts and independently determine whether a person has been wrongly convicted. Instead of relying on law enforcement agencies who may have been involved in the original investigation, the Unit will now be able to conduct more independent investigations that help get to the truth of someone’s guilt or innocence.
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Under legislation that the Office of Attorney General worked on in the last legislative session with chief patron House of Delegates Majority Leader Charniele Herring, the General Assembly has expanded the opportunities for wrongfully convicted individuals to pursue their claims and eliminated many of the unnecessary procedural requirements that too often kept individuals from having their case heard on the merits.