A civilized society relies on the criminal justice system to detain those suspected of crimes, try them with due process of law, and properly carry out the sentences imposed. But sometimes, the system does not work as it should. Suspects may be brutalized, the innocent may be convicted, and punishments may be unjust. Prosecutors are critical to the administration of justice, but so are attorneys like those at Morrison & Foerster who stand up for justice when the system has failed. To learn more about our work involving the criminal justice system, click
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Seeking Freedom for the Innocent
Few legal dramas are more inspiring than a lawyer's crusade to free a wrongfully convicted person from prison. The stakes in these cases are high, not only for the individuals behind bars, but also for the integrity of the justice system that has put them there. MoFo lawyers embrace the challenge of these critical cases, even while knowing that the innocent win their freedom far more often in fiction than in fact. The dream of release came true for our client Francisco Carrillo on March 15, 2011, when he walked out of prison a free man 20 years after his arrest for murder and attempted murder. The hearing on his habeas corpus petition lasted just six days, but it culminated nearly five years and thousands of hours of painstaking work. In the end, it was a simple case of mistaken identity by a teenaged eyewitness, compounded as the witness's friends followed his lead identifying our client as the murderer. The witnesses recanted their prior testimony against our client, and an expert's testimony that there was insufficient light to make positive identifications was underscored by a nighttime visit with the judge to the scene of the crime. In addition to his attorneys from our San Francisco office, Mr. Carrillo's legal team included the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University and a private attorney, all working pro bono.