Peter Neufeld - Biography

Peter Neufeld is an American lawyer and is most famous as a cofounder, with Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, located at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. With Scheck and Jim Dwyer he co-authored Actual Innocence; with Scheck and Taryn Simon he co-authored The Innocents.

In 1995 and 2000, he was appointed to serve on the New York State Commission on Forensic Science by then-Governor George Pataki. A partner in the law firm Cochran Neufeld & Scheck, he has represented Abner Louima and others who claimed their civil rights were violated by the police or the government. He also served on the defense team for O.J. Simpson.

In May 2006, Earl Washington Jr., a client of Neufeld's, was awarded $2.25 million after suing the estate of a Virginia State Police investigator. The jury found that the investigator fabricated the confession that caused Washington to be sentenced to death for a 1982 rape and murder.

On March 2, 2009, Neufeld argued before the United States Supreme Court in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne. The issues included whether criminal defendants have a post-conviction right to access DNA evidence and whether they can sue under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to vindicate that right.

Education

B.A., 1972, University of Wisconsin–Madison
J.D., 1975, New York University

External links

• Peter Neufeld
• Interview with PBS, December 4, 2002.
• Peter Neufeld. "The (Near) Irrelevance of Daubert to Criminal Justice and Some Suggestions for Reform." American Journal of Public Health, June 2005.
• Earl Washington Case Shows Reforms to Death Penalty, Criminal Cases Needed, Neufeld Says. An article based on a talk given by Neufeld at the University of Virginia law school.
• [1]. Oral Argument Recap: District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne (08-6)