By: Jim Dwyer
Cohen Seglias Partner Carol Sigmond was quoted in Jim Dwyer’s November 22nd New York Times article, “Cuomo’s Commitment to Clemency Tested in 3 Murder Cases”. Carol was interviewed as a follow-up to previous quotes she provided for Dwyer’s October 2015 article, “More Mercy, Less Prison in a Shift for Cuomo”.
One year ago, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced a “clemency project” to breathe life into a power that has withered from disuse in the state and across the country: the granting of pardons and the commuting of prison sentences for people convicted of crimes.
Be careful what you wish for.
Among the people waiting to hear from the governor are three men, all convicted of murder, who have maintained their innocence as the years of their lives turned into decades in prison.
One is a 73-year-old man from Westchester County who had been in the sports memorabilia business at the time of his arrest. Another, 51, had been an auxiliary police officer in Brooklyn. The third, 41, was a teenager in Suffolk County, on Long Island, who had not yet finished high school.