Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 27, 2004|Volume 32, Number 20

Richard Schmechel

Law student to work on criminal
justice project as Soros Fellow

Yale Law School student Richard Schmechel '04 and three alumni of the school have received 2004 Soros Justice Fellowships from the Open Society Institute (OSI).

The Open Society Institute is a private operating and grantmaking foundation created and funded by George Soros. The organization's U.S. programs seek to strengthen democracy by addressing barriers to opportunity and justice, broadening the public discussion about such issues, and helping marginalized groups participate equally in society.

The Soros Justice Fellowship program was established in 1997 and has awarded more than 150 fellowships. OSI fellows conduct one- or two-year projects and receive stipends ranging from $20,000 to $97,000.

Schmechel will work under the supervision of the District of Columbia Public Defender Service (PDS) on a project that will improve the use of identification science -- especially DNA technology and eyewitness identification techniques -- in criminal trials. His project will strengthen and systematize the work of PDS's ongoing DNA Working Group and Special Litigation Division. The project entails organizing information concerning DNA evidence and eyewitness identifications; distributing this information through local attorney trainings and a website; using model pleadings to advocate in cases; and changing the case management system to better tag and track identification issues.

"I feel very fortunate to have an opportunity to work on this project," says Schmechel. "All stages of the criminal justice system need fundamental change in light of recent post-conviction exonerations. For example, while DNA testing has proven that mistaken eyewitness identifications are the leading factor in wrongful convictions, many jurisdictions still do not allow experts to testify about the limitations of memory. Yet, DNA and other new forensic science technologies are not a panacea either, and at times their use may be misleading or uncritically accepted. That's why I think it is important to systemically improve the courtroom use of all identification sciences -- old and new."

Schmechel is a member of the Law School's Prison Legal Services and Non-profit Organizations Clinics, and is currently director of the school's Greenhaven Prison Project. He has worked as a law clerk with the District of Columbia Public Defender Service, served as a Public Interest Fellow at the law firm of Swidler, Berlin, Shereff, Friedman LLP, and clerked at the Yale Office of General Counsel. Schmechel received an M.A. in philosophy from Yale in 2001 and a B.A. from St. John's College in 1997.

The Law School graduates who received Soros Fellowships are Emily Bazelon '00 J.D., Soros Justice Media Fellow, who will write articles about the shifting balance of power among judges, juries and prosecutors in sentencing defendants; Margaret Love '77 J.D., Soros Justice Senior Fellow, who will research state and federal procedures for the restoration of rights after criminal convictions; and Andrea Marsh '01 J.D., Soros Justice Advocacy Fellow, who will help protect the rights of indigent defendants in Texas by monitoring the state's Fair Defense Act.

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