Prof. Bergeron Submits Amicus Brief in SCOTUS Case
Professor Evan J. Bergeron, director of the Loyola University Advocacy Center, is the principal author of a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the Supreme Court of the United States in Matthews v. Louisiana. The brief was submitted on behalf of fifteen Louisiana men who spent more than four centuries in prison, combined, for crimes they did not commit. In each of their cases, prosecutors withheld evidence that would have helped the defense.
The Supreme Court has required the government to disclose that kind of evidence since 1963, in a decision called Brady v. Maryland. Drawing on those 15 men's experiences, the brief argues that Louisiana's courts have largely stopped enforcing the Brady requirement, and it asks the Justices to state plainly what the Constitution demands before more people are convicted on incomplete evidence.
Professor Bergeron is board-certified in appellate practice and handles civil and criminal appeals in state and federal courts.