Amicus Brief Bank

The Amicus Brief Bank is an online archive of all Amicus Briefs filed by the Innocence Network in cases around the country.

What is an Amicus Brief?

An amicus brief is a written legal argument filed by someone not directly involved in a case on appeal to help educate the court about particular issues. The Network decides when to file amicus briefs based upon many factors including which jurisdiction the case is in, what the particular issues being advocated are, and what kind of an impact the brief might have.

Submit an Amicus Brief Request

See our amicus brief request page to submit a request to the Innocence Network’s Amicus Committee

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Amicus brief

Unreliable Forensic Science

State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures

Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Javaine Watson (2026)

Position: Massachusetts's statute for post-conviction forensic and scientific testing should be interpreted to include digital evidence, such as digital forensic analysis of cell phones.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Door LLP

Courts:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Case #: SJC-13850

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Amicus brief

State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures

Alan Lane Hicks v. Jonathan Frame (2026)

Position: The U.S Supreme Court should Court grant hold that the exhaustion requirement of federal habeas relief is excusable when extraordinary delays in state post-conviction proceedings are attributable to the state and, therefore, render the state process ineffective under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(B)(ii).

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Courts:

Supreme Court of the United States

Case #: 25-726

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Amicus brief

Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues

State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures

The People of the State of Colorado v. Billy Joe Page (2025)

Position: The Colorado Court of Appeals should reverse the lower court judgment that denied DNA testing under Colorado's statute upon finding that there was "overwhelming" evidence of guilt. The DNA testing statute has no such exception, and thus, testing should be permitted.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

Courts:

Colorado Court of Appeals

Case #: 2025CA20

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Amicus brief

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Unreliable Forensic Science

State of Montana v. Katherine Anne Proctor (2025)

Position: Rule 702 requires that scientific evidence offered through expert opinion must be reliable: Here, the expert’s conclusion that the present medical findings are evidence that the baby was physically shaken is not based on a reliable scientific field of study, and must therefore be excluded.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Karl Pitcher

Courts:

Supreme Court of the State of Montana

Case #: No. DA 23-0409

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Amicus brief

New Evidence of Innocence

Other Issues

Ali Tuckett v. New York (2024)

Position: The Court should reject the notion that recantations are inherently unreliable and adopt a multifaceted test for evaluating the reliability of the recanted testimony.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Covington & Burlington LLP

Courts:

Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Case #: 129488

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Amicus brief

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Katie Garding v. Montana Department of Corrections

Position: Because jurors are heavily influenced by expert testimony, defense counsel must meaningfully assess the need for expert services.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Courts:

US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Case #: 23-35272

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Amicus brief

Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues

New Evidence of Innocence

State/Federal Habeas Corpus Rules & Procedures

State of Washington v. Cory Kloepper (2024)

Position: Post-conviction DNA test results in this case provide strong evidence of innocence, and in such situations, a new trial must be granted where a jury can consider the new exculpatory DNA evidence.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences

Courts:

Supreme Court of the State of Washington

Case #: 1031840

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Amicus brief

Unreliable Forensic Science

Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues

Lawrence K. Johnson v. State of Florida (2024)

Position: Unreliable DNA evidence can mislead a jury and result in wrongful conviction; the court should at a minimum hold an evidentiary hearing allowing the defendant to explore the flaws in the DNA evidence presented against him.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

Courts:

District Court of Appeal of Florida Fourth District

Case #: 4D2024-1818

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Amicus brief

Eyewitness Identification

Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues

People of the State of New York v. Tyrone Hicks (2013)

Position: The DNA evidence here is highly probative of innocence, and the evidence offered at trial was weak.

Decision: Decided: February 27, 2014. Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Darcel D. Clark, J.), entered October 26, 2012, which granted defendant's motion to vacate a judgment of conviction and directed a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence, unanimously affirmed.

Counsel:

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Courts:

Supreme Court of the State of New York

Case #: No. 2592/98

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Amicus brief

Unreliable Forensic Science

Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing/Complex DNA Issues

Areli Escobar v. State of Texas (2024)

Position: DNA can have an outsized influence on jurors and false DNA evidence presented was enormously prejudicial. Shoeprint and latent fingerprint evidence is also unreliable.

Decision: Pending

Counsel:

Goodwin Procter LLP

Courts:

Supreme Court of the United States

Case #: No. 23-934

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