By Karyn Sinunu-Towery
NCIP volunteer attorney Karyn Sinunu-Towery. Photo provided by Karyn Sinunu-Towery
In 1983, while in law school, I joined the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. I stayed for 30 years and was fortunate to have a very gratifying career trying cases and supervising divisions.
For most of my career, I was convinced that an innocent person could never be convicted of murder by any office, let alone mine.
I was wrong.
In 2003, while I was supervising the homicide unit, Morrison & Foerster attorney Alison Tucher approached me. She said her pro bono client Rick Walker was in prison for a 1991 murder he did not commit.
Although I was initially skeptical of the innocence claim, I initiated a thorough investigation of the murder case. Our investigation, which included DNA testing, concluded that Rick in fact had nothing to do with the murder. His wrongful conviction was based mainly on the testimony of a woman who received a secret deal on her drug offense and a man who cut a deal to avoid a first degree murder charge. In addition, law enforcement withheld crucial evidence.
Rick was released after 12 years in custody and found factually innocent by a judge. The actual person who had committed the murder was located and arrested; he confessed and was convicted. Never again would I be so sanguine about innocence claims.
When I retired as a prosecutor in 2013, I wanted to continue to contribute to criminal justice. The obvious answer for me was to volunteer at NCIP.
Some people were surprised that I would “switch sides,” from being an Assistant District Attorney to an NCIP volunteer attorney. I did not switch sides – rather, I continued the pursuit of justice. Because the fundamental mission of both entities is to find justice—to assure that the people who commit crimes are prosecuted appropriately and that those who are innocent are not wrongfully convicted.
And the simple truth is that if an innocent person is prosecuted and imprisoned, then the real culprit remains free.
In my training as a prosecutor, I was taught to take my emotions out of the cases. It’s not about what the prosecutor thinks is right or wrong but what the facts demonstrate. That training has served me well at NCIP. It’s not about how we feel about an innocence case – our job is to find the truth.
Serving as an NCIP volunteer attorney is immensely rewarding. I work with a dedicated and very talented NCIP staff. I have just concluded a two-and-a-half year investigation with the help of a retired San Jose Police Department Deputy Chief. Our client is presently serving a prison sentence with no parole; our investigation convinces us he is innocent. A superb team from Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett is currently taking the lead in drafting the habeas writ, which pleads a basis for the client’s release based on newly discovered facts.
I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to help NCIP in their quest for justice.
