Chad Higgins and Panelists Share Insights on Exonerating the Wrongfully Convicted at New England Bar Association 2023 Annual Meeting

At the New England Bar Association’s 2023 Annual Meeting, Bernstein Shur Shareholder and Litigation Practice Group Leader Chad Higgins joined industry peers to provide expertise on a panel, Exonerating the Wrongfully Convicted and How State Bars Can Help.

Chad worked with the New England Innocence Project and a team that secured the release of Keyon Sprinkle, who was wrongfully convicted of murder at the age of 17 and spent 20 years in jail before his conviction was overturned in 2020. In February of 2023, the City of Boston named February 3 “Keyon Sprinkle Day” in his honor, and Chad and his pro bono colleagues received a Certificate of Recognition by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for their work to support Keyon.

On the panel, Chad recounted his experience working to exonerate Keyon Sprinkle and suggested how the State Bar organizations could also get involved in this important work.

Panelists included Nini Sprinkle, Keyon’s cousin and recent law graduate who works with Massachusetts Bar Association President Damian Turco; Radha Natarajan, executive director of the New England Innocence Project; Rosemary C. Scapicchio, Boston defense attorney; Richard W. Cole, member of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Section Council; and Michael J. Iacopino, Chair of the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.