The American Lawyer: Litigator of the Week: After SCOTUS Reverses Non-Unanimous Murder Conviction, O’Melveny Wins Acquittal on Retrial

O’Melveny & Myers LLP was featured in The American Lawyer’s March 17 edition of “Litigator of the Week.” An O’Melveny pro bono team secured the release of Evangelisto Ramos, a Louisiana man who served more than eight years in prison for a murder conviction that was delivered by a non-unanimous jury. Three years ago, an appellate team from the firm appealed Ramos’s conviction, arguing before the US Supreme Court that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous convictions for both state and federal juries. The high court agreed and granted Ramos a retrial. O’Melveny partner Rebecca Mermelstein, a former prosecutor for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, led an O’Melveny team that represented Ramos in a three-day trial last week, where a New Orleans jury unanimously found Ramos not guilty. “I will always remember the feeling of standing next to someone who was sentenced to die in prison and has been freed from those shackles,” Mermelstein said. The O’Melveny team included partner Mark Racanelli, counsel Allessandra Johnson and David Cohen, and associates Caitlyn Holuta and Makenzie Russo. Special counsel Jeff Fisher and former partner Yaira Dubin argued Ramos’ case before the Supreme Court.

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