Produced by: School of Law
January 23, 2014
Alumni in the News
A Case of Innocence, With Missteps Seemingly at Every Turn
By Jim Dwyer
The New York Times
January 23, 2014
Excerpt:
The only two people tried for the shooting of Mr. Peseo were the two women. After their convictions, the case was turned over to the Office of the Appellate Defender, where it was flagged for special attention. A senior attorney, Kerry S. Jamieson, dug through the records and, with an investigator and other lawyers, found witnesses who provided them with a road map of how the crime had actually happened, according to Anastasia Heeger, the director of the Reinvestigation Project in the appellate defender’s office.
While Ms. Johnson and Ms. Blyden were under indictment, four men — unconnected to them — were arrested in another shooting case, and ultimately pleaded guilty to the shooting of Mr. Peseo.
Ms. Jamieson’s investigation led to an apparent female accomplice of the four men. Lawyers for both innocent women presented the new evidence to the Bronx district attorney’s office. “To their credit, they took it seriously,” Ms. Heeger said. The prosecutors quickly agreed that the convictions should be vacated.
At every step, the case was riddled with what cognitive psychologists called “confirmation bias”: The mistaken eyewitness was confirmed by the false confession, which led to more wrong witnesses.
Related News
Alumnus and Adjunct Professor Credits St. John’s upon Book Release
Minkyu Kim ’24Ph.D. earned his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from T he School of Education at St. John’s University. He currently teaches English at Stuyvesant High School and serves as an...
Business and Law Graduate Programs Ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s Top 100
In just-released rankings by U.S. News & World Report of the 2026 Best Graduate Schools, the part-time Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program in The Peter J. Tobin College of Business and the St. John’s University School of Law are listed in the top 100 and noted for their excellence and achievement.
St. John’s University Announces Commencement 2026 Honorees
St. John’s University will hold its Undergraduate-Level Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. on the Great Lawn. The Most Reverend Richard G. Henning, S.T.D., D.D. ’86SJC, ’88M.A., Archbishop of Boston, MA, will serve as this year’s speaker and be conferred an honorary degree during the ceremony.