Coleraine barrister to work with US death-row inmates

A barrister from Coleraine will this week begin to work with death-row prisoners at the largest maximum security prison in the United States.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Jan 2016, 19:30 BST
Barrister Sam Curtis will spend three months in LouisianaBarrister Sam Curtis will spend three months in Louisiana
Barrister Sam Curtis will spend three months in Louisiana

Sam Curtis, 27, will spend three months with the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana (CPCPL) which represents death-sentenced prisoners in the state.

Whilst there he will work with maximum-security prisoners at the 18,000-acre Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, and dubbed the “Alcatraz of the South”, and “The Farm”, a maximum-security prison farm operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections.

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“I’m very excited about it, it’s a great opportunity to work with people very much in need,” said Mr Curtis, who flew out to New Orleans on Saturday.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United StatesThe Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States

“I will work with the director of the CPCPL, Gary Clements, for three months and have a case load of about five or six cases.

“I’ll be working with death-row defendants, their families, the courts and legal teams, researching and preparing cases for appeal.

“My work will involve looking over transcripts and legal papers to see if there are any issues that the initial court missed or did not pick up on, visiting the defendants in prison and interviewing those who were involved in the original case.

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“As part of the appeal process I’ll examine whether there was any racial bias on how the convictions were reached or whether the defendant had suffered some kind of abuse which may have had a bearing on their case.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United StatesThe Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States

“It’s not neccessarily about getting prisoners off, it’s about ensuring that those who have committed serious offences are incarcerated in accordance with the law.”

Mr Curtis currently works for the General Medical Council in Manchester, specialising in appeals, and he feels that experience will stand him in good stead for his sabbatical in America which is being arranged through the charity Amicus.

Amicus was founded in memory of Andrew Lee Jones, who was executed in Louisiana in 1991. It helps to provide representation for those facing the death penalty in the United States.

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Capital defence lawyers in the US are generally overworked and underpaid. Some are also woefully inexperienced and a significant number of US citizens have gone to their deaths because of poor legal representation.

The Amicus internship programme sends 20 to 30 trained interns out to the US every year to carry out vital work that would not get done without them.

Related topics:Coleraine