After working for the New Mexico public defender’s office for four years, attorney Kathleen (Kathy) Love joined the Albuquerque law firm of McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A., in 2000 and focused her practice on plaintiff’s personal injury work. When not working on behalf of negligently injured plaintiffs, she has used her legal skills to contribute to philanthropic causes. One such cause is the New Mexico Innocence and Justice Project, for which attorney Kathy Love served on the board of directors from 2004 to 2007. Run by the University of New Mexico School of Law, the New Mexico Innocence and Justice Project works to overturn the convictions of people who have been wrongfully incarcerated. Under the leadership of Prof. Gordon Rahn, the students involved in the Justice Project conduct in-depth investigations into the facts of previously closed cases and coordinate DNA analysis to help exonerate innocent people serving prison terms. One of the Justice Project’s most recent victories was the case of Jacob Duran. Duran had served 30 years of a life sentence when the Justice Project took up his case. In 1986, he was convicted of robbing and murdering an elderly woman in her home. He had done handyman work for the woman previously, and the police focused on him as their sole suspect almost immediately. An eyewitness testified that he looked somewhat similar to a person seen jumping over the victim’s fence on the night of the murder. Although no positive identification was made, Duran was said to fit the vague description given of a Hispanic man with a beard. Duran’s blood type also matched that of blood the police found under the victim’s nails. After a trial bereft of direct evidence, the jury deliberated for only a short while before finding the defendant guilty. In 2012, the Justice Project began investigating the case. New DNA analysis techniques allowed students to test hair and blood found at the scene and conclusively determine that they did not match that of Duran. On February 8, 2017, the Justice Project asked that Duran’s conviction be vacated based on the new evidence.
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AuthorKathy Love, a partner at the civil practice McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, PA, defends individuals and families who have lost a loved one, or who have suffered a serious injury at the hands of large corporations, government, or hospitals. Archives
December 2017
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