In his new book, You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent, Justin Brooks, director and co-founder of the California Innocence Project, puts readers at the defense table by forcing us to consider how any of us might be swept up in the system—whether we hired a bad lawyer, bear a slight resemblance to someone else in the world, or are not good with awkward silence. He offers up-close real-life accounts of wrongful convictions and innocence claims he has fought, embedding them within the larger landscape of the American justice system.
Justin Brooks is the director and co-founder of the California Innocence Project. Over the course of his career, he has served as counsel on many high-profile criminal cases and has exonerated more than 35 innocent people, including former NFL player Brian Banks. (He is portrayed by Academy Award nominated actor Greg Kinnear in the feature film, “Brian Banks.")
Brooks has been recognized several times by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California, and in 2010 and 2012, California Lawyer Magazine honored him with the “Lawyer of the Year” award.
He has founded innocence organizations throughout Latin America and speaks around the world about innocence work.
He is the author of the only legal casebook devoted to the topic of wrongful convictions and the non-fiction book You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent which details what he has learned about wrongful convictions from his more than three decades as a criminal defense attorney and innocence organization director.
View Video: YouTube with Justin Brooks
Food for Thought: Podcast with Justin Brooks
