2022-2023 Pro Bono Program Review

Retrial Acquittal After Non-Unanimous Conviction

At Stake

Collaborators

The Outcome

The freedom of a man convicted of murder by a non-unanimous jury permitted under Jim Crow-era laws

Sarah Chervinsky of The Chervinsky Law Firm, New Orleans

Non-unanimous juries were found unconstitutional and Ramos was acquitted after retrial

Photo: Evangelisto Ramos celebrates his release from prison.

A Louisiana man who served more than eight years in prison for a second-degree murder conviction was declared not guilty by a New Orleans jury in March 2023 after a retrial led by an O’Melveny pro bono team. The firm had appealed his case all the way to the US Supreme Court, earning him a new trial—and ultimately, his freedom. Evangelisto Ramos was sentenced to life without parole in 2016 after 10 of 12 New Orleans jurors convicted him in the fatal stabbing of a Louisiana woman. At the time, Louisiana and Oregon were the only states that allowed felony convictions by non- unanimous juries, a vestige of oppressive Jim Crow- era policies that served to undermine the voices of Black jurors. O’Melveny’s pro bono team argued before the US Supreme Court in 2019 that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous convictions for both state and federal juries. The high court agreed, opening the door for new trials for hundreds of defendants convicted by non-unanimous juries.

The American Lawyer honored Mermelstein as its “Litigator of the Week” for her trial prowess, but her greatest satisfaction was ensuring that her client received a fair trial: “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.”

Ramos’s retrial was led by O’Melveny Partner Rebecca Mermelstein, previously a federal prosecutor. The three-day trial was her first as a defense attorney, and it carried the highest stakes imaginable. “You’re sitting next to someone whose whole life depends on you,” she said. “It weighed really heavily on me because most criminal trials end in convictions.” After four hours of deliberations, the jury delivered a life-changing verdict: Ramos was acquitted. To his attorneys, Ramos said, “I have Jesus and I have O’Melveny.”

total number of pro bono matters opened in 2023 315

Law Firm Antiracism Alliance O’Melveny is proud to be a co-founder of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, a group of about 300 law firms that combat systemic racism and promote change through pro bono work. O’Melveny attorneys hold leadership roles in the alliance and collaborate with legal aid and civil rights groups to promote racial equality.

PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2022-2023

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