Fourth Circuit cites brief signed by Professor Imwinkelried in North Carolina case

In the 1970s, Ronnie Long was convicted of rape in a North Carolina state court. He recently filed a federal habeas corpus petition alleging, in part, that forensic evidence withheld by the prosecution would have established his innocence.

The district court discounted the scientific evidence and denied relief.  Professor Emeritus Ed Imwinkelried joined several other scientific evidence scholars and scientists in an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 

The brief argued the district court erred by ascribing insufficient weight to the excluded scientific evidence.  In August in Long v. Hooks, No. 18-6980, the Court of Appeals cited the brief and accepted its contention that the district court had erred.

By a 9-6 vote, the court reversed, remanded, and ordered an immediate rehearing in the lower court.  Three of the justices stated their view that Long represented an "extreme case," warranting Long's immediate release.  Long has been incarcerated for 44 years. 

Professor Imwinkelried is a world-renowned evidence expert who has published extensively in the field.