Congratulations to Rebecca Jacobstein, a staff attorney with the Appeals Unit of the Public Defender Division and Ben Keehn, Second-Seat Appellate Counsel with the Public Defender Division. Lawyers Weekly recognized Ben and Rebecca as Lawyers Weekly Lawyers of the Year for their work on two important cases.
Rebecca and Luke Ryan of Sasson, Turnbull, Ryan & Hoose in Amherst (a court-appointed bar advocate in these cases) have been the lead lawyers in on-going litigation in Hampden County that seeks to “probe the depths of the misconduct of former Amherst Drug Lab chemist, Sonja Farak” and to determine “whether the actions of the Attorney General, intentionally or not, obscured the scope of Farak’s misdeeds.” It is complex post-conviction criminal litigation and has the potential to uncover a pathway for relief from tainted convictions for thousands of people. We are grateful that Lawyers Weekly recognized the importance of this litigation and the two determined lawyers who are leading a group of other lawyers to seek justice for their clients.
Ben Keehn was recognized for his work on behalf of a woman who had obtained a stun gun to defend herself against a former abusive husband. Ben took the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court to get relief.. SCOTUS found that the Massachusetts outright ban on stun guns was not consistent with the Second Amendment and vacated her conviction. Ben then convinced a judge to find his client not guilty and to approve a petition to seal her record. Ben’s victory was “just about the closest thing to total victory that a criminal defense lawyer can hope for.” During his interview with Lawyers Weekly, Ben gave well deserved kudos to former CPCS staff attorney, Paul McManus, now [Boston Municipal Court] Judge McManus for creating a record “that made it so clear ultimately to the Supreme Court that this was a ‘lawful use of arms for self-defense’ case.”
Thank you, Ben, Rebecca and Luke for your unyielding commitment to our clients.
Randy Gioia