Good news! The New York State Appellate Division in Albany agreed on December 2, 2003 to review Judge Lawliss’s refusal to grant David Wong a new trial.

Lawliss’s refusal was a grave injustice. The David Wong Support Committee needs your support to build momentum and put pressure on the judges now hearing the case to do the right thing and grant David a new trial. A new trial would give David the chance to present newly discovered evidence to a jury and finally prove his innocence and victimization by the criminal justice system.

In their request for the appellate court to agree to hear the appeal, David’s attorneys described David’s most recent legal obstacle, Judge Lawliss’s unjust denial of a new trial, as: “Judge Lawliss’s decision is not only wrong, it is shocking. [Judge Lawliss’s decision relied on the prosecution’s] skewed and erroneous description [of the facts].”

The appellate court agreed to review whether Judge Lawliss should have recused himself because of the many ties he and his wife have with the prosecutor and the prosecutor’s wife.

The court has not yet set a date for the lawyers to appear in Albany, New York to argue the case. It is possible that it could take place sometime between April and November 2004. We need your help to pack the courtroom and build public awareness of David’s case and the injustices he’s faced based on anti-immigrant, anti-Asian and anti-poor sentiments that have kept David unlawfully imprisoned for almost half his life.

Although we are pleased that the Appellate Division has agreed to review Judge Lawliss’s decision, the David Wong Support Committee still denounces Judge Lawliss’s original unjust and biased decision. Judge Lawliss’s decision and the wrongful conviction of David Wong demonstrate the barriers that immigrants, poor people and people of color face in the criminal justice system. The David Wong Support Committee continues to build community support and is bolstered by the help and support of many organizations including: the Asian American Bar Association of New York, Asian Americans for Equality, the Asian Law Caucus, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, the Organization of Chinese Americans, CAAAV, and Project REACH.

Please contact us through our website www.freedavidwong.org with any additional organizations we can approach for support or if you are able to arrange for us to make a presentation or screen a video about David’s case at your school, church, workplace, group or organization.

Coming Soon -- not yet loaded to the web site.

A Redacted Version of the Request for Leave to Appeal is now available! It contains a wealth of information about the background of the case, the ruling by Judge Lawliss, and the numerous reasons why the judge's ruling should be overturned. It was submitted to obtain permission from the Appellate Division to appeal the ruling. In December 2003, the Appellate Division agreed to hear the case.

Coming Soon -- description of the article appearing in the Plattsburgh Press Republican

Additional information about the denial by Judge Lawliss of the request for a new trial is available in our Full Report on the October 2003 Press Conference.

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