“The mitigating counter-narrative assumes that analyzing the immediate social context in which crime occurs is essential to gain a meaningful understanding of how and why a particular kind of criminal act occurred when and where it did.”
For justice to be served, the story of the defendant must be told.
Despite the presumption of innocent until proven guilty enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, defendants are too often considered guilty until proven innocent. From the beginning the prosecution determines who is charged and with what offenses. Furthermore, prosecutors win cases because they shape and control the narrative, and for that narrative to be effective, it must portray defendants as monsters and villains, crooks or thugs. Too often the reality of how defendants came to be involved in the criminal justice system is ignored. This imbalance has dire consequences and when defendants’ actions are left unexamined and unexplained, mercy is impossible.
I am a skilled story teller and criminologist; above all I am a fierce advocate for justice.
I work hard to ensure my clients get the best outcome possible by explaining—not excusing— their actions. My approach integrates findings from empirical research, expert consultation and insight from 20 years of working with offenders all to show how underlying factors, conditions and situations—often beyond their control—contributed to their actions. By describing my clients' lived experiences, I illuminate there is more to them than their worst deeds.
Contact
☎ phone
(917) 696-4912
jwynn@jjay.cuny.edu
“The most important job, whether it’s a capital case or non-capital case, is to tell the lived experience of the defendant.”
Areas of Practice
Mitigation and Sentencing Advocacy for Capital and Non-Capital Cases
The focus of my work is to build a comprehensive sentencing report, to be reviewed by the judge, defense attorney and prosecutor, which describes:
- my clients’ lived experiences from childhood to present, emphasizing the trajectory of their life in the months that preceded the instant offense
- the social, environmental, and/or neurobiological factors that may have contributed to the criminal behavior
- “good person evidence” such as acts of kindness, charity, good deeds, accomplishments earned and obstacles overcome, remorse, efforts at rehabilitation
I also endeavor to highlight the impact of my client’s absence on their loved ones and community. Based on all of this and the growing literature showing that time in prison actually increases recidivism, I conclude by recommending the least restrictive sentence possible.
Ultimately, my report provides a powerful counter-narrative to that of the prosecutor, and of the defendant a far more accurate, comprehensive and humane portrait.
Juvenile Life without parole Re-sentencing Cases
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Batts (2017) ruled that for a sentence of life without parole to be imposed on a juvenile offender, the sentencing court must first find, based on “competent evidence,” that the offender is entirely unable to change. As such, assisting attorneys representing juvenile lifers in re-sentencing hearings is an emerging part of my practice.
I investigate a defendant's background, adjustment to, conduct and accomplishments in prison in order to establish a case for rehabilitation and a ruling of time served. Based on my past experience as a director of a successful re-entry program on Rikers Island, I formulate and prescribe a holistic re-entry plan to not only help ensure public safety but also reduce likelihood of recidivism.
Expert Witness on Prison Adjustment
Prisons are unique and unusual places largely hidden from public view. They are worlds unto themselves with their own vernacular, administrative policies and procedures, formal and informal rules and methods for enforcing compliance, their own institutional challenges and cultural norms, all of which can differ from one institution to the next even within the same jurisdiction.
In order to accurately assess an inmate’s adjustment to prison, the assessor must be familiar with the complex inner-workings of the prison environment. The foundation of my professional life has been spent in the criminal justice system, mostly working in jails and prisons.
From serving as a director of a re-entry program on Rikers Island, acting as a prison monitor to being a principle investigator on conditions of confinement, altogether I have visited over 75 prisons and jails throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.