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Pro Bono Showcase: Keker Pursues Justice with Felony Murder Resentencing Project

10/24/2024

With California’s felony murder rule reforms approaching a five-year milestone, Keker’s Felony Murder Resentencing Project has helped more than a half-dozen individuals petition to reduce life sentences under the new standard of justice. In celebration of National Pro Bono Week, we highlight the firm’s initiative to achieve justice for individuals serving life sentences for murders they did not commit.

Prior to the California Senate Bill 1437 taking effect in January 2019, prosecutors could levy murder charges against any individual involved in crimes resulting in death—regardless of their individual culpability for the death. Now prosecutors may pursue murder charges only against individuals bearing some responsibility for the killing itself. The reforms also created a path for resentencing for the many people convicted of murder under the old standard.

Keker partner and former San Francisco public defender extern Maya James created the Felony Murder Resentencing Project to support this reform. At the time, January 2019, she was still an associate and received the full support of the firm, which has a long history of prisoner advocacy and was founded by two public defenders. Since then, the Keker pro bono project has taken on eight cases and helped at least six incarcerated individuals overturn their sentences.

“Since we started taking these cases in 2019, we have shown that our clients were not responsible for the killings committed by their co-defendants and that they did not deserve to be incarcerated for the rest of their lives,” James said. “Remedying these disproportionate and unfair punishments is essential to ensuring the integrity of our justice system.”

Examples of Keker’s felony murder project cases:

  • Emmitt Lewis was convicted of first-degree murder in 2006 for his involvement in a robbery where the getaway truck struck and killed a pedestrian in 2003. After an evidentiary hearing proved he was not the driver, he became the first person in San Francisco to have a first-degree felony murder conviction overturned under SB 1437 and was released in 2019.
  • Roderick Thomas was convicted of first-degree murder in 2014 for his involvement in a burglary where another person separately entered the home and killed one of the residents. Keker achieved resentencing for Mr. Thomas in March 2023, when his homicide conviction was vacated. However, the trial judge then imposed hefty drug-related sentencing enhancements, over Keker’s objection. The Keker team appealed, explaining that the prosecution had never proved an underlying drug offense—and in August 2024, the Court of Appeal struck the enhancement and ordered remand.
  • Zachary Vanderhorst was sentenced at age 19 to life in prison in 1974 for a murder he did not commit. He was released in January 2020 after serving 45 years—and in December 2021, the Keker team succeeded in obtaining a finding of actual innocence for his wrongful conviction, thus entitling Mr. Vanderhorst to compensation for the time he wrongfully spent in prison.
  • Demetrius Howard was sentenced to death at age 25 for his participation in a robbery in which his co-defendant unexpectedly shot and killed the victim. After a two-day trial in late 2023—in which the co-defendant testified that he acted entirely alone—the court vacated Mr. Howard’s murder conviction. The prosecution appealed, and this month the Court of Appeal reaffirmed that the prosecution failed to prove that Mr. Howard was guilty of murder, and that Mr. Howard was therefore entitled to release, after having spent over 30 years in prison.

California’s Office of the State Public Defender has reported that because of the reforms, at least 960 people in California detention facilities had prison sentences reduced, erasing more than 14,500 years from their combined terms. Approximately 90% of the people resentenced were people of color, with Black Californians comprising the largest share. Read the impact report here: SB 1437/775: A Snapshot of Impact

The reputation of Keker’s work has grown beyond San Francisco, and the project today receives inquiries from attorneys across the state. More than a dozen Keker attorneys have contributed to the project. In addition to James, they include Paul Von Autenried, Andy Bruns, Victor Chiu, Tom Gorman, Cody Gray, Julia Greenberg, Kristin Hucek, Kelly Kaufman, Nic Marais, Candice Nguyen, Luke Apfeld and Amy Philip.