How You Can Help
The Task Force on Wrongful Convictions and the Conviction Integrity Unit were established because of a rising need to recognize the existence of innocent souls buried alive within the confines of our New York State Prisons.
In the Case of the People of the State of New York, vs. Jon-Adrian Velazquez, the reference of the "People" indicates that Our Criminal Justice System represents the public. However, the "System" needs to know that wrongful convictions depreciate the value of the public's confidence in their ability to be fair and impartial.
Accordingly, we encourage you to support this movement and voice your displeasures through the form of emails, online petitions, phone calls, or a letter-writing campaign to champion the cause of Jon-Adrian Velazquez to:
Manhattan District Attorney's Office
One Hogan Place
New York, NY 10013
Cyrus R. Vance Jr., District Attorney | 212.335.9000
Bonnie Sard, Conviction Integrity Chief | 212.335.4016
Sharing Jon-Adrian's story on social media and off is the most effective way to ensure that his case does not slide into obscurity.
For anyone who would like to contribute to the efforts to Free Jon-Adrian Velazquez, please send a check or money order made payable to:
Free Jon-Adrian Velazquez
and mail it to:
Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP600 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10020
(212) 763-5000
No cash will be accepted. All proceeds will go towards our continued investigation into this unsolved murder and the ongoing effort to bring public awareness to this miscarriage of justice. No portion of the proceeds will go towards legal fees.
SAMPLE LETTER
In case you wanted a sample letter to customize, feel free to use the following to customize your own letter and add your own words.
Dear Honorable New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance,
I can no longer look at the situation Jon-Adrian Velazquez is in and feel that justice has been serviced. When in fact it has clearly not been. After watching Dateline NBC's special called "Conviction", it is clear that he is innocent.
Each day he is wrongfully incarcerated is another day that justice has failed not only for Jon-Adrian but for the American citizen in general. Please see it in your power to explore these new facts and determine the truth that is so very apparent.
When someone is wrongfully incarcerated, its not just that person who suffers. His family and friends are also imprisoned. Please release Jon-Adrian so he can begin to live the life he was supposed to and release his family from this nightmare as well.
A response would be greatly appreciated, however, action toward the release of Jon-Adrian would be more appreciated.
Regards,
Your Name Here
cc: Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP
600 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10020
(212) 763-5000