The program closed out with federal defender Cary Sandman and death row exoneree Ha’im Al Matin Sharif, delivering a moving joint keynote address. Mr. Sandman took his first capital defense case in 1978 while working at a commercial, intellectual property, and real estate litigation firm. In 2011, after 35 years in the private sector and multiple capital defense cases later, Mr. Sandman left the firm to join the Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona. Six years later, he successfully litigated the release of his client Ha’im Al Matin Sharif. Mr. Sharif spent 29 years on Nevada’s death row, where Mr. Sandman advocated to save his life and prove his innocence. Mr. Sharif described his time on death row falsely accused of killing his girlfriend’s infant daughter: “I was mired in the muck of hopelessness and despair, not looking for freedom, but just looking to be heard,” Mr. Sharif said. He spoke about the enormous impact it made when Mr. Sandman was appointed to his case, finally having an advocate who treated him with respect and humanity. Then to the audience of volunteers he said: “You individuals gave me hope when I did not have any.” Mr. Sharif was released five years ago and now sits on the board of the Washington State Innocence Project and works for innovative projects aimed at developing alternatives to incarceration for populations that tend to have high contact with law enforcement.
