CCA is being developed by Project Manager Emily Bolton and her fellow-trustees Glyn Maddocks and Joe Hingston. Sophie Walker will join the project as inaugural Director in 2014. A growing Advisory Group works with the project, providing expertise and representation of views from the bar, private law practice, former prisoners, journalism, forensic science, law enforcement and academia.

Emily was awarded an Equal Justice Fellowship and later a Soros Advocacy Fellowship to establish Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO), a non-profit law office providing legal representation to the wrongfully convicted in the United States. IPNO grew from a staff of one to nine during her tenure, and has so far freed 22 innocent prisoners.  Returning to the UK in 2004, she helped develop the UK legal action charity Reprieve. In 2007, working as a UK solicitor, Emily brought a wrongful conviction case to the Court of Appeal via the Criminal Cases Review Commission, as a test of the proposed Centre for Criminal Appeals methodology. The Court quashed the conviction in 2010. Emily has received an Unltd* Level 1 Award and a Shackleton Award to work on establishing the Centre, and is acting as Trustee and Project Manager during its start-up phase.

Sophie is a dual qualified UK Solicitor/ US Attorney-at-Law, who specializes in criminal appeals cases.  Sophie worked for three years at Reprieve UK, as a caseworker lawyer and investigator on the death penalty team, assisting European nationals facing execution in the United States. Sophie also worked for the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama as a legal fellow, preparing direct appeal briefs, post conviction and federal habeas petitions for indigent prisoners on Alabama’s death row. Sophie has an LLM in General Legal Studies from the New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Jurisprudence (Law) from Oxford University. Sophie will join CCA in 2014 as Director.

Glyn is a UK solicitor who has worked on wrongful conviction cases for over 20 years. Through his work on appeal cases Glyn has developed a deep understanding and knowledge of the processes and procedures of the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Court of Appeal and in obtaining compensation for victims of miscarriage of justice from the Ministry of Justice. In 2005, in recognition of his work over a twelve-year period representing Paul Blackburn, who had his conviction quashed after serving nearly 25 years, Glyn was named Welsh Lawyer of the Year. Glyn is Chair of the Centre's Board of Trustees. 

Joe is a practicing barrister in England and Wales, acting exclusively for the defence. In that capacity, he has conducted numerous criminal appeals and represented defendants at all stages of the criminal process. He also assists in the representation of individuals facing the death penalty and consults on various death penalty projects with the UK charity Reprieve. Before being called to the Bar, Joe worked for a number years in the United States assisting in the representation of individuals facing the death penalty in America’s Deep South, leading the investigation on behalf of scores of defendants at all stages of the capital trial process.

If you are interested in serving on the Advisory Group or Board in the future, please use the contact form, or write to CCA's postal address.