Newton Collins And Victor Colon
In 2010, after four years of court battles, Mr. Whittaker succeeded in exonerating Newton Collins who had served more than 6 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. The subsequent federal court fight that led to Collins exoneration was covered prominently in The New York Law Journal. The civil rights lawsuit that Whittaker brought on Mr. Collins' behalf in 2011 also has received extensive media coverage and the New York Law Journal, including when the action was settled, in 2014, for $10 million in federal court and an additional $3 million in the New York State Court of Claims.
In 2011, the news media reported Mr. Whittaker's success in convincing the District Attorney's Office to dismiss the double homicide indictment of the firm's client, based upon Mr. Whittaker's reinvestigation of the case and uncovering of prosecutorial misconduct. Victor had been wrongfully convicted in 1993, but Mr. Whittaker, after a six-year fight, had convinced the New York Court of Appeals, in 2009, to overturn the conviction for prosecutorial misconduct. The reversal was reported in the US law journals.. Victor Colon's story was featured in several media, which noted Mr. Whittaker's "well-earned reputation for righting wrongful convictions.
The Lawsuit And $3.5 Million Settlement.
The New York Times reported Mr. Whittaker's $3.5 million wrongful conviction settlement on behalf of firm client Donald Kane. The media wrote a full column about the misconduct that caused Mr. Kane ordeal, the court system's failure to discipline the prosecutor responsible and the success of Kane Law Suit.