Since 2020, the Cooley Law Office has overturned eight first- and/or second-degree murder convictions and life without parole sentences: (1) Arthur Johnson's (Philadelphia County; February 2020); (2) Andrew Swainson's (Philadelphia County; June 2020); (3) Jayquon Massey's (Allegheny County; July 2021); (4) Rafiq Dixon's (Philadelphia County; April 2022); (5) Marvin Robinson's (Dauphin County; January 2023); (6) Donta Regusters (Philadelphia County; August 2023); (7) Bruce Reese (Philadelphia County; September 2023); and (8) Reafeal Fields (Philadelphia County; November 2023). The Cooley Law Office, therefore, gets results.
The Cooley Law Office is dedicated to providing top-notch representation for those seeking post-trial (direct appeal) representation, post-conviction representation in state and federal court, and representation to file a clemency petition before the Pennsylvania Pardon's Board. The Cooley Law Office has unique experience preparing clemency petitions and arguing before the Pardon's Board.
The Cooley Law Office has significant experience litigating serious felonies, including death penalty cases, murders, sexual assaults, kidnappings, robberies, DUIs, and other felonies, as well as seeking DNA testing for innocent prisoners.
The Cooley Law Office has offices in Pittsburgh and litigates state and federal appeals and post-conviction petitions across the Commonwealth. Mr. Cooley litigates cases in the Common Pleas Court, Superior Court, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, as well as the Federal District Courts in the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Cooley with Rafiq Dixon and his family on April 21, 2022 - the day Rafiq walked out of SCI-Phoenix. Rafiq served 11 years for a murder he didn't commit. A PCRA court overturned his first-degree murder conviction on April 6, 2022. For more information regarding Rafiq's case please see the Philadelphia Inquirer's article. Mr. Cooley represented Rafiq from 2014 to 2022.
Craig M. Cooley is a former Investigator with the Appellate Defender's Office in Chicago, Assistant Federal Defender in Las Vegas, and Staff Attorney with the New York Innocence Project. Mr. Cooley has investigated and litigated significant felony, death penalty, and innocence cases for the last 20 years. He has helped prove the innocence of more than a dozen wrongly convicted men with DNA and non-DNA evidence as a law student, investigator, and attorney.
Mr. Cooley's areas of practice are:
Watch an Episode of Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom featuring Mr. Cooley's longtime client Pedro Reynoso (above). Pedro has been in prison since March 1994 for a July 23, 1991 double-murder in Philadelphia. Pedro, though, was in the Dominican Republic on July 23, 1991 and he has 13 people to place him in the Domincian Republic on this day. Jason Flom and his Now This team do an excellent job providing a concise narrative of Pedro's compelling and substantial innocence claim.
Andrew Swainson, center, with Mr. Cooley's co-counsel, Nilam Sanghvi, left, and Nate Andrisani after Andrew Swaison's murder conviction was overturned on June 12, 2020, and he was released from prison after serving 32-years for a murder he didn't commit. Mr. Cooley represented Andrew for 13 years - from 2007 until his exoneration and release on June 12, 2020. The Pennsylvania Innocence Project (Nilam Sanghvi) and MorganLewis (Nate Andrisani) also provided invaluable representation for several years.
Arguing before the Pardon's Board on 12/20/19 on Pedro's Reynoso's behalf
Embracing John Kunco outside of Westmoreland County Jail after being released from prison for the first time in 27 years
Please listen to the Undiclosed Podcast featuring my client, John Brookins's, case from Bucks County (PA). John has been in prison since June 1991 for the December 20, 1990 murder of Shelia Ginsberg. However, there's substantial evidence implicating Shelia's daughter, Sharon Ginsberg, with Shelia's murder. Most notably, six people testified on John's behalf at his 1992 trial and said Sharon had confessed to murdering her mother.
In terms of his post-conviction and innocence litigation, Mr. Cooley has investigated and worked on the following DNA and non-DNA exonerations and illegl conviction cases as a law student, investigator, or attorney: