Description

• Oversee screening, acceptance, and prioritization of applications alleging actual innocence, wrongful conviction, or unjust sentencing.
• Direct and supervise reinvestigations, including evidence review, new forensic testing, and interviews, and make recommendations on exonerations or sentence relief.
• Work and communicate sensitively with victims, survivors, and affected defendants while protecting confidentiality and maintaining public trust in the process.
• Supervise the CIU attorney, investigator, and paralegal. Assign caseloads and ensure the unit operates with appropriate independence within the office.
• Serve as the primary liaison to the elected prosecutor, innocence organizations, defense counsel, courts, and forensic agencies on CIU matters.
• Coordinate with other divisions regarding evidence retention, mass notifications when systemic errors are found, and any follow-up prosecutions of newly identified perpetrators.
• Analyze CIU cases for patterns of error and propose policy and practice changes to prevent future wrongful convictions or excessive sentences.
• Design and deliver internal training for prosecutors, investigators, and staff on disclosure, eyewitness identification, forensics, and other risk areas.
• Prepare regular reports on CIU activities, including outcomes, and systemic findings, for office leadership and, as appropriate, the public.

• Juris Doctorate.
• Licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio or eligible to become admitted to practice law in Ohio.
• 10 or more years of criminal litigation experience in felony trial and/or appellate or post-conviction, particularly with violent crime.
• A deep commitment to accuracy, fairness, and correcting injustice, with a record of integrity-focused work rather than conviction-rate-driven performance.
• Advanced case-analysis skills, including comfort and experience with document-driven cases that can take months or years to build, including reviewing large records, identifying legal and factual errors, and reassessing credibility and reliability of evidence.
• Familiarity with forensic science issues, eyewitness identification, confessions, and common cause of wrongful convictions.
• Prior supervisory or program-leadership experience, including managing attorneys, investigators, or complex projects.
• Outstanding written and oral advocacy skills for drafting reports, recommendations, and post-conviction pleadings, and for presenting complex findings clearly.
• A proven ability to work effectively with prosecutors, defense lawyers, innocence organizations, courts, law enforcement, experts, and impacted individuals and families.
• Emotional resilience, humility, and professionalism when handling sensitive, high-profile, or politically charged cases involving past errors by the office.

• Relevant federal, state, and local laws, regulations and rules especially as they relate to criminal matters.
• Principles and practices of employee supervision, including selection, work planning, performance review, evaluation, training, and discipline.
• Office protocols with respect to negotiation and litigation practice.
• Legal research methods, databases, and other research tools or sources.
• Rules of professional conduct and standards for ethical behavior.

• Provide leadership and direction to staff.
• Carefully consider the appropriate role for the State in each case or scenario brought to the CIU's attention.
• Plan, coordinate, train, and supervise the work of staff.
• Assess the needs of the CIU and develop short and long-range goals and objectives.
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with a client and other professionals.
• Utilize initiative and independent judgement within established procedural guidelines.
• Effectively communicate verbally and in written form.
• Exercise judgement and tact.
• Understand, interpret, and apply relevant federal, state, and local laws, policies, and procedures.
• Maintain confidentiality of information and records and work independently of the trial team prosecutors.
• Administer the policies of the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney.
• Design and implement protocols, manage caseloads, set priorities, and build a collaborative, learning-oriented unit culture.
• Take initiative and be self-directed on non-deadline-oriented investigations.
• Network in such a way to build a roster of contacts where referrals to other agencies or institutions may be the appropriate public service.

• Full-time role; paid bi-weekly; paid vacation, sick time, two annual personal days.
• Comprehensive Benefits Package: Medical, HRA, Dental, Vision, Employer-Paid Life Insurance, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Eligibility, Wellness Incentives, Employee Assistance Plan.
• Ohio Public Employee’s Retirement System which includes a 10% employee contribution and a 14% employer contribution.