Brooke E. Cucinella is the Global Head of Litigation & Regulatory Inquiries at Citadel and Citadel Securities. Before joining Citadel in 2022, Brooke was a Litigation Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where she represented companies, boards, and executives in government and internal investigations and highprofile disputes. While at Simpson Thacher, Brooke was on the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”), where she was appointed to represent indigent criminal defendants, as well as victims and witnesses.
From 2012 to 2018, Brooke served in the DOJ as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for SDNY, where she was a senior member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. As a federal prosecutor, she tried multiple significant securities cases, as well as public corruption and cases involving violent crimes, and oversaw numerous investigations involving a wide range of complex financial crimes, including accounting fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, wire fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, money laundering and public corruption.
Brooke has been recognized as a National “Litigation Star” in White Collar Crime and as a New York “Litigation Star,” and was ranked as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the U.S. by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation. She is also recognized by The Legal 500 in Corporate Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense, where sources say she “works incredibly hard, is dedicated to her clients, and brings the eye of a seasoned investigator and prosecutor.” She was also named to Crain’s New York Business’s “Notable Women in Law” for 2021.
Brooke has dedicated countless hours to pro bono work, including her involvement at the Texas/Mexico border on a successful asylum case in 2019. She was also selected for the Criminal Justice Act panel in the Southern District of New York, where she represented indigent defendants, witnesses, and victims in federal criminal matters. Prior to attending law school, Brooke taught in underserved neighborhoods in New Orleans, where she instructed high school English, and in Chicago, where she taught 4th and 5th grades with Teach for America. Notably, she was the first Teach for America teacher at each of her schools.
Professor Cheryl Brown Wattley joined the inaugural faculty of the UNT Dallas College of Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she served on the faculty from 2006 through 2013 and was Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Education. Professor Wattley teaches Criminal Law in the first-year curriculum. She also teaches the upper level courses, The Trial Process and Courtroom Advocacy. Professor Wattley serves as the Director of Experiential Education overseeing the law school’s externship program; the Community Lawyering Centers; the Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic; and the law school’s Community Engagement Program. Professor Wattley graduated from Smith College, cum laude, with high honors in Sociology. She received her Juris Doctorate degree from Boston University College of Law, where she was a Martin Luther King, Jr. fellow and recipient of the Community Service Award.
Professor Wattley began her legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Connecticut representing the United States in civil litigation. Through her actions, the United States participated as litigating amicus curiae in Connecticut ARC v. Thorne, the lawsuit that led to the entry of a consent decree overhauling the system for serving persons with mental retardation in Connecticut. She received a Special Achievement Award from the Department of Justice for her work. She later transferred to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, located in Dallas, where she focused on the prosecution of white-collar crime, serving as Chief of the Economic Crime Unit. During her time in this office, Professor Wattley received another Department of Justice Special Achievement Award, the United States Postal Inspection Service National Award, and commendations from the Department of Treasury, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Customs Department. Professor Wattley then went into private litigation practice, where her work included white-collar criminal defense, civil rights litigation, federal and state criminal defense, and post-conviction proceedings. In 1995, Professor Wattley was nominated by President Bill Clinton for a federal judgeship. The late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson sought Professor Wattley’s assistance with the writing of her autobiography. That collaboration resulted in the June 2024 publication of “Desire to Serve: The Autobiography of Eddie Bernice Johnson as told to Cheryl B. Wattley.” Professor Wattley, a founding faculty member, wrote “UNT Dallas College of Law: Daring to be Different: The First 10 Years 2014 – 2024” chronicling the efforts and contributions that created the law school.
Professor Wattley is also the author of a “A Step Toward Brown v. Board of Education: Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher and Her Fight to End Segregation” published in October 2014, and winner of the 2015 Oklahoma Book Award, Non-Fiction category. Professor Wattley also authored “Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher: How A ‘Skinny Little Girl’ Took on the University of Oklahoma and Helped Pave the Road to Brown v. Board of Education.” University of Oklahoma Law Review, 62 OULR 449 (2010). She adapted her research on Sipuel Fisher into a theatrical presentation entitled “I’ll Do It” integrating original source documents from the University of Oklahoma, the NAACP, court files and newspaper articles. She contributed a chapter, “Making History: Being a NAACP Plaintiff- Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher”to the book “This Land is Herland: Gendered Activism in Oklahoma, 1870s-2010.”
Professor Wattley received Honorable Mention in the Clinical Legal Education Association Creative Writing Contest for her essay “The Tough Minded, Tender Hearted Lawyer.” Professor Wattley created a trial case file that was published by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, “Marine Rescue Specialists (MRS) vs. Riverboat Queen (RBQ).” She has also written “Humanizing Legal Education: Bringing Clients Into the Classroom.” Professor Wattley has served on a variety of civic and professional boards and committees, including the State Bar of Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals; District 6 Grievance Committee; Dallas Bar Foundation; and the Board of Regents for Texas Woman’s University. She was appointed to serve on “Dallas Together,” a mayoral committee appointed to address racial issues within the City of Dallas and appointed as Vice Chairperson for the 1990 and 2000 City of Dallas Redistricting Commissions.
She is a frequent speaker and panelist participating in presentations with the Dallas Women’s Leadership Symposium; Center for American and International Law; American Board of Trial Advocates; Dallas Bar Association; and other community and legal organizations. Professor Wattley has been an instructor for National Institute of Trial Advocacy, teaching in trial and deposition programs for over 30 years.
In 2024, Professor Wattley was recognized by her alma mater with the Smith College medal, an award bestowed upon alums who exemplify in their lives and work the true purpose of a liberal arts education. In 2023, she was recognized by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy with the grant of the Robert e. Oliphant Award for outstanding contribution to advocacy teaching. Her career as a trial attorney was recognized in 2021 when the Dallas Bar Association presented her its Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. Professor Wattley received the Dallas Bar Association’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award in 1994. She is also the recipient of the DaVinci Institute Fellow Award for Innovative Teaching, the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Diversity Award, the Association of Black Lawyers’ Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Award, the University of Oklahoma Regents’ Award for Superior Professional and University Service and Public Outreach, the Charlye O. Farris Award, and the Dallas Chapter of the NAACP’s President’s Award. Professor Wattley has also been included in Who’s Who in Black Dallas.
Professor Wattley continues to work with Centurion Ministries, a non-profit organization based in Princeton, New Jersey, devoted to the vindication and liberation of persons wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Through Centurion, she served as one of the attorneys for Kerry Max Cook, a former Texas death row inmate. Professor Wattley represented Richard Miles in his release from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and ultimate exoneration. She served on the founding Board of Directors with Mr. Miles as a board member for his non-profit organization, Miles of Freedom. Her latest achievement was the exoneration of Benjamine Spencer who was declared actually innocent after thirty-seven years. She had worked on his case for over twenty-one years on this case with Centurion Ministries, seeking justice for Mr. Spencer.
Bio coming soon.
Rhea Rajesh joined the Centurion team in early 2024. In her role she works with the Director of Case Development as well as the Assistant Legal Director to provide support whenever needed. She graduated from The College of New Jersey with her bachelor’s degree, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Law, Politics, and Philosophy. She plans to attend the Teachers College at Columbia University in the fall to pursue her master’s degree in Social-Organizational Psychology.
In her free time, Rhea loves to read, travel, and brush up on as many trivia/fun facts as possible. Rhea is an animal lover and is the proud owner of two poodles and a sun conure. She is also passionate about women’s issues, specifically women’s health and focused most of her undergraduate research in that field. She hopes to take her experience and knowledge and expand it to the work she is doing for Centurion.
Ayra Khan joined the Centurion team in 2024 and supports the Director of Development in maintaining organizational operations, with a focus on database management, fundraising initiatives, and marketing efforts. She also serves as the office’s IT liaison and office manager, helping ensure smooth day-to-day technical and administrative operations.
Ayra recently graduated from Rutgers University–New Brunswick in Spring 2025 with a degree in Computer Science. Outside of her professional work, Ayra is dedicated to community engagement. She organizes events and fundraising initiatives for Young Muslims, tutors middle school students at her local mosque, and enjoys playing volleyball.
Full bio coming soon.
Madison (Maddie) joined the team in 2019 as our part-time Intake Coordinator. Since joining, she has transitioned into the role of Administrative Support, where she works closely with Director of Case Development and provides support to the entire Case Development Team. Additionally, Maddie supports our Development Department, assisting in administrative duties related to fundraising and donor communications.
Maddie is currently a nursing student at Mercer County Community College. She has completed clinical training at Greenwood House Senior Healthcare, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton – medical surgical unit and Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell – maternity unit. She is also a member of the Phi Theata Kappa honor society, volunteers as a tutor for the nursing program, and a mentor for the Steinert High School Robotics team, 2180 Zero Gravity. Madison is a RN, and continues to pursue her goal of becoming a labor and delivery nurse by continuing her education at Rutgers University.
Stacey Patton, PhD is an award-winning author and journalist who writes about race, politics, popular culture, child welfare issues, diversity in media, and higher education. As a nationally-recognized child advocate, Dr. Patton travels the country delivering keynotes and professional trainings focused on combating racial disparities in child abuse cases, criminal prosecutions for child abuse, foster care placements, the over prescribing of psychotropic medications to children of color in foster care, the school- and foster care-to-prison pipelines, corporal punishment in public schools, diversion and restorative justice programs. She works as an intermediary between social service and law enforcement agencies seeking to improve services to communities of color. Patton teaches journalism at Howard University in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and is a research associate at the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. She is the author of That Mean Old Yesterday (A memoir), Spare The Kids: Why Whuppin Children Won’t Save Black America, and two forthcoming books: Strung Up: The Lynching of Black Children in Jim Crow America and a children’s book Not My Cat.
Fizz Ahmed joins the Centurion Board of Directors as a marketing executive with over a decade of experience working in the technology industry. He is currently a Senior Account Executive at Google, and also the Founder and CEO of a corporate growth strategy consulting firm called Growth Theory. He is an alumnus of the NYU Stern School of Business where he specialized in Marketing, Leadership, and Change Management.
Having migrated from Bangladesh at an early age, Fizz’s formative years were spent in the greater Boston area, where he pursued his higher education at Brandeis University. It was during his undergraduate tenure that the vibrant culture of social justice prevalent at Brandeis instilled in him an unwavering commitment to extensive philanthropic endeavors, particularly focused on promoting education equity among underprivileged children. Presently, as a board member at Centurion, Fizz effectively channels his passion for social justice to drive impactful change in the community.
Jim Floyd is a life-long Princeton, NJ resident and a psychologist. He graduated from Princeton University in 1969 with a concentration in Psychology. Dr. Floyd attended the University of Rochester and completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1975.
Between 1975 and 1979 Dr. Floyd was director of the Community Readjustment Program, a free outpatient psychological service for ex-offenders in Mercer County, NJ. He is retired from a career with the NJ State Division of Mental Health, including serving as the “psychology consultant” for the Division, and an administrator at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, Trenton, NJ. Also, he is a licensed psychologist in NJ, has been listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, a member of the American Psychological Asso. & NJ Psychological Asso., and has had a private practice in psychology. Between 1987-2007 he had thirteen ‘Lecturer’ faculty appointments in the Psychology Dept. of Princeton University.
Christina joined Centurion in 2021 and is the organization’s Assistant Legal Director. In her current role, Christina: focuses on advocacy that seeks to change the laws and policies that contribute to wrongful convictions (i.e. arguing as amicus in front of the New Jersey Supreme Court); manages Centurion’s small parole advocacy caseload; and works side-by-side with Paul on Centurion’s active wrongful conviction cases.
Christina is passionate about serving communities that have been systematically marginalized under the law. She began her career as a public defender at The Legal Aid Society’s Parole Revocation Defense Unit. There, she represented clients at the Rikers Island Judicial Center being prosecuted for parole violations – an arcane area of criminal defense with devastating consequences. Christina also worked as a public defender at The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense practice where she represented clients at the Manhattan Criminal Court. In both roles, Christina served clients who had significant mental illnesses, substance abuse issues, and were suffering from extreme poverty. And in both roles, she learned the importance of humanizing her clients during each stage of their representation.
Christina received her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. A New Jersey native, Christina received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University- Newark and was an Undergraduate Associate at The Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is thrilled to be home.
Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi, law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.
Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.
One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl’s father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.
That might have put an end to Grisham’s hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career—and spark one of publishing’s greatest success stories. The day after Grisham completed A Time to Kill, he began work on another novel, the story of a hotshot young attorney lured to an apparently perfect law firm that was not what it appeared. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.
The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham’s reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham’s success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller.
Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, The Appeal, The Associate, The Confession, The Litigators, Calico Joe, The Racketeer, Sycamore Row, Gray Mountain, Rogue Lawyer, The Whistler, Camino Island, The Rooster Bar, The Reckoning, and The Guardians) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 300 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 40 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marked his first foray into non-fiction, and Ford County (November 2009) was his first short story collection.
Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honoring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer: representing the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. Preparing his case with the same passion and dedication as his books’ protagonists, Grisham successfully argued his clients’ case, earning them a jury award of $683,500—the biggest verdict of his career.
When he’s not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including most recently his Rebuild The Coast Fund, which raised 8.8 million dollars for Gulf Coast relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He also keeps up with his greatest passion: baseball. The man who dreamed of being a professional baseball player now serves as the local Little League commissioner. The six ballfields he built on his property have played host to over 350 kids on 26 Little League teams.
Willem Kooyker received his B.A. in economics from Baruch College and an MBA in international finance and economics from NYU. He began his trading career with Internatio-Muller in Rotterdam, where he eventually became a managing director of the international trading group. In the early 1980s, he joined Commodities Corporation in Princeton, where he became president. In 1988, Kooyker founded Blenheim Capital Management, and was its chairman until retirement.
Along with, Judith-Ann Corrente, Willem is active in civic life, with a focus on New York City, and serves on a number of boards. Arts and culture is a major interest, and Judith serves as president, managing director and chief executive officer of the board of Metropolitan Opera. The couple is also interested in education, health, and social justice.
Kathy’s bio is forthcoming.
Richard spent 15 years in Texas prisons as a result of being wrongfully convicted of murder and aggravated assault. While in prison he pursued his education receiving my Associate Degree in Science. With the help of Centurion his innocence was recognized. Richard was released from prison on October 10, 2009. But the fight was far from over. On February 15, 2012 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed his conviction and declared him to be “truly” innocent! After two and a half years of being out, having gone to prison at 19 and being released at 34, he was finally FREE! His case is the first non-DNA, non-recantation exoneration, Miles vs. State of Texas.
Shortly after his exoneration he founded Miles of Freedom, a organization providing re-entry and support services to recently released men and women in the Dallas area.
As a licensed clinical social worker with many years employed in both institutional and individual practice settings, Pamela is thrilled to have joined Centurion in May of 2020. Just prior to joining Centurion, she worked at a behavioral healthcare facility for 13 years, first as a clinical case manager with older adults and then in utilization management. She steps into a newly created position to assist in identifying needs and coordinate ongoing support services to those who have been released from prison. A diverse educational and professional path includes a college degree in Fine Arts from SVA, graduate degree in Media/Communications from NYIT and later a Master’s in Social Work from Rutgers University. After living in Manhattan working as an artist and illustrator, in 1988 she moved to NJ for greener pastures, joined a band as a keyboard player and songwriter, became a certified bodywork practitioner, eventually settling in as a community organizer and social justice warrior. Pamela continues to maintain a private psychotherapy practice in Princeton in addition to her role at Centurion.
Laila works directly with the Executive Director to expand our fundraising footprint, engage our donors, and raise awareness about the wrongfully imprisoned. She also provides system and operational management support for the entire Centurion team. She has more than 20 years of experience in various development and organizational operation roles and is skilled in donor relations, fundraising, and process management. Prior to joining Centurion’s team, Laila was the Resource Development Manager at Isles, Inc., and the Development Director at the Waldorf School of Princeton. Her undergraduate degree is in Psychology and she has a certification in Financial Success for Nonprofits from Cornell University. In her spare time, Laila is a Board Member of the Princeton YWCA, a Review Committee Member for Cooperman College Scholars, and a member of Masjid Waarith ud Deen Fundraising Committee. She is the mother of two children and resides in Mercer County with her husband.
Kim began volunteering as a case worker at Centurion Ministries in September of 2011. She became a full-time staff member in March of 2013 and now oversees the process of developing prospective cases.. Prior to her employment at Centurion Ministries, Kim worked in the area of insurance law and regulation and in the field of education. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois and law degree from Widener University School of Law. She was admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1994.
Gene came to Centurion after a career at the American Arbitration Association in both non-profit management and law positions. He began at Centurion as a volunteer case developer in 2012 and joined the staff in 2014. Previous to the AAA he served as legal counsel in corporate and law firm settings and as a municipal attorney in Newark NJ as well as handling criminal cases on both the defense and prosecution sides. Gene came to Centurion with the hope of seeking justice for the innocent in prison and develops information on prospective cases. Gene holds a journalism degree from Rutgers and a law degree from Seton Hall.
In 2003, Tyler began volunteering for Centurion. Since then, he has done everything from directing cars in a makeshift parking lot at Jim McCloskey’s house to assisting in set up and break down of all Centurion events. He has participated in fundraising efforts large and small and has organized collections of clothing, furniture and household supplies to help those freed in many ways. In 2015, Tyler became Centurion’s Exoneree Support team member. He develops long-lasting relationships with Centurion’s freed folks.He works directly with our freed folks on a regular basis, identifying their needs and helping to coordinate assistance. He considers them family, and has been inspired by their stories of wrongful conviction, their ability to release anger and embrace life no matter the challenges. Tyler also works with our fundraising team so that we can provide the continued support of our folks once they have been freed from prison.
Alan left the world of journalism in 2012 to join CM as a staff investigator. As a reporter with the Louisville Courier-Journal, he co-wrote a series of stories about flaws in Kentucky’s criminal justice system that was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. He earned a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association for a 2011 investigation into police shootings in Las Vegas. In his role as staff investigator, Alan conducts top-to-bottom reinvestigations of cases, interviewing witnesses, tracking down documents, and digging for other information that helps prove a client’s innocence. He is a Philadelphia native and a graduate of Brown University.
As Centurion’s bookkeeper, Rosemary manages our books and makes sure our bills are paid! She also helps support our Case Development team by assisting with database management. In addition to the work she does at Centurion, Rosemary is the co-owner and co-managing partner of East Spring Properties LLC, a small industrial park located in Eastampton Township with farm land located in both Eastampton & Springfield Townships, and co-owner and co-managing partner of 206 Associates Farm (located in Pemberton & Springfield Townships) consisting of a 40 acre commercial solar project and 40 acres of farmed land. She is also the Manager of the Burlington County Farm Fair of Burlington County, NJ where she coordinates the annual six day event, that takes place during the third week of July and welcomes over 50,000+ visitors. She also taught piano for three years, and owned and operated a daycare business for children of working mothers, 1972 – 1982 while raising her own two sons.
Diane’s work with Centurion has been a passion, her calling – her work helps convey the humanity, courage and strength of individuals freed from wrongful imprisonment. As Director of Events and Outreach, Diane manages Centurion’s fundraising and awareness-raising events, and helps us identify potential partners who can help advance our mission. She is well versed in graphic design and photography; Diane photographs our exonerees from their first moments of freedom, through the days and years following their release as they rebuild their lives. She works to create marketing materials and newsletters that tell our freed families’ stories, and help people better understand Centurion’s fight for justice.
Janet joined Centurion in January 2011 as Intake Analyst and Volunteer Development. She holds a Paralegal Certificate from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a B.A. from San Francisco State University. As an undergraduate, she interned with a prison advocacy group that helps inmates in the San Francisco jail system stay connected with their families. Janet works on Centurion’s Case Development team, assessing potential cases of innocence in addition to developing our volunteer and intern needs. Prior to joining CM, Janet worked as the Education Coordinator for the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and was the Research Coordinator for a 15-year longitudinal research study called CHAPS (Child Health and Progress Study) that was conducted through Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Janet has two sons – Luke, who lives in Southern California, and Sam, who lives in Pennsylvania.
Subsequent to graduating from Bucknell University in 1964, Jim spent three years as a U.S. Naval Officer, including a year in Vietnam patrolling the rivers of the Mekong Delta serving as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Naval junk fleet. He then spent the next 12 years working for two different management consulting companies specializing in Japanese business affairs, the first in Tokyo and the second with the Hay group in his hometown of Philadelphia.
In 1979 Jim felt a call to leave the business world and enter the ministry. In 1983, upon graduating with a Master of Divinity degree from the Princeton Theological Seminary and freeing an innocent man he met as a student chaplain at Trenton State Prison, Jim founded Centurion Ministries.
After 35 years, although still a member of Centurion’s Board of Trustees and still managing several cases he has been working on for years, Jim retired from the active management of Centurion’s organizational affairs in May 2015. He is now in the process of writing a book about Centurion’s experiences with our nation’s criminal justice system.
Jim Cousins is a graduate of Beloit College and Fordham Law School. He spent the majority of his career as a trial and appellate lawyer in state and federal courts. He also served as an adjunct professor at Pace Law School. His path to Centurion began in 1999, when he volunteered as counsel on a Connecticut case that ended with the exoneration of Richard Lapointe. That experience set him on a course he hasn’t left since, and in 2015 he joined Centurion full time as a staff attorney. Jim has represented innocent clients at every stage of state and federal post-conviction proceedings and appeals, securing freedom for men and women who had spent decades behind bars for crimes they did not commit. Among his most significant victories is Henning v. Commissioner of Correction, 334 Conn. 1 (2019), in which the Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously vacated Shawn Henning’s murder conviction, freeing him after 30 years of wrongful incarceration.
Paul Casteleiro’s association with Jim McCloskey and what was to become Centurion began with its first client and exoneree Jorge “Chiefy” Del Los Santos. Shortly after Kate Germond joined anchoring the first innocence organization in the United States. Forty years later, Paul has been involved in freeing 30 people convicted of crimes they did not commit; most of the cases were in collaboration with Centurion. In 2014 Paul became the organization’s first legal director.
Most exonerations result from years traversing arcane court procedures, hostile prosecutors, and biased judges, often in partnership with poor or patently corrupt police work. Richard Lapointe’s exoneration in Connecticut took Paul 15 years and three trips up and down the Connecticut Court System. The police pressured the developmentally disabled Lapointe to confess to a murder he did not commit and plainly lacked the capacity to commit. David Bryant was granted new a trial after spending 38 years in prison on false murder charges but got sent back to prison when the New York State Appellate Division reversed the decision. Three years later Paul secured Bryant’s release and exoneration by winning a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. When Jules Letemps won his freedom after 27 years based on his trial attorney’s incompetence, it took two more years to free him from the custody of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which tried to deport him. In 2018 Paul represented Ralph Lee alongside the New York Innocence project representing codefendant Eric Kelley; they proved the Paterson New Jersey police fabricated and forced their confessions to a brutal murder neither had anything to do with.
Two of Centurion’s cases that Paul handled were retrials because prosecutors couldn’t admit they were wrong. Paul won acquittals for murder for both clients; James Landano in New Jersey in 1998 and John Kogut in New York in 2005. Court TV’s gavel-to-gavel coverage of James Landano’s retrial brought national awareness to wrongful convictions. Kogut’s acquittal led the Nassau County District Attorney to drop charges against the wrongfully charged John Restivo and Dennis Halstead.
Most recently Paul worked with Conviction Integrity Units in Dallas, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana to free clients Martin Santillan and Dwayne Leblanc respectively. Both innocent of murder as charged, Mr Santillan spent 25 years in jail, Mr. Leblanc was in for 28 years.
During his career, Paul has fought for changes in the judicial system to benefit innocent people in their fight for justice. In People v Kogut, Paul won the first case in New York State history to admit expert testimony on the psychology of police interrogations and false confessions, which shined a light on false confessions as law enforcement’s go-to tactic to imprison innocent people. Representing David Shepard who proved his own innocence based on DNA evidence, Paul initiated the New Jersey law that compensates people who are ‘mistakenly imprisoned.’ Paul has been a leading advocate for removing junk science from the courtroom. Along with Centurion’s team, he got the Supreme Court of New Jersey in Prince Moore’s case (State v Moore) to ban the use of hypnotically enhanced testimony in criminal trials. In State v Behn, independent of Centurion, Paul established the unreliability of the FBI’s bullet lead composition analysis, leading the FBI to disband the unit that provided such testimony throughout the United States.
Paul grew up in Washington Heights, attended New York City public schools, and graduated from NYU where he had been recruited to play baseball. At Rutgers Newark Law School, Paul worked for Morton Stavis, a pioneer in wrongful conviction and civil rights cases. Stavis brought Paul on to assist in the Chicago 8 Contempt Trial. Paul spent three years as a trial attorney in the Jersey City Office of the Public Defender, where he was infuriated to see juveniles charged with minor crimes that had been considered pranks in his old neighborhood. In 1980, he went into private practice in Hoboken, New Jersey specializing in criminal trial, appellate work, and wrongful convictions.
Kate Germond joined Centurion Ministries in January of 1987 after reading an article in the NY Times about Jim McCloskey’s pioneering work on behalf of the wrongly convicted. She thought he might need some help. They met, thought they could get along and for 30-years worked shoulder to shoulder to free the innocent from prison. Prior to that, she was a businesswoman and community activist in Mendocino, California where she lived with her family for close to 20 years. After Jim’s retirement in May 2015, Kate became the Executive Director of Centurion. She continued to grow the organization until the end of 2019, when returned to her passion of working in the field on cases. Kate remains a integral part of Centurion’s operations and is grateful every single day for Jim’s commitment in 1980 to free from prison a complete stranger.
After joining Centurion in 2018, Corey transitioned to the role of Executive Director in January 2019. Corey works with Centurion’s staff, board, volunteers, and donors to grow support for our work, and build organizational capacity. She is passionate about drawing people to Centurion’s mission, and the pursuit of justice for the innocent in prison. Corey has more than 15 years of experience working for non-profits at both local and national organizations with a wide range of missions including community development, education, domestic violence prevention, and disability services. She is proud and humbled to serve the men and women that Centurion supports. Corey lives in Lawrenceville, NJ with her husband and young daughter.
Edwin(Ed) is a retired partner of Ernst & Young with 40 years experience serving top-tier financial services institutions in both the assurance and advisory areas. Ed currently serves on the boards of a publicly traded bank in New Jersey and 2 asset management companies located in the New York Metropolitan area. Ed holds a BS in electrical engineering from Clarkson University, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS in accounting from Northwestern University. For the past 20 years Ed has led a mentoring program with Adlai Stevenson High School in the Bronx. Ed was introduced to Centurion by retired Chairman, Jay Regan and current Director, Charles Crow, who spoke in glowing terms about the mission of Centurion and the tremendous passion and commitment of its leaders, Jim McCloskey and Kate Germond. Ed has served on the Board of Centurion for nearly 20 years and remains very enthusiastic about its strategic mission and contribution to society. Ed and his wife Margy have two daughters, Genny and Emilia.
Subsequent to graduating from Bucknell University in 1964, Jim spent three years as a U.S. Naval Officer, including a year in Vietnam patrolling the rivers in the Mekong Delta serving as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Naval Junk Fleet. For such service he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with the Combat “V”. He then spent the next 12 years working for two different management consulting companies specializing in Japanese business affairs, the first in Tokyo and the second with the Hay group in his hometown of Philadelphia. In 1979, Jim felt a call to leave the business world and enter the ministry. In 1983, upon graduating with a Master of Divinity degree from the Princeton Theological Seminary and freeing an innocent man he met as a student chaplain at Trenton State Prison, Jim founded Centurion Ministries. Although still a member of Centurion’s Board of Trustees and still managing several cases he has been working on for years, Jim retired from the active management of Centurion’s organization in 2015. In 1993 Jim was the recipient of Princeton Seminary’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and in 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Currently Jim is a member of Princeton’s Nassau Presbyterian Church’s Session, the ruling body of the church. He is also in the process of writing a book about his and Centurion’s 36 year experience with our nation’s criminal justice system.
Jozelyn is a Managing Director at BancLab, LLC and the volunteer CFO on the board of directors at Village Health Works. She holds a PhD in International Economics and Macroeconomics from Columbia University.
Her full bio is forthcoming.
Mary Catherine Cuff is a retired Judge from the New Jersey Supreme Court Appellate Division. She received her J.D. from the Rutgers School of Law in Newark.
Her full bio forthcoming.
Charlie is a founding partner at Crow & Cushing, a law firm representing individuals and entities concerned with physical commodity products for consumption or investment. He provides legal representation to multi-national firms including those in metals, softs, and energy. Charlie specializes in regulatory, transactional and corporate matters involving the SEC, CFTC, PERC, and IRS as well as experience with State Securities boards and Boards of Public Utilities. His clients include public and private firms and individuals in Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, and the United States.
Charlie holds a seat on the Boards of Arden Capital Management LLC; Blenheim Capital Management LLC; Investor Analytics LLC; Quality Capital Management (UK); and Tenor Capital Management, LP Funds. He is currently Chairman of the Board for 1st Constitution Bank, (FCCY). In addition to his longstanding commitment to Centurion since 1995, Charlie’s charitable work includes member of the Board of Starfish Foundation for Children with Aids, Inc from 1995 – 2000; Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey from 1991 – 1995 when he served a year long term as President. Charlie is currently on the Board of the Antique Boat Museum, Clayton NY.
Initially Charlie was drawn to Centurion because of his sense that while we have the fairest legal system in the world, it is run by human beings, and as such it is less than perfect. Where our system has made mistakes, he firmly believes it is incumbent on everyone but particularly those connected with the judicial system whether, lawyer, judge, prosecutor or law student to see that those mistakes are not allowed to go uncorrected and without remedy. Charlie has a BA from Hartwick College and a JD from Seton Hall University. He and his wife Lynn live in Princeton, NJ, have two grown children and #? grandchildren.
Rob has been the Head of School at Christina Seix Academy in Trenton, NJ since 2009. He holds a PhD. in Educational Policy and Management from the University of Pennsylvania and is a proud graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career working at the Center for the Study of Evaluation and Educational Policy at Boston College while pursuing a graduate degree in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation. There, he examined various policy issues related to standardized testing and minority achievement and received the Outstanding Graduate Studies Award for his academic contributions. After completing his master’s degree, Rob worked at Beaver Country Day School (BCDS), an innovative Boston independent school. Over eight years at BCDS, he worked as a history teacher, department chair, interim Upper School Director, and Assistant Head of School.
Rob is Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Snowden Lane Partners, a national independent wealth advisory boutique. Rob spent 22 years at Merrill Lynch, in New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, and London.
He was General Counsel and Chief Business Risk Officer of Global Wealth Management and a member of the GWM Executive and Operating Committees. He previously held senior executive positions in International Private Client and the Asia Pacific Region. Rob started at Merrill Lynch in London (Europe, Middle East and Africa Region) and before that worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He has a BA from Franklin and Marshall College and a JD from George Washington University.
Rob is passionate about preserving the integrity of our criminal justice system. He has been a long time supporter of Centurion. Rob is a former Board Chair and Board member of the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey and a founding Board member of the Christina Seix Academy, a residential school for underprivileged inner city children. Rob and his wife, Cheryl, reside in Princeton, NJ and have four children.
