Paul Casteleiro

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. During his career, Paul has fought for changes in the judicial system to benefit innocent people in their fight for justice, including winning the first case in New York State history to admit expert testimony on the psychology of police interrogations and false confessions. 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.