The Ray Jennings Case

In 2015, Jeff Ehrlich took on the habeas corpus case for an Iraq War veteran, Raymond Jennings, who had been convicted of murder and was serving a life sentence. Mr. Ehrlich’s son, Clinton, who was then a law student, became aware of the case by chance in May 2015. After looking into it more carefully he concluded that Mr. Jennings was innocent. Based on the analysis that Clinton developed, Mr. Ehrlich convinced the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office to reopen Mr. Jennings’ case. The new investigation confirmed that Mr. Jennings was indeed innocent, and in January 2017, the court vacated Mr. Jennings’ conviction and found him to be “factually innocent.” Before his release Mr. Jennings spent 11 years in custody. His case and Mr. Ehrlich’s role in his exoneration have been the subject of extensive media coverage, including articles in the Los Angeles Times, and dedicated episodes of Dateline, Crimewatch Daily, and Breaking Homicide.

Raymond Lee Jennings Case Information and Documents

Letters to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU)

• Letter to CRU dated October 2, 2015
• Supplemental Letter to CRU dated March 2, 2016

Court Filings

• Joint habeas petition submitted by Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Ehrlich Law Firm, submitted June 22, 2016
• Letter to Court from Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, conceding that Ray Jennings was factually innocent, dated December 20, 2016
• Motion for Finding of Factual Innocence, filed by Ehrlich Law Firm on January 4, 2017
• Memorandum Decision Granting Writ of Habeas Corpus, filed January 23, 2017
• Memorandum Decision Finding Ray Jennings Factually Innocent, filed January 30, 2017

News Stories

• KCBS 2: “Los Angeles County Prosecutors Set To Ask Convicted Killer Be Released From Prison,” June 22, 2016”
• Los Angeles Times: “Man convicted of murdering college student set free amid questions over guilt,” June 23, 2016
• KABC 7: “Judge orders release of man convicted in 2000 Palmdale shooting death,” June 23, 2016
• Los Angeles Times: “Raymond Lee Jennings’ release demonstrates the value of Jackie Lacey’s conviction review unit,” June 24, 2016
• Los Angeles Times: “How an ex-FBI profiler helped put an innocent man behind bars,” July 20, 2017
• Advocate magazine: “How could this happen in Los Angeles?” September 16, 2016
• Dateline NBC: Trailer — “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” November 11, 2016