UConn law students Catherine Cheek and Justin Taverna helped prepare an appeal that resulted in the Connecticut Supreme Court reversing Rashad Tee Sellers’ murder conviction and ordering a new trial on August 25, according to a university report published October 13.
The students worked in UConn Law’s Criminal Defense Appellate Clinic with public defenders Erica Barber and Jennifer Bourn. Cheek assisted with a reply brief and presented part of the oral argument.
UConn reports that the case involved scientific evidence described as gunshot residue. The Supreme Court concluded that its reliability had not been adequately examined before it was admitted at trial.
The clinic partners with the Connecticut Division of Public Defender Services, giving students supervised experience with criminal appeals.
The October report revisits an August decision. A new-trial order is not an acquittal, and no later case outcome is asserted. The judicial opinion could not be retrieved during this check; this account is attributed to UConn.