Venable partner Seth A. Rosenthal was quoted in a May 13, 2015 Washington Post article on the recently dismissed murder charges against Gary Gathers and Keith Mitchell. The two men were convicted of first-degree murder in 1993 and sentenced to 35 years to life in prison. Last October, the D.C. Court of Appeals overturned their convictions finding that the government violated the Constitution by introducing and exploiting false testimony from a Metropolitan Police Department detective. Prosecutors declined to seek a new trial and the two men were released from prison.
Discussing the long appeals process, Rosenthal, who represents Gathers and argued the appeal on behalf of both men, said Gathers and Mitchell "never gave up hope and were encouraged to keep fighting" despite early setbacks. "We ran into a lot of hurdles along the way, but they never lost their optimism, and that encouraged us," he added.