State of Arizona v. Louis Taylor
Mr. Taylor was arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison after having been accused of starting a fire at the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson, Arizona in 1970. Mr. Taylor spend 42 years incarcerated for the death of 28 people.
Patrick Andler was appointed by the Arizona Justice Project through Larry Hammond and Andrew Hacker to conduct a review of all documents and artifacts pertaining to the conviction of Mr. Taylor. A peer review was conducted by nationally recognized experts three years prior to the release of Mr. Taylor.
Patrick Andler reviewed 13,000 pages and the peer review report and came to the conclusion that the fire was undetermined, more than likely an electrical fire occurring from a light ballast failure.
In April of 2013, Mr. Taylor was released after service 42 years incarcerated. Mr. Taylor’s release made national and international news and Mr. Andler was interviewed by multiple media stations. Mr. Andler had worked on this case for over a year and spent hundreds of hours reviewing documents and working with the Arizona Justice Project.
Mr. Andler worked on this case on a pro bono basis and never received any form of compensation for his volunteerism.
State of California v. George Souliotes
On July 23, 2013, the Northern California Innocence Project client George Souliotes walks out of the county jail as a free man. He was wrongfully incarcerated and spent over 16 years serving a three life term prison conviction without parole.
Patrick Andler was asked to assist in the investigation to the law firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe through attorney Jimmy McBirney.
Mr. Souliotes was arrested, charged and convicted of the death of a mother and her two children in a murder-arson crime. A hearing was held in Federal District Court and multiple experts testified in behalf of George Souliotes and after the hearing the federal magistrate found and the district court agreed that we had established that Mr. Souliotes was actually innocent and that his conviction was based on faulty fire science as well as a totally unreliable eyewitness identification.
On July 23, Mr. Souliotes was released for time served. The defense team and Mr. Souliotes maintained his absolute innocence. Mr. Souliotes is 72 years old and with health issues along with his legal team and his family decided that it was in best interest to resolve the case before a third trial.
Mr. Andler contributed to the release of Mr. George Souliotes after serving 16 years in prison.
Mr. Andler worked on this case on a pro bono basis.
