Second Justice Can Give You A Second Chance

Struggling to overturn a wrongful conviction at the hands of an unfair justice system? Your journey doesn’t have to end yet. We provide the legal resources and support you need to restore justice – once and for all.

Explore Our Cases

One snap decision can change someone’s life in an instant. Our hope is to change it for the better. Here are examples of active cases we represent.

Walter Ogrod

Time Served: 28 Years

Twenty-eight years after Philadelphia prosecutors first sought to take his life for the murder of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn, Walter Ogrod has been exonerated from Pennsylvania’s death row.

Michael White

Time Served: 46 Years

In June of 1977 Michael White was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole. He had been convicted of robbing and murdering Georgell Jones earlier that year. Sixteen years after his conviction he learned that the prosecutor at his trial had deliberately mislead the Court and jury about the victim, the crime scene, and the Commonwealth’s star witness. In 1992, this newly discovered evidence came within a hair’s breath of causing Michael White’s release from prison, but the Pennsylvania Superior Court sided with the prosecutor and White spent another 31 years behind bars.

Many attorneys worked on White’s post-conviction case over the years without success. In 2021 the Third Circuit’s decision in Bracey v. Superintendent SCI Rockview, 875 F.3d 274 (3d. Cir. 2021) opened a window of opportunity that allowed Second Justice to bring the prosecutorial misconduct back before the Court. In December of 2022, the Honorable John R. Padova issued a Writ of Habeas Corpus overturning the 1977 conviction of Michael White. In April of 2023, after a forty-six-year sentence for a crime he did not commit, Michael White walked out of prison as a free man.

William Franklin

Time Served: 44 Years

William Franklin is coming home after 44 Years behind bars due to a wrongful conviction, as part of the “Sex for Lies” scandal in Philadelphia. His family and his attorney, Joseph Marrone speak to NBC10.

Howard White

Time Served: 40 Years

According to the April 5, 2022, edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, in the 13 years since Pennsylvania’s current Compassionate Release law was passed, only 31 people have been released.

Arkel Garcia

Time Served: 11 Years

On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, Arkel Garcia filed his Complaint against the City of Philadelphia and members of the Philadelphia Police Department, including the now notorious Philip Nordo.

You’ve Got the Rights. Don’t Give Them Up

Are you or a loved one serving a life sentence in a case where you believe there was misconduct? Pennsylvania’s Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) lets you challenge your conviction if you meet certain requirements and time bounds.

Join the Fight for a More Equitable World

Donate today to alleviate the consequences of prosecutorial misconduct and an unjust system. Your kindness goes towards restoring the safety and wellbeing of everyone in your community – no matter what cards they were dealt.

Our Professional Team Members

Joseph M. Marrone

Founding Partner

Joseph M. Marrone

Founding Partner
Joseph Marrone, Esq. is the founding partner of Marrone Law Firm based in Center City, Philadelphia. A high-powered litigator who established his practice in 1993, Joseph has since garnered a number of honors and awards for his legal skill.

Michael D. Pomerantz

Executive Director

Michael D. Pomerantz

Executive Director

Executive Director, Michael D. Pomerantz is a seasoned litigator who grew up wanting to emulate his heroes Atticus Finch, Clarence Darrow, and Thurgood Marshall. With the Second Justice organization organization, Mr. Pomerantz is now able to realize that life-long dream of being a Civil Rights Lawyer.

Arturo J. Mattia

Advisor/Consultant

Arturo J. Mattia

Advisor/Consultant

Arturo J. Mattia (AJ), is an advisor, consultant, board member and entrepreneur. A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native, AJ is an emerging leader in manufacturing and business strategy. He has dedicated much time to the growth and success of several nonprofit organizations and private corporations, and as a self motivator, has supported and played an active role in funding hospital and educational programs as well as cancer research and development.

Gregory Stover

Advisor/Consultant

Gregory Stover

Advisor/Consultant

Gregg, or “G” as he is known among friends and coworkers, brings extraordinary compassion and patience to his work at Second Justice. G joined the team in 2022 and has steadily increased his role. He now is responsible for reviewing files, evaluating potential new cases, providing support for all litigation cases, and a majority of client contact.

The Justice System Fails Our Citizens – Every Day

Our mission is to provide a glimmer of hope and legal resources to those who need it the most. 

As we work with communities to reform the legal system as a whole, we conduct charitable activities to ease the burden on the government and protect human and civil rights.This includes but isn’t limited to:

  • Post-conviction relief
  • Habeas Corpus relief of and for convicted felons, particularly indigent and underprivileged, wrongfully convicted individuals

Incarceration by the Numbers

Second Justice was created to bring hope and legal resources to those who have been wronged through unjust prosecutorial misconduct in the justice system.

2.3*

million

people are currently incarcerated, serving time in:
1000
juvenile facilities
1000
state prisons
1000
local jails
0
federal prisons
0
Indian territory jails

(Narratives of Adjustment and Adaptation of Older Males with Life Sentences, Walden University ProQuest Dissertation Publishing, 2022)

Exonerations, in the Numbers

2,663 people have been exonerated since 1989:
of exonerations involve violent crime

80%

of exonerations involve official misconduct

54%

of exonerations involve misconduct by prosecutors

30%

of exonerations involve misconduct

35%

of exonerations involve murder

72%

(Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, The Roles of Prosecutors, Police and Other Law Enforcement, National Registry of Exonerations, 2020)

The Cost of Incarceration

$182 billion*** spent on mass incarceration every single year:
Billion
$ 0
on prisons, jails, and probation
Billion
$ 0
on indigent defense
Billion
$ 0
on policing
Billion
$ 0
for judicial and legal

Billion
$ 0
for prosecution

(Following the Money of Mass Incarceration, Prison Policy Initiative, 2017)

You Can Make A Lifetime of Difference

Donate today to put a stop to it all: the coerced confessions, withheld evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct.