Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma
After a total of seven years in journalism, including two at the J-School, I went on to law school. I now operate a firm of three lawyers in New York City focusing on criminal defense and civil rights litigation. I had wonderful adventures during and after journalism school that included a stint in Mexico (I met with President Carlos Salinas after being fired for writing about a PRI candidate under DEA investigation) and three-and-a-half years to the New York Daily News, which set the table for my legal career.
I now do trials and post-conviction work for people accused of crimes like drug trafficking, fraud, and murder. A few highlights: I worked with the Innocence Project last year to obtain clemency for Felipe Rodriguez, who was wrongly convicted of a 1987 Queens murder and whose story was told at great length this year by editor-in-chief and publisher of the Daily News, Arthur Browne. In 2014, after almost six years of work, my client Antonio Yarbough and a co-defendant were exonerated for the murders of Tony’s family in Coney Island in 1992. In addition to post-conviction work, I serve on the federal Criminal Justice Act panels in Brooklyn and Manhattan representing indigent clients in federal criminal cases. I also represent inmates in civil rights cases, especially those involving sexual abuse by guards. in 2010, I represented a Songhai tribesman caught up in a DEA sting operation and wrongly accused of collaborating with Al Qaeda in Mali.
I live in Westchester County with my wife, Mary Margulis-Ohnuma, and three kids.