Bernstein Shur attorney honored for role in overturning wrongful conviction

Photo/City of Boston Mayor’s Office Attorney Chad Higgins, far right, and the rest of the New England Innocence Project team, shown here, helped overturn the conviction of Keyon Sprinkle, front and center.

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By Ann Fisher

A Yarmouth attorney and members of his pro bono legal team were formally recognized by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for overturning the conviction of a man who had been wrongly accused of murder and spent 20 years behind bars.

Chad Higgins, who practices at Bernstein Shur and pursued Keyon Sprinkle's case for over a decade, joined a Feb. 3 celebration at the newly named Keyon Sprinkle Square in Roxbury, Mass. Higgins attended the event with his daughter, Molly, to celebrate the first Keyon Sprinkle Day.

The Roxbury native was wrongly convicted of first-degree murder in 1999 at the age of 17, and subsequently imprisoned. He spent years writing hundreds of letters to lawyers and his quest to prove his innocence led him to a team working with the New England Innocence Project, which successfully overturned his conviction.

NEIP fights to correct and prevent wrongful convictions and ensure justice within the criminal legal system for innocent people throughout New England who are imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. Higgins was part of the legal team that served Sprinkle, whose conviction was finally thrown out in 2020 after a court found the evidence credible that two other people — discovered through his counsels’ extensive investigation — were responsible for committing the murder for which Sprinkle was wrongfully convicted.

Based on Higgins’ work with NEIP, Bernstein Shur has partnered with New England Innocence Project to assist in other matters in northern New England. Higgins said he remains committed to using the advantages that being a lawyer in the United States provides to help those who have been wrongfully prosecuted and convicted.

Their shared experience also created an enduring friendship between Sprinkle and Higgins.

“Assisting Keyon to correct this wrong is the most important thing I have done with my legal career,” Higgins said. “While Keyon has been released and returned to his family, there are countless others who deserve the same. My colleagues and I remain dedicated to helping them.”