A team of Weil attorneys, working pro bono with partner organizations, has secured an appellate victory on behalf of our client, James Genrich. This marks Weil’s fourth appellate victory on behalf of Mr. Genrich, and part of a nearly decade-long representation.   

On December 8, 2025, the Colorado Supreme Court denied the State’s petition for writ of certiorari, which, if granted, would have allowed the State to challenge a lower court’s decision granting a new trial to Mr. Genrich. Mr. Genrich has been in prison for three decades following a conviction based on since-debunked “toolmark matching” science. The conviction came after a series of pipe bombings. The State’s expert claimed that Mr. Genrich’s pliers and wire cutters were the only tools in the entire world that could have made tiny marks found on bomb fragments. The Innocence Project, Weil and Colorado counsel team worked on Mr. Genrich’s behalf to obtain a new trial based on newly discovered evidence: advances in science, long after the trial, establishing that toolmark matching testimony (like what the State’s expert provided) is unreliable and subject to high rates of errors. After an evidentiary hearing, a Colorado trial court agreed that the State’s expert testimony would now be inadmissible and that, with the additional benefit of new science, a jury would likely acquit. Accordingly, Mr. Genrich was granted a new trial.

The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of a new trial. The State filed a petition for writ of certiorari, which Mr. Genrich opposed in a brief prepared by Weil and co-counsel. The Colorado Supreme Court has now denied the State’s petition, which ensures Mr. Genrich can finally receive the trial he is constitutionally entitled to, without the taint of unreliable evidence.

After maintaining his innocence for more than 30 years, Mr. Genrich is very pleased that his grant of a new trial has been affirmed, and the team looks forward to continuing to advocate for his exoneration. The Weil team includes Greg Silbert, Brian Liegel, Corey Brady, Marina Masterson, Kara Smith, Jill Jacobson, Retired Partner Irwin Warren appearing as Senior Pro Bono Counsel and Retired Partner Ed Soto. The Innocence Project counsel includes Chris Fabricant. Colorado counsel includes Kathleen Lord, of the Korey Wise Innocence Project at the University of Colorado School of Law, and Rebekka Higgs.