Gretchen Cothron Law & Forensics

04/26/2024

https://news.miami.edu/law/stories/2024/04/miami-law-alumna-lands-dream-job.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3bJAzE6qoy1egCghZ4kaMIR2lqhaOgukqcmId6xBfOMHnNfOmxlZ8zB-k_aem_AcVw1s6t4kTmoby6G4ls_Tq0nV8wpwUxEozrdCMNsyP1ppQvexTiVUqQYLBZY94jljaoYV0EVxfpX5pJC9168jxy

Gretchen Cothron, who was the Innocence Clinic’s first fellow, is joining the Innocence Project of Florida as a staff attorney.

04/11/2024

03/12/2024

Gretchen cannot express in eloquent words how honored she is to have finally achieved her goal of joining the Innocence Project of Florida.
Those who have followed her studies and career know that that has been her ultimate goal.
Twelve years of university studies in forensic science, criminology, and law. This was always her penultimate goal. She has now joined the Innocence Project of Florida to help right wrongful convictions.
She did it. And so can you. Keep fighting the good fight,

This website will only serve as a place holder. Please contact the Innocence Project of Florida to contact Gretchen.

03/04/2024

I have an announcement.

I have been offered and I accepted my dream job, the position that I’ve been working decades towards achieving.
I am joining the Innocence Project of Florida as a Staff Attorney working with Executive Director Seth Miller and Legal Director Brandon Scheck and the rest of the amazing team of investigators, intake directors, social worker, and fundraisers.
Those who know me well, know that this has been my goal for over two decades.
I started my career in performing arts, but switched to forensic science in college in my twenties. A few semesters into studying forensic science I was assigned to research “when forensics went wrong”.
I researched and wrote a paper on the Frank Lee Smith and Jerry Townsend case(s). The case(s) broke my heart. Please Google these cases as they will horrify you and teach you what the FL criminal justice system really achieves. Florida leads the world in wrongful convictions.
I turned my eye to a more critical view of what I was learning, paying attention to the problems I saw in what was being taught as “science”. I graduated SPC top of my class in forensics and then switched to University of Tampa where I studied criminology and graduated top of the class.
While at UT, the university paid for me and my mentors to present a quantitative paper we wrote on wrongful convictions at seminars around the country.
At one conference, the national Innocence Conference, I happened to sit at a dinner with Seth Miller and Peter Nuefeld. I told them that I had applied to Cardozo Law to study under Barry Scheck and Peter.
They both told me I was needed in Florida. Seth connected me to professors at the University of Miami and I applied and then became the first Fellow in the UM Innocence Clinic with Sarah and Craig.
After law school I honed my skills under Holt and Dillinger at PD 13 & 6, and then went into private practice.

It’s fitting and so amazing that at my decade anniversary as an attorney and two decades anniversary as a forensic scientist, I’m now reaching the goal that I’ve always aimed for.

I’m joining the Innocence Project of Florida.

I am so honored and excited.

12/28/2023

As 2023 winds to a close, it is time to reflect on our hard work and some of our most successful criminal defense cases over the past year. These are some of the cases that Gretchen and her Legal Assistant Jill are most proud of; we resolved all of the listed without clients incurring the expense and stresses of trial.

https://gretchencothronlaw.com/legal-discussions/f/2023-end-of-year-recap

11/15/2023

Join the George Edgecomb Bar Association for our November GLE on Saturday, November 18,
2023 from 11:00AM-12:00PM on our Facebook Live Page. Your host will be GEBA Community Action Chair Jasmine Smith. Our topic of discussion will be on Consumer Protection legal matters. Our guest speaker will be Attorney John A. Yanchunis of Morgan & Morgan in Tampa. We will discuss certain frauds and scams prevalent today including robocalls, phishing emails, bogus debts, and more. We will also discuss what protections are available for consumers as well as legal causes of action attorneys should consider when investigating these matters. This webinar is free for the community.

11/15/2023

Jill (paralegal) and I (criminal defense attorney) were honored to be asked to speak to students at Trinity Oaks today for the Great American Teach In event. We presented a lesson on eyewitness testimony and wrongful convictions. If you need criminal defense help call us at (727) 275-9575.

10/17/2023

Heartbreaking.

05/20/2023

Members of the Hillsborough County Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers meet up with the Pinellas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Attorney Gretchen Cothron serves on the board of HCACDL and practices criminal defense in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Polk counties.

05/18/2023

Join us on May 27.