Mark Denbeaux

Early life and education

Mark Denbeaux was born in Gainesville, Florida and grew up there. He attended local schools before going to the Commonwealth School.

Denbeaux received his B.A. from College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio) in 1965. An active supporter of civil rights in the 1960s, Denbeaux participated in the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Following the March on Washington, Denbeaux founded a NAACP chapter in Wooster. He also marched in Selma, Alabama for voting rights in 1965.

He attended New York University School of Law (New York, NY), where he graduated in 1968.

Early career

After graduating from NYU Law School in 1968, Denbeaux became a founding member of the South Bronx Legal Services. He was appointed as the citywide coordinator for the Community Action for Legal Services from 1970 to 1972.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Denbeaux represented Black Panther Party in the Bronx and Manhattan with Jeffrey Brand, now the Dean of the University of San Francisco Law School. He represented the Young Lords in the Bronx during their takeover of Lincoln Hospital.

In the early 1970s, Denbeaux represented a number of U.S. soldiers charged with disobeying orders during the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement. He defended some in courts martial.

Seton Hall University Law

In 1972, Denbeaux joined the Seton Hall Law School Faculty. He has taught courses including Evidence, Remedies, Uniform Commercial Code, Contracts, Professional Responsibility, Federal Civil Procedure, Torts, and Constitutional Law. He has been an elected member of the American Law Institute since 1980.

In 2006, Denbeaux founded the Center for Policy and Research at Seton Hall University Law School. This work was originally inspired by Denbeaux' pro bono representation of two Guantanamo detainees. He and his son are among more than 100 attorneys who have represented detainees there.

The Center produces analytic reports in three key areas: interrogations and intelligence, national security, and forensics. Under Denbeaux's supervision, students working as research fellows in teams develop skills in pattern recognition, factual evaluation, and data analysis; Seton Hall University has published their original reports on issues concerning law and public policy.

Denbeaux is well known for the Center's Guantanamo Reports, studies of United States operations and policies at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; by late 2009, fifteen studies had been published in this series.

The law research fellows have systematically analyzed data published by the Department of Defense; they have reviewed more than 100,000 pages of government documents procured through the Freedom of Information Act. The first report was a statistical analysis of characteristics of the 517 detainees held in 2005. The Guantanamo Reports have been widely cited and published globally.

Forensics

Denbeaux is an expert in forensic testimony. He teaches an upper-level seminar at Seton Hall Law on forensic evidence. The course evaluates the reliability of experts who testify as to handwriting identification, fingerprint identification, ballistics, tool marks, blood spatter, bite marks, and other crime scene forensic evidence and witnesses. The analysis of these areas includes an evaluation of the reliability and validity of each area's conclusions, the value of each area's proficiency testing, and the methodology upon which the conclusions are reached.

In order to fully evaluate forensic evidence, the Center has established a crime laboratory, certified by the requisite proficiency tests. Its representatives have given expert opinions about the methodology used by specific forensic fields in court. Its written reports have been used in court proceedings. A significant part of the seminar includes participating in these projects.

Denbeaux has spoken on the subject of forensic science at dozens of academic gatherings and has testified as an expert witness on the limitations of forensic evidence more than fifty times in state and federal courts as well as in administrative proceedings. His testimony has been cited in published cases in addition to the Third and Eleventh Circuits (U.S. v. Yagman and U.S. v. Pettus).

Denbeaux offered testimony questioning the reliability of handwriting analysis in this 2007 trial. His testimony was limited to his observations about the limitations and/or flaws in handwriting analysis generally, not as specifically applicable to the facts in Yagman.

289 Ark. 238

Denbeaux served as an expert witness in U.S. v. Hines, in which the government's motion to exclude Denbeaux's testimony was deemed moot. The government argued that Denbeaux's testimony did not meet the standards of Daubert and Kumho, while Denbeaux concluded that there is no need for expert testimony on handwriting analysis as it has never been proven reliable.

In U.S. v. Ruth, the issue in question was whether the military judge abused his discretion by denying production of Denbeaux, who was slated to testify as an expert critic of handwriting analysis.

High-profile cases

Denbeaux defended Sydney Biddle Barrows, the "Mayflower Madam," in 1984. Barrows ran Cachet, an escort service in New York City, from 1979 until 1984, when the service was shut down. She was charged with promoting prostitution by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She eventually pleaded guilty.

In 1997 Denbeaux served as a forensic expert for the trial of Timothy McVeigh, charged with bombing the Oklahoma Federal Building.

Private practice

Denbeaux serves as Attorney of Counsel for the family law firm Denbeaux and Denbeaux.

Books

Center for Policy and Research, Guantanamo Reports

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