Thiruvendran Vignarajah

Thiruvendran "Thiru" Vignarajah (born December 18, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician. He previously was Deputy Attorney General of Maryland.[1] He has also been a federal prosecutor, clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and was President of the Harvard Law Review.[2] He is now a litigation partner at the law firm DLA Piper in Baltimore. He has also been the lead attorney for the State of Maryland in the post-conviction appeals of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of the high-profile 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee.[3][4][5][6]

Thiru Vignarajah

Education

Vignarajah, the son of immigrants from Sri Lanka, graduated from Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, Maryland.[7][8] He studied at Yale College where he received degrees in Political Science and Philosophy, before earning a master's degree in Medical Ethics at King's College London.[2] He then joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company before attending Harvard Law School.[9][10] He was elected President of the Harvard Law Review and was responsible for leading a push for addressing the gender disparity in law review admissions.[11][12][13][14] While at Harvard, Vignarajah was also a research assistant for Derek Bok, the former President of Harvard University, and Arthur R. Miller.[15]

After law school, Vignarajah clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi, a federal appellate judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and for Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the Supreme Court of the United States from 2006 to 2007.[2] Following his clerkships, Vignarajah practiced at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., before serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, under Rod J. Rosenstein, and then as Chief of the Major Investigations Unit at the State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore City.[7] In 2015, Vignarajah was named Deputy Attorney General for the State of Maryland.[1][16]

As Deputy Attorney General, Vignarajah was the lead author of statewide guidelines issued by the Maryland Attorney General to end discriminatory profiling by police, making Maryland the first state to answer former Attorney General Eric Holder’s call for states to issue guidelines on profiling.[17][18][19]

As a prosecutor, Vignarajah handled a number of notable cases in Maryland.[20][21] He was responsible for prosecuting, among others, the alleged mastermind of a series of armed robberies that resulted in the murder of a Greek businessman in Baltimore;[22] a former nonprofit board director who allegedly set a row home on fire with his mistress and her five-year-old son sleeping inside;[23] and two alleged members of the Black Guerrilla Family who killed a 12-year-old boy and shot three other teenagers.[24][25]

Vignarajah has taught constitutional law, administrative law, and law and education as a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Baltimore School of Law and the University of Maryland School of Law.[8] He also teaches a course on crime policy at Johns Hopkins University.[26]

Murder of Hae Min Lee
Main article: Murder of Hae Min Lee

The first season of the podcast Serial focused attention on the 1999 murder of Baltimore teen Hae Min Lee. A high school classmate, Adnan Syed, was convicted of her murder in 2000. Vignarajah has handled multiple appeals filed by Syed's legal team.[27] On 29 March 2018, Maryland's Court of Special Appeals upheld a ruling that Syed was entitled to a new trial.[28] On 14 May 2018, Vignarajah appealed the ruling.[29] On 8 March 2019, Maryland's Court of Appeals overturned the ruling and reinstated Syed's original conviction.[30]

Recorded sharing of nonpublic information

While serving as Deputy Attorney General of Maryland, Vignarajah was covertly filmed by conservative political activist James O'Keefe for his organization, Project Veritas. Vignarajah was in a hotel room filmed giving a female Project Veritas reporter information about plans to side with the Environmental Protection Agency against Maryland Governor Hogan. The plan had not yet been announced to the public. A spokesperson for Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said that “No protected or confidential information was revealed in any discussions.”[31][32]

Political career

On September 14, 2017, Vignarajah declared his candidacy for Baltimore City State's Attorney as a Democrat.[33] He lost the primary with 23% of the vote against 28% for Ivan Bates and 49% for incumbent Marilyn Mosby. Mosby was unopposed in the general election.[34]

After Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa resigned (after being indicted), Vignarajah said the resignation showed the need for the city's top prosecutor to retain the confidence of the public. Ivan Bates, who was one of Vignarajah's opponents in the race for Baltimore City State's attorney, responded that the Project Veritas video shows that Vignarajah lacks the judgment to be State's attorney.[35]

Bates and Vignarajah also clashed over the Syed case, with Bates saying that, if elected, he would drop the case against Syed, because he found the evidence against Syed to be unreliable.[36]

On April 10, 2019, Vignarajah declared his candidacy for the 2020 election for Mayor of the City of Baltimore as a Democrat. He lost the June 2020 primary, taking 11% of the vote.[37]

Police stop

Vignarajah was pulled over late into the night on September 26, 2019 by Baltimore City Police. Vignarajah was allegedly driving with suspended license plates. During the traffic stop he asked the officer "We are 600 patrol officers down and that’s what you’re doing in Greenmount?", then later asked the officers to turn off their body cameras.[38][39] City Council President Brandon Scott criticized Vignarajah's behavior during the stop, saying "You get into public service to do good for all, not to get special treatment for yourself". Baltimore Police Sgt Bill Shiflett said that Vignarajah put the officers in a no-win position, because turning the cameras off is against police department policy, and Vignarajah knew it.[40][41]

References
  1. Fenton, Justin (December 30, 2014). "Top city prosecutor, O'Malley aide join AG's office". The Baltimore Sun.
  2. Fenton, Justin (November 27, 2011). "Heralded young prosecutor joins city state's attorney's office". The Baltimore Sun.
  3. Brief of Appellee, Adnan Syed v. State of Maryland (May 6, 2015).  he http://mdcourts.gov/cosappeals/pdfs/syed/appelleebrief201505.pdf Archived 2016-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Rector, Kevin (September 24, 2015). "State calls Adnan Syed's request to reopen proceedings 'meritless'". The Baltimore Sun.
  5. Francke, Caitlin (February 26, 2000). "Jury finds teen guilty of killing ex-girlfriend". The Baltimore Sun.
  6. Larson, Sarah (October 9, 2014). "Serial: The Podcast We've Been Waiting For". The New Yorker.
  7. "Best of 2014 and Lawyer to Watch in 2015". Center Maryland. January 4, 2015.
  8. Bishop, Tricia (June 2, 2011). "New city division to target violent repeat offenders". The Baltimore Sun.
  9. "Harvard Law Review Elects New President". Harvard Law Today. February 23, 2004.
  10. "Yale Debate Assoc". www.yaledebate.org. Retrieved Apr 10, 2020.
  11. Esensten, Andrew C. (March 1, 2004). "Harvard Law Review Names New President, second-year law student seeks to eliminate gender gap". The Harvard Crimson.
  12. Levine, Adina (February 19, 2004). "Law Review elects new president". The Harvard Law Record.
  13. "Articles Policy Changes by Harvard Law Review". Retrieved Apr 10, 2020.
  14. Zhao, Yilu (November 7, 2004). "Beyond 'Sweetie'". The New York Times.
  15. Miller, Arthur R. (January 2006). "Common Law Protections for Products of the Mind". Harvard Law Review.
  16. Rodricks, Dan (September 19, 2015). "Prosecutor's commitment makes a city neighborhood safer". The Baltimore Sun.
  17. Kast, Sheilah; McKone, Jonna (September 11, 2015). "Translating 'Equal Justice For All' To Routine Policing". WYPR.
  18. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (August 25, 2015). "Maryland Restricts Racial Profiling in New Guidelines for Law Enforcement". The New York Times.
  19. Burke, Sonya (August 25, 2015). "Attorney General Brian Frosh Releases Memo Designed to End Racial Profiling by Police". Montgomery County Media.
  20. Rodricks, Dan (September 19, 2015). "Prosecutor's commitment makes a city neighborhood safer". The Baltimore Sun.
  21. Fenton, Justin (September 11, 2015). "Exposed to violence at early age, gang member became 'agent of fear'". The Baltimore Sun.
  22. Bishop, Tricia (June 17, 2011). "Armed robbery mastermind sentenced to 77 years, Greek businessman died after being tied up". The Baltimore Sun.
  23. Donovan, Doug (July 13, 2014). "Lives on the Line". The Baltimore Sun.
  24. Fenton, Justin (March 16, 2014). "Two men convicted in murder of 12-year-old Baltimore boy". The Baltimore Sun.
  25. Duncan, Ian (October 17, 2014). "Killers of 12-year-old boy sentenced to prison". The Baltimore Sun.
  26. "Thiru Vignarajah". DLA Piper. April 24, 2017.
  27. Justin Fenton and Justin George. "Conviction vacated, new trial granted for Adnan Syed of 'Serial'". Baltimore Sun.
  28. Liam Stack (March 29, 2018). "New Trial Upheld for Adnan Syed of 'Serial'".
  29. "Prosecutors ask Maryland's highest court to reverse ruling of new trial for 'Serial' subject Adnan Syed". Baltimore Sun. May 14, 2018.
  30. Tim Prudente (March 8, 2019). "Adnan Syed case: Maryland high court reinstates 'Serial' subject's conviction". Baltimore Sun.
  31. "Attorney general defends top aide after recording surfaces". WBALTV. Dec 1, 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  32. Prudente, Tim (May 25, 2018). "Ivan Bates cites Project Veritas video of rival as race for Baltimore state's attorney heats up". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  33. Fenton, Justin (September 17, 2017). "Former deputy attorney general, 'Serial' appeal prosecutor running for Baltimore state's attorney". The Baltimore Sun.
  34. Corey Shegda (June 27, 2018). "Marilyn Mosby wins Baltimore State's Attorney race again". 2 WMAR Baltimore.
  35. Tim Prudente (May 25, 2018). "Ivan Bates cites Project Veritas video of rival as race for Baltimore state's attorney heats up". Baltimore Sun.
  36. Amelia Mcdonnell-Parry (May 21, 2018). "'Serial': Baltimore State's Attorney Race Could Mean Freedom for Adnan Syed". Rolling Stone.
  37. "2020 Election Results | Unofficial 2020 Presidential Primary Election results for Baltimore City". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  38. Zumer, Bryna (Jan 21, 2020). "VID | Mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah pulled over for suspended license plates". WBFF. Retrieved Apr 10, 2020.
  39. Luke Broadwater (January 20, 2020). "Video of late-night traffic stop shows Baltimore mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah drove on suspended tags". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  40. "Questions Raised About Baltimore Mayoral Candidate Thiru Vignarajah's Treatment During Traffic Stop". IndiaWest. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  41. Bryna Zumer (January 20, 2020). "Sergeant tells mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah he put 'officers in jeopardy'". Retrieved February 14, 2020.
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