The David House Agency

Last updated
David House Agency
Formation2011
Founder Eric Volz
Purposeinternational crisis resource
Location

The David House Agency is a Los Angeles-based international crisis resource agency [1] that helps international travelers facing wrongful imprisonment and other complex legal and political situations abroad. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The David House Agency was founded in 2011 by Eric Volz after his own experience of wrongful detainment in Nicaragua. In an article about the agency, The New York Times describes it as "a hybrid of international detective work, legal research, political analysis, and diplomatic lobbying." [1] The agency works on all aspects of international detainment cases, including case management, hiring and managing of local counsel, fundraising guidance, strategic communications, private diplomacy and lobbying, and aftercare measures. [5]

High Profile Cases

The agency has been at the center of many high-profile cases overseas. Most recently, the David House Agency worked on the wrongful conviction case of Matthew and Grace Huang, a Los Angeles couple erroneously accused of starving their 8-year-old adopted daughter to death in Qatar in January 2013. [6] Their conviction was overturned in December 2014, ending a two-year legal saga and lift of a travel ban—enabling the couple to leave Qatar and reunite with their two sons in the US.

The agency also aided Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a 28-year-old former U.S. Marine convicted of spying for the CIA in Iran, [7] Jason Puracal, an American who was wrongfully imprisoned in Nicaragua on charges of international drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime, [8] and the three American hikers taken into custody and accused of spying by Iranian border guards while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan. [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Volz</span>

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Jason Puracal is an American who was wrongly sentenced to serve 22 years in prison in Nicaragua on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime. Puracal's case went before the Appeals Court on August 16, 2012, nearly one year after his original conviction. On September 12, 2012, he was acquitted of all charges by the Appeals Court.

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Ricky Jackson, Ronnie Bridgeman and Wiley Bridgeman are African Americans who were wrongfully convicted of murder as young men in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975 and sentenced to death. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1977. They were imprisoned for decades before each of the three was exonerated in late 2014. Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman were released that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Whelan (security director)</span> American detained in Russia (born 1970)

Paul Nicholas Whelan is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. He was arrested in Russia on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence.

Siamak Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman. He has been detained in Evin Prison in Iran since October 13, 2015.

Morad Tahbaz is an Iranian-American businessman and conservationist. He was born in London and holds British citizenship. Tahbaz is a co-founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF). In January 2018, Iranian authorities arrested Tahbaz along with eight other PWHF-affiliated individuals.

Kai Li is an American businessman who has been detained in China since 2016. The United States government considers Li to be wrongfully detained under the Levinson Act. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Li's detention to be arbitrary.

References

  1. 1 2 Gladstone, Rick (March 27, 2015). "Turning Wrongful Imprisonment Into Advocacy". New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Kolker, Robert (July 14, 2015). "Do You Know How Your Daughter Died?". New York Magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kruse, Brandi (April 23, 2012). "Through Imprisoned Tacoma man, Eric Volz Relives His Hell". Mynorthwest.com. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ "David House Agency Mission". The David House Agency. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "David House Agency Services". The David House Agency. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ Schwartz, Felicia (December 2, 2015). "Qatar to Allow Americans to Return Home". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Associated Press (20 February 2012). "Former Iran detainees: Publicity helped their case". Fox News. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Puente, David (September 15, 2012). "American freed after 2 years in Nicaraguan 'hellhole'". CNN. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  9. ↑ Russell, Joel. "Firm Locked In on Freeing U.S. Citizens Overseas". LA Business Journal. Retrieved 2 August 2015.


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