Intake

Ana Marie Diaz
Case Associate

Ana Marie Diaz
Case Associate Staff
Ana Marie Diaz
Case Associate Staff
Ana Marie Diaz joined the Innocence Project in November 2007 as a Case Assistant. Ms. Diaz has always had a passion for Forensic Science. Before joining the Innocence Project Ms. Diaz worked in several fields, including social work and medicine.

Bhavan Sodhi
Chief Program Officer

Bhavan Sodhi
Chief Program Officer Intake
Bhavan Sodhi
Chief Program Officer Intake
Bhavan K. Sodhi is the Chief Program Officer at the Innocence Project. In this capacity, she is responsible for the oversight, management, and supervision of all six programmatic departments: Client Intake and Evaluation, Post-conviction Litigation, Data Science & Research, Strategic Litigation, Social Work, and Public Policy Reform.
Prior to this role, she served as the IP’s Director of Intake & Case Evaluation. Bhavan comes to the IP with deep experience in innocence work, having served as the Legal Director at Innocence Canada, where she is now a member of its Case Review Committee and Executive Board. She was also the Executive Director of the Osgoode Innocence Project in Toronto and an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, teaching wrongful conviction and forensic science. Bhavan also co-founded and instructed the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law for many years.
Bhavan has served as a Board Member of the international Innocence Network and has experience working as both a prosecutor and defense attorney in Toronto. Bhavan has written extensively about criminal justice and wrongful convictions and regularly presents on these topics. She is deeply passionate about and committed to addressing injustice and the systems that foster it.

Celeste C. Vargas
Case Analyst

Celeste C. Vargas
Case Analyst Intake
Celeste C. Vargas
Case Analyst Intake
Celeste joined the Innocence Project as a Case Analyst in November 2020. Helping others has always been her passion. Prior to joining our team, she worked at the Winston-Salem Police Department in North Carolina for seven years. Her career began in crime scene investigation with the Forensic Services Division. She also worked with the WSPD Training Division, followed by the Victim Assistance Unit where she reviewed cases and provided services to crime victims including survivors of domestic violence. Celeste graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Crime, Law, & Justice. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is happy to be back home in Brooklyn, New York where she was born and raised.

Dara Gell
Investigations Attorney and Supervisor for Intake Partnerships & Training

Dara Gell
Investigations Attorney and Supervisor for Intake Partnerships & Training Intake
Dara Gell
Investigations Attorney and Supervisor for Intake Partnerships & Training Intake
Dara Gell joined the Intake Department of the Innocence Project in 2017, serving as the Investigations Attorney and Supervisor for Intake Partnerships and Training. In her roles, she both evaluates complex innocence claims for potential representation by IP’s Post Conviction Litigation Department and manages IP’s partnership program with several large corporate law firms providing ongoing pro bono services to the Intake Department. Dara has also served as Interim Director of Intake and Evaluation. Dara has been involved in two exonerations while with the IP, both during her time as a staff member and in her year-long internship with the organization during law school. Prior to joining the IP staff, Dara was a practicing immigration defense attorney in New York City. She proudly defended individuals and families facing deportation in federal immigration court. She holds a B.A. from State University of New York at Geneseo, and a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Debra Fulton
Intake Assistant

Debra Fulton
Intake Assistant Intake
Debra Fulton
Intake Assistant Intake

Donald Katz
Intake Assistant

Donald Katz
Intake Assistant Intake
Donald Katz
Intake Assistant Intake

Elena Aviles
Document Manager

Elena Aviles
Document Manager Intake
Elena Aviles
Document Manager Intake
Elena Aviles has worked at the Innocence Project since its inception. She started working on a full time basis for the Project in 1997 as a Case Assistant and managed the bulk of the administrative functions of the evaluation process. In September 2007, she became the Innocence Project’s first Document Manager and is responsible for acquiring documents and information in cases where more information is needed to complete our review.

Emilie Winter
Case Analyst

Emilie Winter
Case Analyst Intake
Emilie Winter
Case Analyst Intake
Emilie joined the Innocence Project in September 2023. Prior to working at the Innocence Project, Emilie was a Language Access Specialist at Vermont Immigrant Assistance, where she provided Portuguese interpretation and translation services for clients seeking asylum. Emilie was a summer fellow with Fair and Just Prosecution; she developed several policy reform projects with Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office, including a policy guiding prosecutors to send case referrals to local restorative justice programs. She earned her M.A. in restorative justice from Vermont Law School in 2022 and a double B.A. in psychology and geography from DePaul University in 2016. Emilie is currently completing her JD degree at Brooklyn Law School.

Gabriel Lopez
Senior Case Analyst.

Gabriel Lopez
Senior Case Analyst. Intake
Gabriel Lopez
Senior Case Analyst. Intake
Gabriel Lopez joined the innocence project as a Case Analyst in May 2018. Prior to working at the innocence project, Gabriel worked as an intake paralegal at Brooklyn Legal Services in the Tenant Rights Coalition unit. He also interned with a Licensed Private Investigator in the summer of 2016, learning about investigative report writing and background due diligence. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Hunter College, part of the City University of New York. Gabriel is currently completing his Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College at the City University of New York.

Jessica Diaz
Document Manager

Jessica Diaz
Document Manager Staff
Jessica Diaz
Document Manager Staff
Jessica Diaz joined the Innocence Project as Intake Assistant in April of 2016. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Jessica worked at the Foundation Center where she served in various roles to help strengthen the knowledge of philanthropy. She received her B.A. in Media Studies from Hunter College.

Jonathon Burne
Senior Case Analyst

Jonathon Burne
Senior Case Analyst Intake
Jonathon Burne
Senior Case Analyst Intake
Jonathon joined the Innocence Project in September 2019. Before joining, Jonathon worked as a Community Fellow with the Immigrant Justice Corps where Jonathon provided bilingual (English and Arabic) immigration legal services to indigent non-citizens. Jonathon graduated from Williams College with a double B.A. in Arabic Studies and Political Science. As a student-organizer, Jonathon coordinated diversity and inclusion efforts with other marginalized students, helped establish a migrant justice student group, and volunteered rapid-response counseling for survivors of sexual assault. Jonathon is a passionate advocate for transformative social change and an aspiring musician.

Lauren Schlansky
Case Analyst and Investigator, Intake Strategic Initiatives

Lauren Schlansky
Case Analyst and Investigator, Intake Strategic Initiatives Intake
Lauren Schlansky
Case Analyst and Investigator, Intake Strategic Initiatives Intake
Lauren joined the Innocence Project as a paralegal in June 2020. Prior to joining the IP, Lauren was an investigator at Brooklyn Defender Services, where she helped defend hundreds of individuals charged with misdemeanor and felony crimes. During college, Lauren conducted research for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, interned with several organizations including the Legal Aid Society and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and spent time in Germany researching its prison system and history of punishment. Lauren graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science in 2019.

Marc Vega
Senior Case Analyst

Marc Vega
Senior Case Analyst Intake
Marc Vega
Senior Case Analyst Intake
Marc Vega joined the Innocence Project in April 2004 as a Case Assistant. Mr. Vega believes strongly in the Project’s mission and is happy to be a member of the team. Before joining the Innocence Project, Mr. Vega worked in several fields, including social work and medicine.

Phoebe Jones
Case Analyst

Phoebe Jones
Case Analyst Staff
Phoebe Jones
Case Analyst Staff

Simran Sohal
Senior Case Analyst

Simran Sohal
Senior Case Analyst Staff
Simran Sohal
Senior Case Analyst Staff
Simran joined the Innocence Project as a Case Analyst in November 2020. She returned to the organization after interning in the Intake Department the previous year. Graduating from Williams College in June 2020, she received a double B.A. in Psychology and English with a concentration in Justice and Law Studies. While at Williams, Simran conducted independent research on the relationship between procedural justice and jury nullification. Outside of the academic sphere, she volunteered as a responder to a hotline service for survivors of sexual violence and their allies and organized initiatives to prevent future instances of such harm.

William Woods
Director of Intake & Case Evaluation

William Woods
Director of Intake & Case Evaluation Intake
William Woods
Director of Intake & Case Evaluation Intake

Yosha Gunasekera
Staff Attorney, Intake Strategic Initiatives

Yosha Gunasekera
Staff Attorney, Intake Strategic Initiatives Intake
Yosha Gunasekera
Staff Attorney, Intake Strategic Initiatives Intake