Marc Bookman, Executive Director

Marc Bookman is the Co-Founder and current Executive Director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation and an expert in the field of capital litigation. From 1993 to 2010, he served in the Homicide Unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. He has taught at countless death penalty conferences and hands-on trainings across the nation, including those sponsored by the Defender Association, the National Legal Aid Association, the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and the annual BYOC trainings coordinated by ACCR.

Marc is also an avid writer who has published essays in The Atlantic, Mother Jones, VICE and Slate on various aspects of capital jurisprudence. He earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina.

He published his first book, A Descending Spiral: Exposing the Death Penalty in 12 Essays in the Spring of 2021.

Gregory Johnson, Director of Operations

Gregory is ACCR’s Director of Operations and joined the staff in January 2022. He earned his B.A. from Temple University with concentrations in Philosophy and Pre-law. Prior to his position with the Atlantic Center, Greg served as the Assistant to the President and CEO of Citizen Diplomacy International, a nonprofit facilitating the cultural development and exchange between Philadelphia residents and businesses with international communities. During his time with CDI he also served as a Project Manager, supporting the administrative and funding needs of specific initiatives within the organization. Gregory is passionate about utilizing his operational skills to serve the underrepresented and further criminal justice reform. 

Kaylyn Christian, Mitigation Services COordinator

Kaylyn Christian, ACCR’s Mitigation Services Coordinator, graduated Cum Laude with her B.A. in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Temple University. As an undergraduate, Kaylyn became heavily involved with the Death Penalty Defense community through trainings and her position as a Homicide Unit Mitigation Intern at the Defenders Association of Philadelphia. Prior to becoming ACCR’s in-house mitigation specialist, Kaylyn began her own private practice based in Philadelphia. 

In addition to her work for ACCR, Kaylyn continues to hold her own private practice as a paralegal and mitigation specialist where she focuses her representation on pre-trial and post-conviction capital cases, non-capital homicides, juvenile life without parole cases, and federal sentencing cases in the federal and state systems. 

Frances Harvey, Staff Attorney

Frances Harvey joined ACCR as its first Staff Attorney in January 2023. After growing up in San Diego, they got their BA with honors from the University of Chicago and their JD cum laude from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law. Frances' commitment to prisoners' rights and capital defense has led them to Philadelphia, with stops in New York and DC. Frances has held fellowships with Reprieve US, the Legal Aid Society's Prisoners' Rights Project, and the Mississippi Public Defenders Office’s Capital Defense Division. Coming to ACCR from the Nassau County Legal Aid where they served as a Public Defender, Frances is ready to expand ACCR's capacity to improve capital representation in Pennsylvania.

Maura Egan, Director of Development

Maura Egan joined ACCR as a Development Associate in early 2020. She earned her B.F.A. from Pratt Institute with a concentration in Ceramics and a minor in Art, Design and Social Practice. While training to be a creative educator, Maura became heavily involved in non-profit fundraising and community organizing first as an intern and eventually as Development Director of Trilok Fusion Center for Arts and Education. She also served as a full time coordinator for a Brooklyn based children’s dance program called School of Blyss. In January 2021 Maura joined the staff full time as Director of Development.

Dana Cook

Dana Cook is one of the Co-Founders of ACCR and was selected in 2020 to serve at a federal level as the National Mitigation Coordinator. Prior to forming ACCR, Dana worked at the Defender Association of Philadelphia as a social worker and a mitigation specialist. She began in the Juvenile Special Defense Unit representing Direct File Juveniles – children who were charged as adults in the criminal justice system. After working in this unit for two years, she worked in the Homicide/Special Defense Unit as a mitigation specialist where she represented capital and non-capital clients.

Akeem Davis

Akeem Davis joined the ACCR staff in 2014 and has served in a variety of positions for the organization. Originally from Miami, Florida, Akeem earned his B.A. in Humanities from Florida State University and is a proud alumnus of Omega Psi Phi. In 2011, he relocated to Philadelphia to begin a career in acting. Akeem’s passion for ACCR’s mission led him to spearhead a variety of efforts to further combat the death penalty. 

In August 2021 Akeem transitioned from his multifaceted role with the organization to a full-time acting career.

Patrick J. Egan, President

A true Philadelphia lawyer at heart even prior to 30 years as a practicing defense attorney, Patrick is currently a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP specializing in white-collar criminal defense. Originally from Ohio by way of Brooklyn, Pat is a graduate of Temple University law school where he continues to teach trial advocacy. A founding member of the Board of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Pat is not content without at least one pro-bono case to fight for in his spare time. Pat has served on the Advisory Board of The Champion, as Independent Counsel to the Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

RUSSELL STETLER, Secretary

Lifelong activist and pioneer of high-quality capital defense, Russ has dedicated his life and forty-year career to developing expertise in the field of mitigation, which is an historical, investigative approach to understanding the significant experiences in a client’s life that inspire compassion and empathy. Russ has worked to secure resources for mitigation in capital cases throughout the country, and he helped to establish the mitigation function as a core capital defense obligation as now recognized in the ABA Guidelines. Russ retired from fulltime work in 2020 after serving as the first National Mitigation Coordinator for the federal death penalty projects.

Reginald T. Shuford

Reggie grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, the home of the Massacre of 1898, America's only successful coup. Growing up in the South, Reggie experienced and observed the pervasive hatred of racism and became passionate about social justice and civil rights as a young man.He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for both his undergraduate degree as well as his Juris Doctorate. He has been trailblazing a path toward justice ever since, using the law to fight for the rights of all those facing discrimination and prejudice.

Reggie became executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania in September 2011. From 1995-2010, Reggie served as senior staff counsel in the national ACLU's Racial Justice Program. During his tenure there, he helped to pioneer legal challenges to racial profiling practices nationwide.

Among his many honors, he is the 2020 recipient of the Philadelphia Tribune’s Most Influential African American Leader Award and the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Justice Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award. In 2018, Reggie was named as one of The Advocate Magazine’s Icons, Innovators, and Disruptors. In addition to ACCR, Reggie is a member of the Board of Directors of the Claneil Foundation, New Hanover Scholars and Free Speech TV, where he serves as Vice Chair.

Ronald L. Greenblatt

Ron is one of the most respected defense attorneys in the region and managing partner of Weir, Greenblatt, Pierce LLP. He has been practicing defending the rights of others since before he even attended law school, becoming one of the nation’s youngest ever union shop stewards at the youthful age of 20. After earning his Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law, Ron joined the Philadelphia Defenders. Ron was one of the founding members of the Defenders Alumni Association and although he now has his own practice, Ron continues to do as much civil rights work as he can. Ron previously served as the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL).

Carol Rogan

Originally from Frederick, Maryland, Carol may never have come into contact with ACCR if she didn’t find herself in the unique position of fighting to keep her younger cousin, Jack, off of death row. Carol is a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA) from a 3rd generation Deaf family, and not unfamiliar with the adversity and ableist discrimination that she and her loved ones would face while navigating the legal system. With no professional training on the law of her own, she advocated tirelessly on Jack’s behalf (who is also CODA), even taking months off work to prepare for the worst-case scenario of a capital trial. Having felt it all first-hand, Carol is intimately aware of the need for ACCR’s services and has grown into a powerfully engaged activist, supporting the families of those facing death sentences in PA and even opening her heart to the families of the executed in other states. She sees Jack in everyone with a death sentence and knows that every person, especially those with intellectual and other disabilities, is deserving of love and protection.

Carol earned her B.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Maryland College Park and she’s currently a Software Engineer for Amazon based out of Seattle. In 2022 Carol, Dalton and their rescue dogs Levi and Annie will be spending more time on the East Coast to be closer to Jack and the rest of Carol’s family.

Ricky Lee Olds, Vice President

When Ricky was 14 years old, a Pittsburgh judge sentenced him to spend his life in prison for alleged complicity when an older friend committed a spur of the moment robbery homicide (in which nothing was stolen, and Ricky was no longer physically at the scene at the time the shot was fired). Ricky’s unique strength of character and intelligence allowed him to become a passionate, charismatic and well-educated advocate and community leader while incarcerated. After serving 38 years, Ricky was finally released in 2017 after life sentences for children were found to be unconstitutional.

In 2021 Ricky completed his Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and received membership to the Phi Alpa Honor Society from the University of Pittsburgh. Ricky continues to advocate around the injustice of his case and excessive sentencing in general, as well as supporting others in his community through the challenges of reentry.

Marni Jo Snyder

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Marni began her legal practice as a public defender. Her tenacity and aggressive approach quickly led her to trying jury cases in the Major Trial Unit. After learning the ropes of labor, education, and special education law while practicing with a major firm, Marni realized that the big firm world didn’t suit her unique ability to put the needs of her clients first or her desire to be an active civil servant. She began her own law practice in 2012 where she routinely succeeds on behalf of her clients. Marni is also a volunteer in the Philadelphia legal community serving organizations such as the Up Against the Law Legal Collective.

Bradley S. Bridge

A defender’s defender, Brad has been an attorney for the Defender Association of Philadelphia since 1983. He earned his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Washington and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Brad served in the State Appellate Defender in Chicago. In charge of reopening the convictions of corrupt police officers, Brad has had over 1,800 convictions dismissed since 1995. Brad is an experienced adversary in a broad range of legal areas, but his lifelong passion is for fighting for justice for juveniles and children in Pennsylvania. Brad represented the oldest and longest serving juvenile lifer in PA, Joe Ligon, since 2006. After 15 years of litigation, Brad won the case and walked Joe out of prison in February, 2021 after 68 years of time served, as a free man.

Christina A. Gonzales

Christina is a native Philadelphian with over a decade of experience as a criminal defense attorney. A deeply creative individual, Christina’s focus is currently on environmental, toxic tort, and mass tort litigation as a partner at Goldberg Segalla, LLP. Prior to her current position, Christina was a trial attorney with the Public Defender Association of Philadelphia. Christina is passionate about literature and sociology, which she studied at NYU before earning her Juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law.

Laurence Shtasel

After graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School, Larry began his legal career as a law clerk for federal judge Herbert J. Stern and then as a prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York. Larry then became involved in criminal defense work, going on to serve as independent counsel for the United States government while investigating the Iran/Contra affair. Larry has been an active criminal defense lawyer ever since, both in private practice as well as with major firms. Currently Larry is a partner at Blank Rome LLP, where he serves as the firm’s General Counsel.