"Prosecutors told the court that new evidence, including sworn statements from two other men who were convicted in similar robberies, undercut the original case. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the ordeal a 'cautionary tale' and said he had apologized privately to Windley."
"The report recounts how one stolen money order for about $542.77 was used to buy an appliance, creating a paper trail that initially pointed investigators to Windley. The unit ultimately concluded that if jurors had known the true identities and criminal histories of the suspects, there was a reasonable probability the verdict would have been different."
"Windley, now 61, told reporters he was not holding a grudge. 'It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now. So that's all that matters,' he said as he left the courthouse, according to the Associated Press."
Kenneth Windley, convicted in 2007 for a 2005 robbery, was released after nearly two decades when prosecutors and his defense team successfully overturned his conviction. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Conviction Review Unit discovered new evidence, including sworn statements from two incarcerated men who admitted involvement in similar robberies matching the pattern of the attack on Gerald Ross. A money order used to purchase an appliance had initially pointed investigators toward Windley. The unit concluded that had jurors known the true identities and criminal histories of the actual suspects, the verdict would likely have been different. Windley, now 61, expressed no grudge despite losing 20 years to incarceration.
#wrongful-conviction #exoneration #criminal-justice-reform #conviction-review #prosecutorial-accountability
Read at Hoodline
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]