Stay updated with breaking news from Bryce Benjet. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Three men were released from prison on Friday after the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) in the Queens, New York, District Attorney's Office found that they had been wrongfully convicted of double homicide.
Three Innocent Queens Men To Be Released From Prison Following Wrongful Convictions In 1996 Case Arrests and Subsequent Convictions Were the Result of Political Pressure, Coerced False Confessions and Suppressed Evidence News provided by Share this article Share this article QUEENS, N.Y., March 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- George Bell, Rohan Bolt and Gary Johnson, who were wrongfully convicted of a double murder in Queens and incarcerated for the last 24 years, will be released from prison today. Their release will follow an expected decision of The Hon. Judge Joseph A. Zayas of the Queens County...
Newly-freed man George Bell became emotional as a Queens judge tossed his conviction and the convictions for co-defendants Rohan Bolt and Gary Johnson.
Additionally, the defense had made several specific requests for information suggesting the involvement of "Speedstick" gang members in the check cashing robbery and shootings, but the documents were not found in the defendants’ files and were only discovered by the CIU years later in the files of the unrelated prosecutions of alleged Speedstick members, according to the district attorney's office. However, the CIU concluded that the prosecutors assigned to men’s cases were unaware of these records at the time of their trial. “These prosecutors did not intentionally mislead the Court, ...
Queens Prosecutors Long Overlooked Misconduct. Can a New D.A. Do Better? In her first year as district attorney, Melinda Katz has led major culture shifts in the borough. But some hope for more. Melinda R. Katz is the first new district attorney in Queens in nearly 30 years.Credit...Sarah Blesener for The New York Times Jan. 27, 2021 The crimes were heinous, the punishments severe: A Latino man was sentenced to 40 years to life for murdering two people at a nightclub in 1993. A Black man was given 25 years to life for shooting a police officer two years later. But in both men’s trials, offi...