A Brooklyn man who spent more than 23 years in prison has been freed on bail after a judge threw out his murder conviction, pointing partly to the role of a detective whose tactics have come under scrutiny.
Eliseo DeLeon walked out of court Tuesday.
Brooklyn prosecutors say they don’t believe DeLeon established his innocence. But they haven’t said yet whether they plan to retry him, appeal or drop the case.
Now 42, DeLeon was convicted in the June 1995 shooting of Fausto Cordero.
DeLeon said his confession was fabricated by police, including now-retired Detective Louis Scarcella.
Scarcella has faced allegations of misconduct from numerous people he helped convict. He has denied wrongdoing.
Brooklyn state Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas said Scarcella “demonstrated a disregard for the law.”
(AP)
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2 Responses
TWENTY-THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR NOTHING???????
WOW!!!!!!!!!! RACHMANA LITZLAN!!!!!!!!!!!
At one point, I had the occasion to tell one of my mother’s housekeepers — a Mexican Catholic — the story of Jonathan Pollard. At hearing it, she bluntly replied that she had heard that (the figure is as high as) SEVENTY PERCENT of the people incarcerated in American prisons are innocent.
“SEVENTY PERCENT of the people incarcerated in American prisons are innocent”
Innocent of “what”? And is that number, federal, state, local etc etc etc? And does that include suspects waiting trial? And does that mean 70% of convicted rapists are innocent? etc etc etc
And does that mean that the crimes of which these innocent 70% were incarcerated were committed by others who are still free and about enjoying their ill gotten gains?