DA's office disavows 19th conviction in ongoing probe of old convictions; ex-inmate served 25 years
Andre Hatchett was on crutches on Feb. 18, 1991, recovering from bullet wounds to his neck and trachea when Neda Mae Carter was found dead in New York City.
Her body had been moved into a cross-like position, and a man said he had witnessed a portion of the crime and heard the perpetrator shouting at others to stay away. Hatchett was convicted of the murder: Although his injuries would have made it difficult or impossible for him to commit the crime, they weren’t even brought up at his trial, the Associated Press reports.
His defense lawyers were never told that the witness had initially identified another man as the perpetrator and reportedly had been smoking crack the day of the murder.
But on Thursday, after serving a quarter-century, Hatchett was sitting in the audience in a Brooklyn courtroom, smiling and applauding as his conviction was thrown out at the request of the prosecution.
“Mr. Hatchett was failed by almost every institution he came into contact with,” said assistant district attorney Mark Hale. He said lackluster police work, prosecutors and defense lawyers all contributed to a conviction that cannot now be supported by his office.
It is the 19th conviction the office has disavowed, among 100 cases that are being re-examined, the article reports. Another 38 have been determined by the office to be legitimate.
An Innocence Project news release provides more details.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Man imprisoned 29 years is exonerated; DA cites fake murder confession by teen ‘fed false facts’ “
ABAJournal.com: “Brooklyn DA seeks to have murder conviction vacated for man who served 20 years”
