“There was a failure at every level of this case… His exoneration is not going to get him back the 25 years he lost for a murder he did not commit.”
Samuel Brownridge via ABC NewsSamuel Brownridge spend 25 years in prison house on a false conviction before he was finally unloose .
On March 11 , 1994 , police bump on the door of 18 - twelvemonth - old Samuel Brownridge . Brownridge had been at household with his girlfriend and their child , but police force believed he had been involved in a robbery - execution about a 30 - minute paseo from his family in Queens , New York .
Police took him in and charged him with the death of Darryle Adams , who was surcharge at gunpoint and shot idle .
Samuel Brownridge via ABC NewsSamuel Brownridge spent 25 years in prison on a false conviction before he was finally released.
Now , after more than two decades in prison , Brownridge has been acquit .
In 2017 , the newly form Conviction Integrity Unit ( CIU ) under the Queens District Attorney ’s Office reviewed Brownridge ’s case and accordingly found a number of mistakes that were made during the original probe .
“ There was a failure at every level of this eccentric — from the probe and check , the trial and the appellate appendage , ” allege Donna Aldea , Brownridge ’s current attorney .
Public DomainBrownridge’s mugshot at age 18.
“ His exoneration is not go to get him back the 25 years he lost for a murder he did not send . ”
The False Conviction Of Samuel Brownridge
Four days after Darryle Adams was robbed at point and shoot down execution - style on a Queens street , Brownridge was arrested . Witnesses had name four man , one of them in a wheelchair .
But the investigator ignored leads that would have conduce them to the true perpetrators and the ensue case against Brownridge was based entirely around two witnesses , Kevin Boatwright and Quintin Hagood , who identified Brownridge in a constabulary card .
accord to court documents , Boatwright had erroneously key two innocent men as the gun for hire and attacker earlier in the police strain - up . He also account the culprit as being in his 20s with a slicing haircut , but Brownridge was a adolescent with a medium - distance Afro hairdo .
Queens District Attorney’s OfficeGarfield Brown, the real shooter, was killed during a police arrest in 2002.
Public DomainBrownridge ’s mugshot at age 18 .
Meanwhile , other watcher key another man , Mark Taylor , who tell detectives and the DA that Brownridge was not involved in the shooting . This claim was even underpin by two others .
But none of this was put down in police reports , only observe by an assistant district attorney . These errors never made it to Brownridge ’s early defense lawyer .
PixabayBrownridge now resides in Maryland.
Meanwhile , the second informant , Hagood , suffered from schizophrenia , a point that only fare to light later in the grammatical case . He was also allegedly coerced by Boatwright and the law to key Brownridge as the taw .
Prosecutors also never ascertain the murder arm nor any forensic grounds that tied Brownridge to the scene .
In 1995 , he was condemn to “ 25 to living . ” The original justice on his case , Justice Robert Hanophy , commend that he persist in prison “ until he dies . ”
Justice Decades Later
Queens District Attorney ’s OfficeGarfield Brown , the real gunslinger , was wipe out during a police arrest in 2002 .
According to theNew York Times , Brownridge file appeals in state and federal tribunal begin in 1999 . He was granted a hearing in 2003 , which pass nowhere . It was n’t until 2017 that his case was picked up by the CIU .
He was parole in March of last year and now domiciliate in Maryland .
Due to the pandemic , an on-line hearing was contain to accost to Brownridge ’s causa for exoneration .
“ Everyone in the criminal justice system failed you in some way or another , ” said Justice Joseph Zayas .
“ The stillbirth of justice in your case is monumental . It is therefore no surprise that magnanimous segments of our urban center and our country have life-threatening doubts about the criminal Justice Department organisation and its ability to deliver adequate and fair justice to all . ”
PixabayBrownridge now shack in Maryland .
regrettably , false imprisonments like Brownridge ’s are all too common , as in the caseLawrence McKinney , who was discharge after serve 30 old age and compensated $ 1 million .
So far , 50 masses have asked the CIU to retrospect their conviction as well .
“ The idea that someone is in prison house who has n’t committed the crime is something that should be important to everybody , ” say Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz . “ No system is everlasting , and there has to be direction to catch the imperfection . ”
Brownridge ’s outlet , however , will never make up for the years that he lost .
“ It ’s something you never will draw a blank , ” Brownridge enunciate during his earreach this month .
“ year of my life , old age of being a Fatherhood , a husband , plenty of twelvemonth and chance in animation that I missed . I was barren . I ca n’t just lay down . ”
Next , read the tale ofCraig Coley , who was falsely lag for 39 twelvemonth and compensated with $ 21 million . Then , acquire aboutAlvin Kennard , who was sent to clink for 36 long time for stealing $ 50 from a bakery .
