‘A BAD DREAM’
Free after doing 20 yrs. in slay case led by tainted cop
A 43-YEAR-OLD Brooklyn man imprisoned nearly half his life for murder had his conviction vacated on Wednesday after prosecutors found he was denied a fair trial.
Lawyers for Jabbar Washington, who was convicted of a deadly 1995 push-in robbery in Brownsville, were blocked from obtaining key information that could have aided his defense, Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Wednesday.
“It was determined that Mr. Washington did not receive a fair trial and crucial information that would have been useful to the defense was withheld,” Gonzalez said.
Washington’s relatives, including his mother Martha and two adult children cried tears of joy when Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic tossed the unreliable conviction.
The case was originally investigated by disgraced exNYPD Detective Louis Scarcella — who has now seen eight of his convictions thrown out in Brooklyn.
“It wasn’t just Louis Scarcella. It was a whole institution in the DA’s office and on the bench and on the appellate courts that simply wanted crime to be punished,” said Washington’s defense attorney, Ron Kuby, outside of court.
During the 1997 trial, Washington (photo) testified that Scarcella coerced him into confessing to the crime. Ronald Ellis was killed and five others were injured during the botched January 1995 robbery. “I’m happy to go home with my loved ones after all these years. It was like a bad dream . . . I was wrongfully convicted,” said Washington as he was hugged by his daughter and mother with tears in his eyes.
Washington is the 23rd person exonerated by the revamped Brooklyn Conviction Review Unit.
His case is among 70 cases the unit, which was overhauled by the late District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, has investigated since 2014.
Scarcella’s investigation techniques have come under heavy fire, but in Washington’s case, prosecutors are also pointing the finger at former Assistant District Attorney Kyle Reeves.
Reeves did not disclose to the defense that a witness, Lisa Todd, clarified her statements — saying that she recognized the then-23-yearold Washington from somewhere else, and couldn’t positively say he was involved in the push-in.
Todd identified Washington in a lineup conducted by Scarcella and his partner Stephen Chmil, prosecutors said.
A prosecutor wrote down the recanted statement but didn’t turn it over to Washington’s attorney, Gonzalez concluded.