Cop taint nixes a 7th conviction
A BROOKLYN woman who spent 10 years behind bars because she was spoon fed information by disgraced retired Detective Louis Scarcella about a fatal robbery case was exonerated Tuesday.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit declared Vanessa Gathers’ manslaughter conviction void because “her confessional statements were not in fact true,” said Mark Hale, head of the unit.
Gathers, 58, is the first female to have her conviction vacated by the unit, the 18th person exonerated overall and the seventh involving Scarcella.
“Our hearts are with the family of the victim in this case, they’re just as much victims of Scarcella as Ms. Gathers,” said Lisa Cahill, one of Gathers’ defense attorneys.
Gathers spent 10 years in prison after a jury convicted her in 1998 for the manslaughter death of 71-year-old Michael Shaw. Shaw was assaulted during a robbery Nov. 18, 1991, and died as a result of his injuries April 21, 1992.