A man who served 20 years in jail on a wrongful conviction, regardless of having 13 alibi witnesses, was awarded $5m by a jury in a federal courtroom in New York on Thursday.
Richard Rosario was convicted in 1998 for the deadly capturing of George Collazo in 1996 within the Bronx. However Rosario claimed he was in Florida on the time, and had 13 alibi witnesses for his protection.
Three eyewitnesses testified in courtroom within the trial. Rosario was “identified” because the shooter by two individuals however a 3rd witness mentioned although he might have been capable of establish the suspect, it was not Rosario.
The different two witnesses flagged Rosario as a suspect based mostly on images, a lineup and open courtroom throughout the trial. Lineups have a protracted, problematic history of resulting in mistaken arrests in New York, and “mistaken identification” is the leading cause of wrongful convictions within the nation.
In 2017, Rosario filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful conviction and imprisonment in opposition to the City of New York and the detectives concerned within the case.
“No amount of money can give me all those precious years back. They ruined my life,” Rosario informed Dan Slepian, whose investigation since he came upon in regards to the concern in 2013 led to the conviction being vacated.
“What struck me about his story was that it was so easy to understand,” Slepian mentioned within the final episode of a Dateline podcast in 2019. The podcast explored Rosario’s journey throughout 10 episodes.
Patricia Miller, chief of town legislation division’s particular federal litigation division, told NBC that they “respect” the decision, however defended the witnesses and the officers concerned within the case.
The Guardian has reached out to the US lawyer’s workplace and the NYPD for additional feedback.