Manhattan DA moves to vacate man's conviction in 1998 murder of retired NYPD officer

Prosecutors on Monday will move to vacate the murder conviction of Jon-Adrian Velazquez, who received an apology from President Biden and whose case is featured in a movie.

Velazquez was convicted of the 1998 murder of retired NYPD officer Albert Ward during an attempted robbery in Harlem. He served 24 years in a maximum security state prison before then-Governor Andrew Cuomo granted him clemency.

His case is featured in the 2023 movie named for the prison, Sing Sing, and he appeared with President Biden to discuss criminal justice reform.

During a Monday morning court appearance, the Manhattan district attorney's office will move to vacate Velazquez's conviction after advanced DNA testing suggested a different killer, according to a court filing.

"Specifically, the People believe that a reasonable probability of a more favorable outcome exists in this case not only because of the new DNA analysis, but also because that analysis could have affected the jury's consideration of other trial evidence," the filing by assistant district attorney Terri Rosenblatt said.

Prosecutors said eyewitnesses provided inconsistent descriptions and there was a basis to doubt the reliability of some witnesses' identifications. "While those issues were not persuasive at trial, they could have been considered differently if supported by a DNA exclusion," Rosenblatt wrote.

Prosecutors also said no physical evidence connected Velazquez to the crime.

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