Manhattan DA will move to vacate conviction of criminal legal reform activist in 1998 murder of retired NYPD officer

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Monday will move to vacate the conviction of Jon-Adrian Velazquez—a criminal legal reform activist whose case has garnered political and cultural attention—in the 1998 murder of a retired NYPD officer.

Velazquez was convicted for the murder of Albert Ward during an attempted robbery in Harlem, a crime he has remained insistent he did not commit since first accused.

He served nearly 24 years at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Westchester before then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted him clemency, and he was released on Sept. 9, 2021.

Prosecutors will appear in court at 9:15 a.m. and move to vacate the conviction “in the interest of justice and because the People cannot now prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to the filing document.

Assistant D.A. Terri S. Rosenblatt’s motion reads: “The People join Mr. Velazquez's application for relief because the People agree that the exclusion of Mr. Velazquez from a mixture of DNA found on a betting slip touched by the perpetrator creates a reasonable probability of a more favorable outcome.”

According to the document, prosecutors also argue that the DNA exclusion could have affected the jury’s evaluation of other trial evidence.

Prosecutors said that eyewitnesses “provided inconsistent descriptions and there was a basis to doubt the reliability of some witnesses’ identifications,” the defense presented an alibi that may have been more persuasive with DNA exclusion and there is no physical evidence tying Velazquez to the crime.

On Oct. 18, 2022, Velazquez was invited to a panel of rising leaders sponsored by NowThis News that was asking Biden about key election issues. Velazquez briefly shared his story and raised the issue of clemency, asking how the country can create uniform standards, but Biden first responded to his experience.

“First of all, on behalf of all society, I apologize for it,” the president said. “I mean, 23 years. My God. I just admire the hell out of you.”

Velazquez’s story was featured in the eight-part podcast “ Letters from Sing Sing ,” and the 2023 A24 film named for the correctional facility, in which he appears.

Having his conviction vacated would release Velazquez from New York state supervision and remove his status as a convicted felon.

The motion to vacate confirms that prosecutors will not be seeking a retrial.

“Mr. Velazquez has served his sentence, and any re-trial would not only be nearly impossible to prove, but also unjust,” it reads.