NEW YORK - June 9, 2010 - A man who spent 15 years in prison on a New York City murder conviction has been freed after the Brooklyn district attorney's office conceded the case had been mishandled and should be thrown out.
Kevin Richardson, an executive assistant district attorney, said the office had not learned until May that the key witness who incriminated Jabbar Collins had recanted before the trial. Richardson said the office could not retry the case because of the loss of the witness testimony and physical evidence that has been destroyed.
Collins was convicted in 1995 of gunning down his landlord, Rabbi Abraham Pollack, as he collected rent money in a Williamsburg building.
A federal judge Tuesday called the handling of the case "shameful" and vacated the conviction. Collins, 37, was freed Wednesday. He said he wants to go to law school and defend people without legal representation.
