NYC Crime: The Manhattan district attorney is seeking to overturn a man’s conviction in the 1998 murder of a retired NYPD officer

NEW YORK – Prosecutors on Monday will seek to vacate the murder conviction of Jon-Adrian Velazquez, who received a pardon from President Biden and whose case is being featured in a film.

Velazquez was convicted of the 1998 killing 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 film Sing Sing, named after the prison, and he appeared with President Biden to discuss criminal justice reform.

During a court hearing Monday morning, Manhattan prosecutors will vacate Velazquez’s conviction after advanced DNA testing suggested a different killer, according to a court filing.

“In particular, the People believe that there is a reasonable likelihood of a more favorable outcome in this case not only because of the new DNA analysis, but also because that analysis may have influenced the jury’s consideration of other evidence,” it says of the deputy district’s filing, said attorney Terri Rosenblatt.

Prosecutors said eyewitnesses provided conflicting descriptions and there were reasons to doubt the reliability of the identification of some witnesses. “While these issues were not persuasive at trial, they could have been viewed differently had they been supported by DNA exclusion,” Rosenblatt wrote.

Prosecutors also said there was no physical evidence linking Velazquez to the crime.

READ ALSO: The widow of a fruit seller brutally murdered in the Bronx wants justice

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