Brownsville man released from prison 20 years after wrongful conviction
After a man spent 20 years in prison convicted of a Brownsville homicide, he walked out of court a free man Wednesday after the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office found his trial unfair, marking the 23rd conviction removed by the DA’s Office.
Jabbar Washington slowly raised a smiled as Judge Matthew D’Emic removed his 20-year-old conviction at Brooklyn Supreme Court and court officers released him from his handcuffs.
“I don’t have the words right now, I’m just happy,” Washington, 43, said to a swarm of reporters in the court halls, arms around his children that grew up without their father.
The victim of an unfair trial and an institution that pinned a case against him, Washington was arrested in 1997 for being part of a group of seven men that raided a Brownsville crack house guns blazing and stole $1,500 from the occupants, killing Ronald Ellis.