Brooklyn man with overturned conviction awaits decision on case

March 6, 2018 By Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Daily Eagle

John Bunn’s murder conviction was overturned by a supreme court justice at Brooklyn Supreme Court (shown). Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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A Brooklyn man who spent 16 years behind bars for a 1991 murder of an off-duty corrections officer, a conviction that was overturned, continues awaiting a decision on the future of his case.

Supreme Court Justice ShawnDya Simpson previously vacated the convictions of John Bunn and Rosean Hargrave for the Crown Heights murder. But while expecting a decision from the court of appeals on the district attorney’s challenge of the judge’s decisions, Bunn is scheduled back in court on April 16 to potentially find out about his future.

The now 41-year-old has been on life parole since 2009 for the murder he may not have committed at 14, according to court documents.

Simpson found on Nov. 29, 2016 that Bunn was wrongfully convicted in November 1992 based on former NYPD Detective Louis Scarcella’s improper police work.

Simpson noted at a previous hearing that Scarcella – who has been found responsible for multiple wrongful convictions – submitted false identification testimony, according to news reports.

Alongside Hargrave, Bunn was previously found guilty of murdering off-duty corrections officer, Rolando Neischer outside the Kingsborough housing development.

As Neischer sat in a parked car with Officer Robert Crosson on Aug. 13, 1991, two men on bicycles rode up and ordered the officers to get out of the car. The confrontation then sparked a shootout that left Neischer dead and Crosson wounded.

With Crosson having survived, he eventually identified the teen Bunn and 17-year-old Rosean Hargrave as the shooters.

Judge Simpson released Hargrave from prison in 2015, also citing Scarcella’s police work. Bunn filed the motion to overturn his conviction after Simpson vacated Hargrave’s.