The manslaughter conviction of a Brooklyn woman was overturned Tuesday after the borough’s district attorney’s office investigating the crooked ex-NYPD cop behind her arrest saw issues with the case. Vanessa Gathers has been free from prison since 2007 but the conviction that once marred her record is no more, according to a CBS New York report.
Gathers, 58, was questioned in 1992 by Detective Louis Scarcella in the robbery and death of 71-year-old Michael Shaw but wasn’t charged. Five years later, Scarcella questioned Gathers once more and wrangled a false confession out of her, as reported by the New York Daily News.
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson asked Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Matthew D’Emic to overturn Gathers’ conviction based on inaccuracies and other issues with Scarcella’s filing. Earlier this afternoon, Gathers, flanked by her legal team, was all smiles as she exited the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
Along with the 10 years served in prison, Gathers was placed on parole which expired in 2012. However, the conviction remained a stain on Gather’s good name, which Thompson said he wanted to restore in a news release.
Gathers is the first woman to have her case overturn due to the research efforts of the Conviction Review Unit. Prosecutors in Brooklyn are looking over dozens of other cases to see if similar wrongdoing has occurred. Scarcella has 70 such cases tied to his name alone.
SOURCE: CBS New York, NYDN | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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Woman Jailed 10 Years Behind Crooked Brooklyn Cop Tactics Is Pardoned was originally published on newsone.com
