Man Freed in '91 Killing; Case Is Called 'Systemic Failure'

Source: Associated Press

Man Freed in '91 Killing; Case Is Called 'Systemic Failure'

By JENNIFER PELTZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Mar 10, 2016, 5:31 PM ET

The woman had been found dead, naked, beaten and dragged into a cross-like position in a park. And the suspect had an instant connection to the crime: He was a friend who left her apartment with her that night.

Andre Hatchett would soon be convicted of murder. But nearly a quarter century later, he was freed and the case against him thrown out Thursday after prosecutors and Hatchett's lawyers said they'd found the case was tainted with a dubious star witness, prosecutorial mistakes that denied Hatchett key information and defense lawyers who failed him at not one but two trials.

"Because I knew I didn't do it, I knew I was going to be home one day," an ebullient Hatchett, 49, said as he left court, pausing to hug relatives and hoist two grandchildren into his arms.

His 1991 case was among more than 100 often decades-old convictions that Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson's office has been revisiting in one of the most ambitious reviews of its kind nationwide. So far, prosecutors have disavowed 19 convictions and are standing by 38 others.

Hatchett's case, Assistant District Attorney Mark Hale said, was one of "systemic failure."

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/prosecutors-seek-toss-conviction-free-man-91-killing-37547985