In 1988, Jonathan Fleming and his family took a trip to Orlando, Florida. While on vacation in Disneyland a murder was being committed hundreds of miles away in Brooklyn. A single witness with a drug addiction facing unrelated charges to the incident accused Fleming of the deed. Mr. Fleming was arrested and stood trial. During the proceeding NY Prosecutors failed to provide Fleming’s defense team with all the evidence and covered up the truth. He was later found guilty by a jury and served 24 years in New York State prison for a murder he did not commit. On Tuesday April 8th,2014 Fleming’s defense team was able to force prosecutors to acknowledge their gross miscarriage of justice and dropped all charges against Jonathan Fleming and expunged the 1990 murder conviction from his record. Prosecutors withheld evidence prior to Jonathan Fleming conviction that could prove his innocence. According to Josh Saul of the Daily News “Fleming’s maintain that prosecutors chose to ignore the evidence that would have exonerated him. Included in that was a receipt from Orlando hotel that showed Fleming paid for a phone bill there just hours before the murder.”
Now a free man, one question remains : “Will Mr. Fleming sue the District Attorney’s office and the City?”
This question was answered YES by Mr. Ronald Bozeman who is currently suing District Attorney Charles Hynes for 15 million dollars for a similar circumstance. Mr.Bozeman 66, was charged as the mastermind of an armed heist outside a bank on Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn. Mr. Bozeman served 1 year before his conviction was overturned. Similar cases have arisen against the City and the DA’s Office such as Jabbar Collin who served 15 years for a murder he did not commit. Mr. Collin is now suing the City for 150 million dollars. For more information on this case just click on these words New York Post and check out the whole story.
In our next post we will be going over “The lockdown” chapter in Michelle Alexander book entitle “The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” See you soon.
