Derrick Hamilton, 49, was exonerated on Friday after serving nearly two decades for a murder in Brooklyn that he did not commit. Although Hamilton maintained that he was in Connecticut at the time of the shooting murder of Nathaniel Cash in 1991, Hamilton was convicted in July 1992 of second-degree murder largely on the basis of a sole eyewitness’ false testimony— the victim’s girlfriend—who identified Hamilton as the gunman. Hamilton was sentenced 25 years to life and was paroled in 2011.
The eyewitness would later recant her false testimony in a post-trial hearing, saying Louis Scarcella, a former New York Police detective, had pressured her to name Hamilton as the killer.
While he was serving his sentence at Auburn Correctional Facility in upstate New York, Hamilton aggressively fought his wrongful conviction. Hamilton took a paralegal course in prison and began researching his case on his own and with the help of outside lawyers. For more than two decades Hamilton filed motions, sent letters, and secured affidavits to argue his innocence. “Mr. Hamilton never for one second doubted his own ability to convince a court of law he was innocent,” said one of Hamilton’s defense lawyers, Scott Brettschneider. “His capacity to turn out legal work was astounding.”
The conviction integrity unity under Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson revisited Hamilton’s case and found medical and scientific evidence that contradicted the eyewitness’ inconsistent testimony. A New York State Supreme Court judge overturned Hamilton’s conviction on Friday.
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