NEW YORK — In the early hours of New Year’s Day 1987, a French tourist was assaulted while walking with his wife through Times Square. The man, Jean Casse, 71, hit his head on the sidewalk. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
Within days, police arrested a pair of young Brooklyn residents, Eric Smokes, 19, and David Warren, 16, and accused them of killing Casse. While both maintained their innocence, they were convicted of murder at trial and sent to prison for decades.
Nearly 40 years later, a New York City judge and a Manhattan prosecutor sided with the men, now in their 50s. On Wednesday, years after a judge first denied his motions, their convictions were overturned after prosecutors said they uncovered evidence that police pressured witnesses.
“Eric Smokes and David Warren lost decades of their lives to a wrongful conviction,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “I am inspired by Mr. Smokes and Mr. Warren’s unwavering advocacy and hope that today’s decision can finally bring them some comfort and justice.”
Smokes was paroled from prison in 2011 after serving 24 years. Warren served 20 years before being paroled in 2007.
The two men, who grew up together and described themselves as brothers, spent years trying to clear their names. No DNA evidence linked them to the crime. The four witnesses who testified at the trial were all teenagers, some of whom later said they were pressured by police and even threatened with arrest if they did not blame Smokes and Warren for the murder.
But when the two men filed a motion to overturn the convictions in 2017, Judge Stephen Antignani and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, then led by Cyrus Vance, opposed the effort.
Christie Keenan, an assistant district attorney, questioned the credibility of the recanted witness statements. In a 2020 ruling, Antignani denied her motion, finding that the men “had not demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that it is more likely than not that they are innocent.”
Another investigation was opened in 2022 under Bragg, one that prosecutors say uncovered “significant new evidence,” including transcripts showing that teenage witnesses were pressured by police and that at least one of them was probably not in. the vicinity of the crime.
With the new evidence in place, Antignani agreed to overturn the convictions this week.
Jay Henning, a lawyer for the two men, said his clients were delighted to see their names cleared. But, he added, the discovery was long overdue.
“This was a tunnel vision case rife with police and prosecutorial misconduct,” Henning said. “This should have been done a while ago.”