A Brooklyn man, wrongfully imprisoned for a 1980 murder, will taste freedom today for the first time in 21 years after new evidence convinced a state judge to vacate the conviction.
The turn of events capped years of dogged investigative work by Carl King, a process-server from Crown Heights who crusaded to win freedom for his childhood friend, Collin Warner.
“It was like watching a miracle happen,” said King, who sobbed tears of joy and traded bear hugs with William Robodee, Warner’s attorney, as they walked out of court yesterday.
In 1980, Erasmus HS teen Mario Hamilton was shot in the head by neighborhood youth Norman Simmonds, who mistakenly targeted the victim in retaliation for another murder.
Authorities fingered Warner as his accomplice because of testimony from a teenager who lied.
After two trials, both Warner and Simmonds were convicted. Simmonds, a minor at the time, served nine years and was paroled. Warner, who was 18, got 15 years to life.
For years, King scoured court documents, knocked on doors, and tracked down witnesses who had long since left the neighborhood.
He found Simmonds living on Long Island and got him to admit that he was the sole killer.
Martel Hamilton, the brother of the victim, said yesterday he has always suspected Warner was innocent, and was moved by a letter from King and Robodee laying out their new evidence last year.
“I walked around with that letter for a couple days,” Hamilton, 36, told The Post. “Most of my family and friends said, ‘Leave it alone. It’s too painful.’ But I know that my brother would have told me, ‘Do justice for this man. Do the right thing.'”
The office of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes supported the motion to vacate the conviction.