Conviction overturned in 1990 NYC subway slaying
A New York man was freed on $1 bail Thursday after a judge overturned his murder conviction in the 1990 subway stabbing death of a tourist.
Johnny Hincapie, 43, broke down in tears when the ruling was announced, the Associated Press and the New York Times report.
Hincapie was convicted of taking part in a mugging in which Brian Watkins, a 22-year-old tourist from Utah, was killed.
Watkins, who was in town with his parents for the U.S. Open tennis tournament, was stabbed in the chest during a struggle with a group of men who were trying to rob his parents. The crime provoked a public outcry and during era of crime and fear in the city.
“I feel wonderful. I feel free,” Hincapie told reporters after his release.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Eduardo Padro, who threw out Hincapie’s conviction, cited new testimony by two witnesses and a co-defendant that Hincapie was not present when Watkins was killed.
Hincapie, who was arrested the day after the killing, confessed to the crime. But he now says he only confessed after being beaten by a detective.
Prosecutors said they are considering an appeal and, if necessary, a retrial..
“We regret the fact that retrying the case would subject the family of Mr. Watkins to testifying at another trial, reopening old wounds and forcing them to relive the horror of that night 25 years ago,” a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said.
But Ronald L. Kuby, one of Hincapie’s lawyers, said he doesn’t see how prosecutors can retry the case.
“The terrified, intimidated boy who confessed then is now a grown man who can explain his actions,” he said.
