Latino actor JJ Velázquez was finally exonerated this Monday of all charges related to a case for which he was sentenced in New York to serve 25 years to life in prison for allegedly murdering a retired police officer.
The Velázquez case gained prominence this year when it was revealed that he had been cast in the film "Sing Sing", starring Colman Domingo. The movie was filmed in the same prison where the actor spent more than 20 years of his life wrongfully incarcerated.
Velázquez, who served a total of 23 years, eight months, and seven days in Sing-Sing penitentiary in New York, was released in 2021 thanks to a pardon granted by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo. Since then, he has been fighting to clear his name—a battle that finally ended on September 30, as reported by Deadline—always maintaining his innocence for the crime he did not commit.
The blame for the murder of the officer, Albert Ward, fell on Velázquez, who entered prison in 1998 despite inconclusive evidence against him. The sentence was handed down based on a sketch that matched his profile and was supported by phone call records.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Velázquez embraced his family and friends, including Clarence Maclin and Paul Raci, co-stars of 'Sing Sing,' the film he recently shot and released, which brought him back to the correctional facility to tell the story of Divine G, a prisoner who, like him, was sentenced for a crime he did not commit but found refuge in rehabilitation through the arts.
Will Velázquez sue the state of New York?
Although there are no reports that Velázquez plans to take legal action against the state of New York, there have been several cases in the past where ex-convicts have been compensated with millions of dollars for wrongful convictions.
One of the most famous and recent cases, resolved in 2022, involved Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, who were wrongfully accused of attempting to assassinate Malcolm X in 1965.
After spending several decades in prison, they were released on parole in the mid-1980s. The lawsuit they filed against the state and city of New York awarded them $36 million, which was divided equally between Aziz and the heirs of Islam, who passed away in 2009.
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