The daddy of an NFL lineman had his 1983 armed theft conviction vacated in Westchester County on Friday, after a evaluate discovered misconduct on the a part of detectives who investigated the case.
Jeffrey Koonce, 67, smiled in court docket and stated he felt vindicated after Westchester County District Legal professional Miriam Rocah agreed to toss the decades-old conviction stemming from a stickup at a Mount Vernon social membership, in line with Lohud.
An investigation by the district lawyer’s workplace discovered that Koonce’s conviction was “tainted by such questionable investigatory processes,” Rocah stated in an announcement.
“I really feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders so far as my character goes and that leads on to my household as a result of I’ve some fantastic children,” Koonce, the daddy of Las Vegas Raider’s defensive finish Malcolm Koonce, stated in court docket, in line with Lohud.
“They needed to undergo no matter it was that society considered me, which was not true in any respect, all through their complete lives and this proper right here is vindication of the whole lot for them,” he added.
The evaluate by the DA’s workplace’s Conviction Evaluate Unit discovered that one of many lead detectives on the case gave false testimony and investigators used improper picture identification strategies.
“From the extremely suggestive picture array and identification procedures utilized by MVPD detectives to the totality of recent proof discovered by the CRU investigation, we agree with protection counsel that Jefferey Koonce’s 1983 conviction was tainted by such questionable investigatory processes and subsequently can now not stand by the integrity of this conviction,” Rocah stated in her assertion.
Koonce, who maintained his innocence since first being accused, served greater than eight years in jail for an armed theft dedicated by three males on June 20, 1981.
On that day, greater than 20 patrons and staff have been held at gunpoint contained in the Vernon Stars Rod & Gun Membership in Mount Vernon. One shotgun shot was fired throughout the theft, putting a 15-year-old within the arm and grazing three adults.
Koonce and his youthful brother Paul have been arrested per week after the crime was dedicated and just one witness — the 15-year-old gunshot sufferer — testified that the elder Koonce was on the scene.
The DA’s workplace evaluate discovered that two lead detectives and a lieutenant used improper picture ID strategies that resulted in false testimony towards Koonce, together with the “extremely suggestive picture array” that was proven to the wounded sufferer within the hospital.
Koonce maintained that he had an alibi and was not in Mount Vernon throughout the theft.
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