Lengthy-imprisoned Brooklyn man Sheldon Thomas freed after almost 20 years over unsuitable photograph line-up

A Brooklyn man wrongly imprisoned for 19 years based mostly on a foul photograph array identification was due in court docket Thursday for a listening to to set him free, the Brooklyn District Legal professional introduced.

Sheldon Thomas, 35, was anticipated to seem after an investigation by the Brooklyn District Legal professional’s Conviction Assessment Unit decided he was wrongfully convicted for the Christmas Eve 2004 killing of a 14-year-old boy, mentioned DA Eric Gonzalez.

Authorities found Thomas was busted regardless of the ID from a set of images that didn’t included him.

Thomas “was arrested based mostly on a witness identification of a special individual with the identical title — a mistake that was first hid after which defined away through the proceedings,” mentioned Gonzalez.

A listening to within the case was set for Thursday afternoon.

The prosecution was “compromised from the very begin by grave errors and lack of possible trigger to arrest Mr. Thomas,” mentioned Gonzalez. “He was additional disadvantaged of his due course of rights when the prosecution proceeded even after the faulty identification got here to gentle.”

The case can be the thirty fourth conviction vacated following re-investigations by the unit.