• Paper: Are you imprisoned and innocent? They are your last hope
  • Justice: An innocent man imprisoned for 39 years is released

Mark Denny was 17 years old when he was charged with robbery and rape in Brooklyn, New York, and was sentenced to 57 years in prison. Today, after spending 30 years behind bars and battling a long judicial dispute to prove his innocence, Denny enjoys his freedom and has just reached an agreement with the mayor's office and the New York police, for which he will receive almost 10 million dollars .

The case of this man is similar to that of several people in the United States who have gone through jail or are currently imprisoned despite not having been guilty of the charges for which they were charged. However, there are few people who manage to prove their innocence and much less those who, once they achieve freedom, get a monetary reward for the mistake, as happened to Denny.

Last Monday, the financial manager of the New York City, Scott Stringer, approved the payment of $ 9.75 million to Denny, avoiding a possible 50 million lawsuit against the city and the New York police that would have alleged that the police They "incriminated" the former convict now released, local media reported.

In return, Denny had to sign "general release" documents with the administrator's office on May 24, renouncing his right to sue the city and hold him accountable for his arrest and imprisonment.

"It was the best interest of the city to resolve before coming to litigation, " Stringer spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays told the New York Post.

Accused of robbery in a Burger King and rape

In December 1987, Denny became one of the four suspects of the burglary of a Burger King in Fort Hamilton Parkway and the rape of an employee after being arrested in a car driven by his cousin, Raphael James. He had committed a series of assaults on several Burger Kings in the city along with two other defendants, Mark Smith and Eddie Viera.

The robbery occurred around 2:00 in the morning, when the last two employees were closing the fast food store. Two men wearing balaclavas approached the employees and forced them to reopen the restaurant. Once inside, the criminals stole money and forced the male employee to remain in the warehouse while the employee was raped by the two men. Soon, at least one other man joined them.

Smith and Viera finally reached plea agreements to settle the charges against him in Brooklyn and Manhattan. While James, who was tried and convicted of Denny, admitted that Denny was not involved in the crimes.

The Kings County Conviction Review Unit recently obtained statements from Smith and Viera, who also confirmed that only three men committed these crimes, and that Denny was not involved or present.

Denny, although he always claimed he was innocent, was tried with James and convicted after the rape victim indicated him as a participant, although she had not identified him at the start of the trial, and there was no physical evidence to connect Denny with the crime.

The woman's testimony was vague at the trial, since during the assault the men covered her eyes, and she wasn't sure if there were three or four assailants, according to the Brooklyn Prosecutor's Office.

The Inocent Project, an NGO whose goal is to defend innocent prisoners, took the case to the Conviction Review Unit of the Kings County District Attorney, which finally determined that Denny was not in the Burger King that night.

"After a long and extensive investigation into this horrible case, I have concluded that the cause of Justice requires that we cancel Mr. Denny's sentence," said Brooklyn District interim prosecutor Eric Gonzalez in a statement.

"The analysis of his identification, an examination of the rest of the evidence and multiple reports of witnesses and co-defendants indicate that he was not present when this terrible crime was committed exactly 30 years ago," he said.

Denny was exonerated in December 2017, when he was 46 years old. "Prison was a horrible experience for me. I almost lost myself. I am now a free man," he said in the Brooklyn Supreme Court after his conviction was dismissed by Judge Matthew D'Emic.

Nevertheless, he said he had no negative feelings against the victim. "I wish I could have been the hero she needed that day," he said.

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