In news from New York, Sheldon Thomas, a 35-year-old Black man from Brooklyn who was wrongfully convicted of murder, has been exonerated and freed from prison after nearly 19 years behind bars. 

New York, March 11 (RHC)-- In news from New York, Sheldon Thomas, a 35-year-old Black man from Brooklyn who was wrongfully convicted of murder, has been exonerated and freed from prison after nearly 19 years behind bars. 

Thomas was only 17 when he was arrested and accused of killing a 14-year-old boy in 2004.  Detectives on the case misled a witness into identifying Thomas using a photo of another person with the same name.  When the botched identification was brought up in court, the judge said at the time there was still probable cause to arrest Thomas because the photo had enough of a resemblance. 

Thomas was sentenced to 25 years to life.  His exoneration follows over two dozen others after new investigations were launched by the Brooklyn district attorney’s Conviction Review Unit.