WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:06.120 From Futuro Media. It's Latino USA. 2 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:11.080 I'm Maria no Hoosa today the wrongful incarceration of JJ 3 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:15.080 Velasquez in jail for twenty two years for crime the 4 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:21.599 evidence suggests he did not commit. I'm here in the 5 00:00:21.680 --> 00:00:25.400 virtual studio with producer Maggie Freeling, which means that both 6 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.800 of us are recording from home. You might remember Maggie 7 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:30.880 because she's been a part of our team at Latino 8 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:34.239 USA and Fududo for several years now. Today Maggie is 9 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:36.599 here to bring us her latest project. 10 00:00:36.800 --> 00:00:39.800 Hey Maggie, Hey Maria, I'm so glad to be back 11 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:40.080 with you. 12 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:44.200 So the name of your new podcast series is called 13 00:00:44.800 --> 00:00:49.720 Unjust and Unsolved and well, okay, Maggie, I'm super intrigued, 14 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:50.800 so tell us about it. 15 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.040 Yeah. So, as you know, I left Puturo in April 16 00:00:56.160 --> 00:00:59.279 to start my own project, I'm justin Unsolved and it's 17 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.720 about wrongful convictions and of course, when you wrongfully incarcerate somebody, 18 00:01:04.080 --> 00:01:06.920 it goes into these now unsolved crimes. 19 00:01:07.600 --> 00:01:12.080 All right, Maggie, So tell us specifically about this episode 20 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:12.840 and this story. 21 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:17.720 Yeah. So this episode is about John Adrian Velasquez, or 22 00:01:17.800 --> 00:01:21.400 JJ as his friends call him, and JJ was really 23 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:24.800 one of the first people I talked to for this project. 24 00:01:25.240 --> 00:01:27.360 I was, you know, we're in New York, we worked 25 00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:30.680 in Harlem, and so I was just googling New York 26 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:34.280 wrongful convictions and JJ popped up, and I was really 27 00:01:34.360 --> 00:01:37.640 drawn to this case because it took place down the 28 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.720 street from the Puturo offices. So to me, this was like, Wow, 29 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:43.640 I have to get in touch with this man. So 30 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.640 basically what happened is, on the afternoon of January twenty eighth, 31 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:53.240 nineteen ninety eight, retired NYPD officer Albert Ward was shot 32 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.240 dead in Harlem, New York, right down the street from US. 33 00:01:56.520 --> 00:02:00.080 And really there was no physical evidence at the scene. 34 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.560 JJ had an alibi, and then the description from witnesses 35 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:07.760 at the scene. They described somebody that does not look 36 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.720 like JJ at all. So JJ gets called to the station, 37 00:02:12.040 --> 00:02:14.560 you know, thinking I'll clear this up in a few minutes. 38 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:18.320 I'll enter a lineup. I didn't do this. He wants 39 00:02:18.320 --> 00:02:21.799 it being identified, arrested, sentenced to twenty five to life. 40 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.920 He's been in prison for twenty two years for a 41 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:28.440 crime that all of the evidence suggests he did not commit. 42 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:31.080 Wow, I mean, this is extraordinary. 43 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.400 Maggie, And I mean, what's crazy is that you you 44 00:02:33.440 --> 00:02:37.600 didn't really have to search so hard to find this story. 45 00:02:38.040 --> 00:02:41.560 So tell us a little bit more specifically, because like, 46 00:02:41.600 --> 00:02:44.720 there have been some eyewitnesses, right that have been part 47 00:02:44.760 --> 00:02:46.400 of what's been going on with his case. 48 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.640 Yeah. So one of the major things in JJ's case 49 00:02:49.720 --> 00:02:51.920 is the entire reason he was even brought to the 50 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:56.040 station entered a lineup is because you know, there are 51 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.000 these witnesses who who mentioned that JJ looked like the shoot. 52 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.400 Turns out these witnesses later have recanted said they were 53 00:03:04.440 --> 00:03:07.320 coerced by the police. JJ really had nothing to do 54 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.160 with it. They didn't even know who he was. They 55 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:11.240 kind of just wanted to get out of the police station, 56 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.120 pointed to a photo, and that's how JJ wound up 57 00:03:15.160 --> 00:03:17.760 in prison for twenty two years. 58 00:03:18.880 --> 00:03:21.840 So you've been visiting. How have you been in touch 59 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:24.560 with JJ and where is he? Yeah? 60 00:03:24.600 --> 00:03:27.520 So I got in touch with JJ actually almost about 61 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:29.880 a year ago. At Thanksgiving. I reached out to him 62 00:03:30.440 --> 00:03:32.560 and he is in sing Saying, just about an hour 63 00:03:32.600 --> 00:03:34.920 outside of the city. So I was able to go 64 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.800 visit him in February, right before the pandemic broke out, 65 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:42.600 right before we went on lockdown. Prisons are not allowing 66 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:46.000 any visitors. They haven't for eight months, so I was 67 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:48.280 really fortunate that I got to see JJ. He's been 68 00:03:48.320 --> 00:03:50.960 the only person I can visit in prison and Maria, 69 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:54.320 as you know, it's just such a personal experience when 70 00:03:54.320 --> 00:03:57.240 you get to see somebody in real life and talk 71 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:00.320 to them in real life. And because of that, I've 72 00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:03.240 gotten really close with JJ and I now consider JJ 73 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:04.680 a friend of mine. 74 00:04:04.920 --> 00:04:08.760 So what's happening in terms of JJ's case, because actually 75 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.760 we're airing this at the end of the year, and 76 00:04:12.040 --> 00:04:14.520 something could happen with JJ's case right now. 77 00:04:14.720 --> 00:04:18.320 Yeah. So usually at the end of each year, New 78 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:23.040 York Governor Andrew Cuomo grants clemency to somebody, and JJ 79 00:04:23.320 --> 00:04:27.240 currently has an application for clemency on Cuomo's desk. This 80 00:04:27.400 --> 00:04:30.120 is his third year in a row applying for clemency, 81 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:34.000 and this year JJ has a really great shot. And 82 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:36.080 so I want to say off the bat that I 83 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:40.160 am asking listeners if they feel compelled by JJ's story, 84 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:44.320 to email Governor Cuomo urgently, there's just a few days 85 00:04:44.320 --> 00:04:46.440 before the end of the year, telling him that they 86 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:50.200 believe in JJ's innocence. And to grant this man clemency, 87 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:52.839 And I just want to say full disclosure. I also 88 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.240 wrote a letter of support for JJ's clemency that also 89 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:57.240 went to Andrew Cuomo. 90 00:04:58.400 --> 00:05:00.240 So, Maggie, I've known you for quite a while well 91 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.880 as a journalist and then as a friend. You don't 92 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.400 usually say those kinds of things like go ahead and 93 00:05:07.440 --> 00:05:11.440 email somebody and rally behind their bitch for clemency. 94 00:05:11.880 --> 00:05:14.120 You really believe in this case strongly. 95 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:17.039 I mean absolutely. When you listen to the episode, you'll 96 00:05:17.080 --> 00:05:19.880 hear I mean, JJ was in the Bronx. He wasn't there. 97 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.880 Witnesses have recanted Maria. As you know, sometimes you look 98 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:27.920 into these things and the evidence is just so overwhelming. 99 00:05:28.080 --> 00:05:31.440 I mean NBC producer Dan Slepian you'll hear him in 100 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:34.360 the episode as well. He looked into JJ's case for 101 00:05:34.520 --> 00:05:38.920 ten years. For ten years he was investigating, talking to 102 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.400 witnesses before he did a dateline special on it, talking 103 00:05:42.440 --> 00:05:45.720 about JJ's innocence. I mean, the evidence is so compelling 104 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:52.120 and so overwhelming. JJ was born in Manhattan in nineteen 105 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:55.239 seventy five to his mother, a union organizer, and his father, 106 00:05:55.520 --> 00:05:58.560 an Amtrak police officer. He lived in Brooklyn the first 107 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:00.919 few years of his life. Actually, he landed in the 108 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:03.719 Bronx at sixteen, where he lived and had a family 109 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:08.080 until his incarceration. JJ was described as a fun, loving 110 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:14.360 popular guy. We're rolling world. That's totally fun. 111 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:16.800 Yeah. 112 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:18.160 You do a lot of media, don't you. 113 00:06:18.400 --> 00:06:18.880 Yes, I do. 114 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:21.960 JJ is now forty four. We're sitting at a table 115 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:26.119 in an outdated conference room inside Sing Sing days before 116 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.520 visitation was cut off because of COVID nineteen. Before JJ 117 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.159 came in, they had him waiting over two hours in 118 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:36.479 the freezing hallway for us because security took so long 119 00:06:36.640 --> 00:06:39.680 for us to get through. Sing Sing has a dark 120 00:06:39.760 --> 00:06:44.880 reputation for housing and executing some of society's most notorious criminals, 121 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:49.360 including Albert Fish serial killer, child rapist, and Cannibal. 122 00:06:49.640 --> 00:06:53.159 Long before Hannibal Lecter fictional Cannibal, there was a man 123 00:06:53.200 --> 00:06:56.280 the tabloids labeled both the Gray Man and the Werewolf 124 00:06:56.320 --> 00:06:59.840 of Wisteria. He was a true life Cannibal, a living monster. 125 00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:03.000 The prison is almost two hundred years old, built in 126 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.839 eighteen twenty five, and I have to say it looks 127 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.120 like it even though it's located in a beautiful town 128 00:07:09.320 --> 00:07:12.200 with a waterfront view on the Hudson River. The prison 129 00:07:12.280 --> 00:07:17.920 is ominous, dark, clammy, absolutely chilling. I'm shivering as I 130 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:21.280 sit across from JJ, who told me it's actually warmer 131 00:07:21.320 --> 00:07:24.000 inside than usual. Where would your life have gone? What 132 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.440 were you doing? What were your hopes and dreams like 133 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:29.440 before any of this became anything in your life? 134 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.680 Well, it's a good question, and I don't want to 135 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:36.080 be disrespectful, but it doesn't even matter anymore. What I 136 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.440 would have liked to be or who I would have 137 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:42.640 liked to have been doesn't matter because. 138 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.240 That dream was shattered the minute I got arrested. 139 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:51.400 On the afternoon of January twenty eighth, nineteen ninety eight, 140 00:07:51.960 --> 00:07:55.600 a man walks into an illegal underground gambling spot in Harlem, 141 00:07:55.640 --> 00:07:58.760 New York, on one twenty fifth and eighth Avenue. The 142 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.520 spot was owned by retired NYPD officer Albert Ward. The 143 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.880 man places his bet at the gambling spot on a 144 00:08:04.880 --> 00:08:07.400 piece of paper, he hands it in and then leaves. 145 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.200 Shortly after, he returns with another man, and that's when 146 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.600 witnesses report hearing something along the lines of this is 147 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:17.240 a stick up or put him up. The men then 148 00:08:17.320 --> 00:08:19.720 bring about six people into the back room and tie 149 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:23.040 them up. At this point, Officer Albert Ward tries to 150 00:08:23.080 --> 00:08:28.280 stop them. Evidence suggests Ward fired at the men first, 151 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:32.319 who then fired back. Witnesses say it's possible Ward hit 152 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:34.520 one of the men as they saw him stumbling at 153 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.040 the top of the stairs on his way out. The 154 00:08:37.040 --> 00:08:40.000 bullet that struck Ward hid his face and killed him 155 00:08:40.040 --> 00:08:43.960 almost instantly. In a New York Times article from the 156 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:46.880 next day, people who knew him describe Ward as a 157 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.400 quote beautiful person. He grew up in the area and 158 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:53.280 owned many shops and bars in the neighborhood, including a 159 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:57.120 Baskin Robbins. A neighbor told The Times, if someone needed money, 160 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.320 he would help, and sometimes he even bought people clothes 161 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.240 when they got out of prison. Ward was fifty nine 162 00:09:03.400 --> 00:09:08.360 when he was murdered. Afterwards, the NYPD put a bolo 163 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:11.880 police speak for be on the lookout for two suspects, 164 00:09:12.040 --> 00:09:16.079 a shooter and an accomplice. The accomplice was described as 165 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:19.960 a dark skinned Blackmail. The shooter was described as a 166 00:09:20.040 --> 00:09:28.719 light skinned Blackmail with long braided hair or dreadlocks. At 167 00:09:28.760 --> 00:09:32.120 the same time, new Father JJ Velasquez was a twenty 168 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:35.760 one year old living with his girlfriend and two young sons, John, 169 00:09:35.800 --> 00:09:39.560 Adrian Junior and Jacob. Jacob was just born a month 170 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.240 prior to this incident. So January twenty seventh, nineteen ninety eight, 171 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:43.920 where were. 172 00:09:43.800 --> 00:09:46.880 You January twenty seventh, nineteen ninety eight, I was actually 173 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.120 on the phone with my mother. 174 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:52.800 So January twenty eighth is my father's birthday. 175 00:09:53.040 --> 00:09:55.800 JJ told me. At this same time Albert Ward was 176 00:09:55.800 --> 00:09:57.720 shot and killed, he was at his house in the 177 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:01.280 Bronx on the phone with his mom, discussed his father's birthday. 178 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:05.199 His father had died ten months prior. The following day 179 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:08.920 was his birthday, and JJ wanted to go see his headstone. 180 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:10.199 Because they had just put up his stone. I never 181 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.640 got to see his stone. And after that we were 182 00:10:12.640 --> 00:10:16.280 going to go to the apartment and pray. And that 183 00:10:16.400 --> 00:10:19.520 turned out to be like a seventy four minute conversation. 184 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:22.600 And it just so happens. 185 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:24.880 We didn't know this right away, because if you asked 186 00:10:24.880 --> 00:10:28.400 me where I was, you know, on any particular day 187 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.600 during the time that they're talking about this crime commenced, 188 00:10:31.640 --> 00:10:32.959 I would tell you that I was home. 189 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:35.520 But how do you prove that you're home. 190 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.040 It wasn't until a couple of months in while I'm 191 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.360 on Rikers Island, suffering that my mother's like, listen, you 192 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.320 llawye has found it? I said, found what? Found evidence 193 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.680 that there's an alibi. We have proof that you were home, 194 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:51.559 you were on the phone with me. It was Yeah, 195 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:53.559 it was phone records that they were able to find 196 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.079 that substantiated the length of our conversation. 197 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.520 And then it brought it all back and was like. 198 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:04.520 Wow, So how did JJ wind up being identified as 199 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.920 the shooter? It just so happened that JJ had been 200 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.800 arrested a few months earlier for drug possession. He was 201 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.760 never convicted, though, but police still had his mugshot on file, 202 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.480 So when they interrogated witnesses and words shooting, they showed 203 00:11:18.520 --> 00:11:22.560 them an array of mugshots that included JJ's picture. One 204 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.520 witness said JJ looked like the guy and that was it. 205 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.640 Police sent word that they wanted to question JJ, and 206 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.800 when JJ heard that, he voluntarily went to the police 207 00:11:31.800 --> 00:11:34.360 station to speak to them, thinking he'd clear this all 208 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:35.720 up in just a few minutes. 209 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:36.440 Yeah. 210 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.320 So I turned myself in February second, nineteen ninety eight. 211 00:11:39.800 --> 00:11:42.000 Part of the reason why I turned myself in is 212 00:11:42.040 --> 00:11:44.440 because my father was a police officer, who raised me 213 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:49.040 to believe in a system and to just think about 214 00:11:49.640 --> 00:11:53.760 how the system treated me. You know, my father served 215 00:11:53.800 --> 00:11:57.760 this country as a veteran in the army and then 216 00:11:57.800 --> 00:12:00.679 as a police officer when he came out of the army, 217 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.280 and this is what he gets as retirement benefits that 218 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.120 ten months after he passes away, you set his son up. 219 00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:11.480 This may be a tough question, but do you almost 220 00:12:11.520 --> 00:12:15.720 feel it was like a blessing that he died before 221 00:12:15.760 --> 00:12:18.079 you got locked up, before he could see this happened 222 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:18.280 to you. 223 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.320 Actually, I've never looked at it like that. It's interesting 224 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:26.760 that you would say that, but I think it's the opposite. 225 00:12:28.280 --> 00:12:30.480 I believe that if my father was alive, this couldn't 226 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.679 have happened to me. I believe that my father, as 227 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:38.640 a standing police officer, would have been who granted a 228 00:12:38.640 --> 00:12:42.200 lot more respect and would have said, you can't do 229 00:12:42.280 --> 00:12:43.040 this to my son. 230 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:47.200 The eyewitness who chose JJ's mugshot was a man named 231 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.320 Augustus Brown. Brown says that he only saw the shooter 232 00:12:50.400 --> 00:12:52.880 for a few seconds, but he felt pressure to pick 233 00:12:52.920 --> 00:12:55.400 someone out of the stack of mugshots police showed him 234 00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:58.400 because if he didn't, he says, the police told him 235 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:00.920 they would pin it on him. Here's an interview with 236 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:02.800 Augustus Brown with Dateline. 237 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:05.960 He told us detectives are pointing the finger at him 238 00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:09.640 as a suspect. 239 00:13:08.400 --> 00:13:10.839 To charge me with conspiracy to this, saying. 240 00:13:10.600 --> 00:13:12.760 That, so the police are going to say you were 241 00:13:12.800 --> 00:13:13.280 part of this. 242 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.680 Robbery, yes, saying that that I set this up for 243 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:19.560 him to come in and rouse it right what you 244 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:19.920 didn't do? 245 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.480 And he having that on my breck at the young 246 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:25.120 black man. I ain't got a little doubt. 247 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.959 I'm not in scolding the rod So that's what came 248 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:30.880 about me pointing the thing as must. 249 00:13:31.520 --> 00:13:35.040 If that's true Laska, as his lawyers say, his testimony 250 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:36.200 cannot be believed. 251 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:38.880 So Brown said the police were going to pin the 252 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.120 murder on him if he did not point the finger 253 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.920 at someone else. Brown was also a drug dealer and 254 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:45.760 had ten bags of heroin on him when he was 255 00:13:45.800 --> 00:13:48.040 brought in for questioning, so we thought he would go 256 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.040 down for that too. The twenty year old was terrified 257 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:53.360 of the threats and going down for the murder, so 258 00:13:53.400 --> 00:13:55.439 he pointed at JJ. Said he thought he might have 259 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.480 recognized JJ as someone from the neighborhood, and that was 260 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.560 that he picked him as the shooter. That's when JJ 261 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:05.640 was contacted once at the precinct. The police asked JJ 262 00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:08.959 if he would enter a lineup, which, knowing he was innocent, 263 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:10.000 he agreed to. 264 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.079 I walked into a precint and volunteered for a lineup, 265 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:17.760 against my lawyer's advice. He said, just go home, let 266 00:14:17.760 --> 00:14:19.440 them do their job and then we'll do hours. And 267 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.560 I said, no, I didn't do this. I'm going to 268 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:24.000 that lineup. If I go on that lineup and I 269 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:25.120 don't get picked, come. 270 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.840 Free, right. You say yeah, but if you get picked, 271 00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:28.760 you're going to jail. 272 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.560 I said, I'm going that lineup, and that was the 273 00:14:33.640 --> 00:14:39.280 last choice I made as a free man. 274 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:43.760 JJ is a light skin Latino male. At the time, 275 00:14:43.800 --> 00:14:46.360 he had short hair and a very thin sole pouch 276 00:14:46.400 --> 00:14:49.600 kind of mustache. Witnesses at the scene described the shooter 277 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:54.320 as a blackmail light complexion and maybe that doesn't seem 278 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.120 like a huge jump from a light skin Latino, but 279 00:14:57.160 --> 00:15:01.080 the description went on to say the guy had a beard, mustache, goatee, 280 00:15:01.800 --> 00:15:06.040 and grades or dreadlocks. Eight of the nine witnesses gave 281 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:09.360 the same description, so a sketch was drawn and put 282 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:14.240 on a wanted poster, and this sketch looks nothing like JJ. 283 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:19.720 I mean, it's not even a close resemblance. Plus three 284 00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:23.400 independent sources who saw the poster said the sketch was 285 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:25.080 of a man named Mustafa. 286 00:15:25.400 --> 00:15:28.560 This sketch was plastered all over Harlem, a place where 287 00:15:28.560 --> 00:15:33.960 the streets talk and the cops were listening. Tips came 288 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.080 in from all directions, but one name kept coming up 289 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.800 over and over again, Mustafa. 290 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:43.640 Remember, the cops wanted two men, the shooter and the accomplice. 291 00:15:44.160 --> 00:15:47.320 The accomplice was the darker skinned one. He was eventually 292 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:52.440 identified as Dairy Daniels. Daniels totally fits this profile. He 293 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.880 had fourteen prior arrests and twelve convictions for drugs, assault, 294 00:15:55.920 --> 00:15:59.080 and robbery. Daniels was charged with the murder of Albert 295 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:02.360 Ward and eventually wound up pleading guilty to robbery. He 296 00:16:02.400 --> 00:16:05.920 was sentenced to twelve years. And it's worth noting, though, 297 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.920 that Darry Daniels, in all of his dealings with police, 298 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:13.120 never mentioned JJ as being involved in the crime. There's 299 00:16:13.160 --> 00:16:16.480 no evidence Daniels and JJ even knew each other. And 300 00:16:16.560 --> 00:16:20.040 more than that, Daniel's brother told a private investigator that 301 00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:24.080 JJ was indeed a stranger. His brother only implicated him 302 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:27.640 to get a lesser sentence. This was the only time 303 00:16:27.760 --> 00:16:31.600 Darry Daniels implicated JJ a year after the shooting at 304 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:35.920 his own sentencing. He didn't even testify at JJ's trial. 305 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:39.040 When reporters tried to ask Daniels about JJ's claims of 306 00:16:39.040 --> 00:16:42.560 innocence after Daniel's release, because remember he got out years ago, 307 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.680 thanks so that plea deal, he refused to talk about 308 00:16:45.680 --> 00:16:47.120 the case period. 309 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:52.120 Me being here for this crime makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, 310 00:16:52.680 --> 00:16:57.800 no sense whatsoever. The physical descriptions do not match, the 311 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:02.440 physical evidence is not there. Nothing makes sense. 312 00:17:02.680 --> 00:17:06.399 The physical description was a light skin blackmail with dreads 313 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:08.880 or braids. Yes, hair that you did not have. 314 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:10.240 Absolutely, you're not a. 315 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.280 Light skin black mail. No, how did this happen? 316 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:16.560 How did you get here? 317 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:18.040 How did you get here? 318 00:17:18.800 --> 00:17:23.280 When we answered that, Maggie, I think I'd be leaving here. Unfortunately, 319 00:17:23.320 --> 00:17:25.640 that's a question I can't answer. I don't know how 320 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:26.359 I got here. 321 00:17:29.040 --> 00:17:32.359 So after Brown selected JJ, a chain of events happened. 322 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:35.560 Now with an id the rest of the eyewitnesses were 323 00:17:35.600 --> 00:17:38.400 at the underground gambling spot when Albert Ward was shot. 324 00:17:38.800 --> 00:17:41.440 We're asked to come in and v a lineup. This 325 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:45.960 was the lineup JJ volunteered for. JJ was in the lineup, 326 00:17:46.080 --> 00:17:49.120 a light skin Latino male next to other filler men, 327 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:52.919 none of whom were black or even remotely resembled the 328 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.520 sketch that had been drawn of the shooter, a light 329 00:17:55.560 --> 00:17:59.359 skin blackmail with dreads. Actually, JJ says two of the 330 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:02.479 guys looked like white men, which, if anything, would make 331 00:18:02.560 --> 00:18:05.760 JJ look darker than he was. I saw this picture 332 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:09.360 and it's true. JJ was then picked out by two 333 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.720 other witnesses after one chose someone else first and the 334 00:18:12.760 --> 00:18:18.760 other was unsure about their choice. Based on this, JJ 335 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:21.480 was charged with the first degree murder of Albert Ward, 336 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:25.719 even though the only evidence police had was shaky eyewitness ideas, 337 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:31.439 and make no mistake, eyewitness identification should always be second guest. 338 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.720 The Innocence Project estimates that seventy one percent of the 339 00:18:35.760 --> 00:18:38.639 nearly four hundred wrongful convictions that have been overturned by 340 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:44.200 DNA evidence involved mistaken eyewitness IDAs. The brain is malleable 341 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:48.040 and impressionable, and it is surprisingly easy for police to 342 00:18:48.080 --> 00:18:52.439 make subtle suggestions in mugshot spreads or suspect lineups to 343 00:18:52.600 --> 00:18:57.720 cause witnesses to finger the wrong person, but luckily JJ 344 00:18:57.800 --> 00:19:00.480 had an alibi. Remember the seventy four minute call with 345 00:19:00.520 --> 00:19:02.320 his mom that placed him at home at the time 346 00:19:02.320 --> 00:19:05.840 of the murder. Well, at trial, the prosecution brushed the 347 00:19:05.840 --> 00:19:08.199 record of this call off as just the girlfriend on 348 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:10.840 the phone. JJ had proved someone had made a lengthy 349 00:19:10.840 --> 00:19:12.840 phone call from his house to his mom's that day, 350 00:19:13.240 --> 00:19:14.960 but there was no way to prove it was him. 351 00:19:15.520 --> 00:19:20.720 He was ultimately convicted of second degree murder. JJ has 352 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.240 been in prison ever since. 353 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:26.080 I've been fighting this conviction for all of twenty two years. 354 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.480 When you're innocent and you're fighting your case, you're at 355 00:19:30.520 --> 00:19:35.040 like the worst position to represent yourself. I don't know 356 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.879 what happened, so now I have to go off of 357 00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:43.240 what they claim a facts, and I already know aren't. 358 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:46.280 The facts because you said that I did it and 359 00:19:46.320 --> 00:19:46.840 that's wrong. 360 00:19:47.280 --> 00:19:50.439 So if we're starting from that, then what else is 361 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:51.639 wrong in this picture? 362 00:19:52.040 --> 00:19:54.480 And how do I defend myself if I don't know what's. 363 00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:04.600 Right coming up? If JJ is innocent, then who killed 364 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:05.440 Officer Ward? 365 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:46.200 Hey, we're back and today we're bringing you something quite special. 366 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:47.520 It's the story of JJ. 367 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:51.560 Velasquez told by producer Maggie Freeling as part of her 368 00:20:51.600 --> 00:20:56.240 new podcast, Unjust and Unsolved. Maggie is going to pick 369 00:20:56.320 --> 00:20:57.160 up the story now. 370 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.720 JJ has been fighting for his freedom from behind the 371 00:21:00.760 --> 00:21:04.800 walls of Sing Sing Maximum Security Correctional Facility since nineteen 372 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:07.560 ninety eight. I'm here at Sing Sing with JJ and 373 00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:09.639 he's telling me he's had a lot of time to 374 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:10.640 think about what happened. 375 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:13.560 You know, when I first came through, I thought I 376 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:15.640 was that anomaly. I thought it was like, how could 377 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:18.320 this happen? You know, my father was a cop. I'm 378 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:21.040 being accused of, you know, taking cops life. 379 00:21:21.080 --> 00:21:22.600 It doesn't make any sense. 380 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:25.919 Putting innocent people in prison for crimes just so that 381 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:28.280 they can say that there was some level of finality 382 00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:31.000 to it. Right, So a cop was shot in broad 383 00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:33.879 daylight and Harlem and somebody has to go to prison 384 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:37.600 because we can't have people believing that people can just 385 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:40.280 do this and get away with it. Yet Albert Wards 386 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:44.879 killers still out there victimizing people. We have no idea 387 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.640 how many victims have suffered as a result. 388 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:51.840 But new evidence and witness recampments could help him regain 389 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:54.679 his freedom and figure out who the real killer of 390 00:21:54.760 --> 00:22:02.120 Albert Ward is In two thousand and four, JJ's legal 391 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:05.800 team interviewed Augustus Brown while he was incarcerated at Riker's Island. 392 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.800 Remember Brown is the heroin dealer who picked out JJ's mugshot. 393 00:22:10.560 --> 00:22:12.800 Brown says he was actually high on drugs when he 394 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:16.000 identified JJ, and was high on drugs when he testified. 395 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:18.879 He says he really wasn't sure who the shooter was, 396 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:21.600 but was afraid to say anything because he thought the 397 00:22:21.600 --> 00:22:24.280 police would implicate him in the murder, so he had 398 00:22:24.280 --> 00:22:27.720 to stick with his story. Then, another of the three 399 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:32.160 witnesses who identified JJ also recanted in a sworn statement 400 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.720 to JJ's lawyers, saying they too felt pressure by the 401 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:39.639