16 years after conviction for crime he didn't commit, Brooklyn man goes free
NEW YORK - A Brooklyn man was released from prison Friday after surveillance video from 16 years ago proved his innocence in court.
Attorneys said the critical video surveillance was never handed over. Part of it proves 52-year-old Arvel Marshall is innocent, and did not fatally shoot a man in Brooklyn back in 2008.
In front of a Supreme Court judge Friday, the Brooklyn district attorney's office moved to vacate Marshall's conviction after he served 16 years for a homicide they proved he didn't commit.
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez called the wrongful conviction a tragic case after his Conviction Review Unit re-investigated it. Since 2014, the work of the Conviction Review Unit has resulted in 39 convictions being vacated. The unit is currently working on almost 60 more investigations.
"Happy to be free"
Exclusive video by CBS News New York shows the moment Marshall has waited for for the last 16 years: Freedom.
"Feeling good. Happy to be free," Marshall said. "Happy to see that it's real. It's not a dream no more."
Marshall was given a new ID and new hope in life.
"This is heaven right here on Earth right now," he said.
Marshall made his way to Brooklyn to meet his family for a feast of food he's been craving for almost two decades.
"You don't want to close your eyes, because you don't want it to be a dream. So it's like, right now, I'm nervous. I am sleepy, but I don't want to close my eyes. I don't want to wake up and I'm back in a cell," he said.
"The system has failed our society again"
"The system has failed our society again, and this case is one of systemic failures," Gonzalez said.
Marshall's ongoing requests to watch the tape during the trial were denied.
"That evidence was said to be unplayable. They didn't have the technology or ability to play it," Gonzalez said.
In court, Marshall's attorney said he even had an alibi and the case should have never gone to trial, and the video proves it.
"It showed that my client shouldn't have even been placed in an identification procedure," attorney Justin Bonus said.
As to who actually committed the crime, Marshall's attorney say they're still out there.
