Lawyer: Man Was Wrongly Convicted In Notorious 1990 Subway Slaying
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- One of the seven men convicted in a notorious subway murder has spent 22 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, his lawyer says.
Johnny Hincapie was found guilty in the 1990 death of Brian Watkins, a tourist from Utah, who was stabbed while defending his mother against a gang of muggers.
Attorney Ron Kuby told WCBS 880's Irene Cornell on Monday that Hincapie was convicted on a confession that was coerced and remarkably little evidence. Kuby said he plans to bring new evidence from a defendant who was cleared in the case.
Lawyer: Man Was Wrongly Convicted In Notorious 1990 Subway Slaying
"Mrs. Watkins indicated that (Hincapie) looked vaguely familiar," Kuby said. "But that was a formulation she used no fewer than 27 different times describing various defendants.
"Given the tenor and tone of the times, given the need for the police to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice, they were even more zealous and more reckless than they had been in other cases."
The trial was most memorable for the defense offered by the accused stabber, who claimed the victim ran into his knife.
Hincapie, 41, has unsuccessfully challenged his conviction before.
Watkins and his mother were visiting New York from Provo, Utah, to attend the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
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