"It has taken many years, but today we are able to validate his account, release him from prison and exonerate his name. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez acknowledged the exoneration after prosecutors re-examined Windley's claims of innocence and determined he wasn't involved in the April 2005 robbery that occurred in Crown Heights."
"At his 2007 trial, Windley denied that he was involved in the robbery and testified that he'd used the money order only after he bought it from two men outside the appliance store for as much as $400. He stated he knew the men were hustlers and sold things on the street but believed he was helping them by purchasing the order."
"Two men followed a 70-year-old man into his apartment building and robbed him in the elevator, stealing $485 in cash and two blank, unsigned money orders—one for $542, the other for $9. Authorities connected Windley to the crime after he used the larger money order to buy his mother a stove."
Kenneth Windley, 61, was released from prison after serving nearly two decades for a 2005 robbery in Brooklyn. He was convicted of second-degree robbery and sentenced to 20 years to life based on evidence that he used a stolen money order to purchase a stove for his mother. Windley testified at trial that he bought the money order from street vendors for approximately $400, unaware it was stolen. The Brooklyn District Attorney's office re-examined his case, concluded he was innocent, and a judge vacated his conviction. Windley expressed relief outside the courthouse, stating the correction of his conviction was what mattered most after losing 20 years to incarceration.
Read at NBC News
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