A man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a robbery he did not commit has been freed after prosecutors admitted the conviction was a mistake. Kenneth Windley, 61, walked out of a Brooklyn courthouse on Monday after a judge overturned his conviction and dismissed the case.
Windley was convicted in 2007 of robbing 70-year-old Gerald Ross of money orders, cash, and a bank book. He was sentenced to 20 years to life due to prior felony convictions. However, new evidence emerged, including confessions from two other men who admitted to the robbery, corroborating Windley's long-standing claims of innocence.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the case was a cautionary tale. 'Had we known what the evidence was, this case should have never happened,' he stated, adding that he had apologised to Windley privately. Prosecutors and Windley's legal team jointly requested the conviction be overturned.
Windley's ordeal began in 2005 when he bought a stove for his mother using a money order that had been stolen from Ross. He maintained he purchased the money order at a discount from acquaintances who said it was valid but could not use it. His lawyer, David Shanies, told the court, 'He was duped.'
After his conviction, Windley helped identify the two men who sold him the money order. They later confessed to the robbery in sworn statements and interviews. Both are serving time for other robberies targeting elderly men in Brooklyn. The legal timeframe for bringing new charges has expired, and Ross has since died.
Emerging from court, Windley said, 'It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now. So that's all that matters. So I'm good with that.' He headed off to celebrate with his family, expressing no bitterness about his wrongful imprisonment.
