If you're into US history there's a fascinating report in the NYT today that says that Cyrus Vance (Manhattan DA) is about to throw out the convictions of Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam.
These are the two men charged with the assassination of Malcolm X
Interesting on many levels, but one is that it call into question the role of the NYPD and FBI in failing to turn over evidence that may have exonerated these guys 30 years ago. This supports the long that these guys were railroaded to bring closure to a case. But, that opens another can of worms because of this . . as described by Vance himself:
"And at a time when racism and discrimination in the criminal justice system are once again the focus of a national protest movement, it reveals a bitter truth: that two of the people convicted of killing Malcolm X — Black Muslim men hastily arrested and tried on shaky evidence — were themselves victims of the very discrimination and injustice that he denounced in language that has echoed across the decades.
In an interview, Mr. Vance apologized on behalf of law enforcement, which he said had failed the families of the two men. Those failures, he said, could not be remedied, “but what we can do is acknowledge the error, the severity of the error.”
Mr. Vance’s re-investigation, conducted with the Innocence Project and the office of David Shanies, a civil rights lawyer, contended with serious obstacles. Many of those involved in the murder case, including witnesses, investigators and trial lawyers as well as other potential suspects, died long ago. Key documents were lost to time and physical evidence, such as murder weapons, were no longer available to be tested.
“This points to the truth that law enforcement over history has often failed to live up to its responsibilities,” Mr. Vance said. “These men did not get the justice that they deserved.”
