Friends imprisoned for decades cleared of 1987 New Year’s killing in Times Square
NEW YORK — In the early hours of New Year’s Day in 1987, a French tourist was robbed while walking through Times Square with his wife. The man, 71-year-old Jean Casse, hit his head on the sidewalk. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Within days, police arrested a pair of young Brooklynites, 19-year-old Eric Smokes and 16-year-old David Warren, and charged them with Casse’s murder. Although both maintained their innocence, they were convicted of murder at a trial and sent to prison for decades.
Nearly 40 years later, a New York City judge and a Manhattan prosecutor have sided with the men, who are now in their 50s. On Wednesday, years after a judge first dismissed their claims, their convictions were overturned after prosecutors said they found evidence that police coerced witnesses.
“Eric Smokes and David Warren lost decades of their lives due to a wrongful conviction,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “I am inspired by the unyielding advocacy of Mr. Smokes and Mr. Warren and hope that today’s decision can finally bring them some measure of comfort and justice.”
Smokes was released on parole in 2011 after serving 24 years. Warren served 20 years in prison before being released on parole in 2007.
The two men, who grew up together and describe themselves as brothers, tried for years to clear their names. No DNA evidence linked them to the crime. The four witnesses who testified at the trial were all teenagers – some of whom later said they had been pressured by police and even threatened with arrest if they did not pin the murder on Smokes and Warren.
But when the two men filed a motion to overturn the convictions in 2017, the effort was opposed by Judge Stephen Antinani and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, led at the time by Cyrus Vance.
Christie Keenan, an assistant district attorney, questioned the credibility of the retracted witness statements. In a 2020 ruling, Antinani denied their request, ruling that the men had “failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that it is highly probable that they are innocent.”
In 2022, another investigation was opened under Bragg’s leadership — one that prosecutors said uncovered “significant new evidence,” including transcripts showing that the teenage witnesses had been coerced by police and that at least one of them was likely was not near the crime.
With the new evidence in place, Antinani agreed to vacate the convictions this week.
Jay Henning, an attorney for the two men, said his clients were pleased to have their names cleared. But, he added, the finding is long overdue.
“This was a tunnel vision case of police and prosecutorial misconduct,” Henning said. “This should have been done a while ago.”