Wrongful conviction of Jon-Adrian Velazquez in retired officer’s killing vacated after over 20 years
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(NEW YORK) — A New York judge on Monday vacated the conviction and dismissed the case against Jon-Adrian Velazquez, who spent more than 20 years in prison for a murder prosecutors now say he did not commit.
“Who am I? I’m a very lucky man. I’m lucky that so many people believed in me,” Velazquez, 48, who was formally released in 2021, said outside of the court.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg’s office, two individuals committed a robbery of a gambling parlor on Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem on Jan. 27, 1998. During the robbery, retired police detective Albert Ward pulled a gun and a struggle ensued with one of the armed robbers, who identified himself as “Tee.”
“Tee” shot and killed Ward, according to Bragg’s office.
The then-22-year-old Velazquez was arrested, along with Derry Daniels, and convicted for Ward’s murder at trial in 1999. He served more than 23 years in prison until his sentence was commuted in 2021. On Sept. 30, 1999, over 18 months after he was arrested, Daniels pleaded guilty to a single count of robbery in the second degree and was sentenced to 12 years in prison as a repeat felon, according to his attorneys. Daniels was released in 2008.
In 2022, the city’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit compared Velazquez’s DNA to a betting slip that “Tee” handled before shooting Ward. Velazquez’s DNA was not found on the slip. This type of DNA comparison was not available at the time of Velazquez’s trial in 1999.
According to Bragg’s office, the reinvestigation into Ward’s murder found that the DNA testing results could have impacted the jury’s consideration of other trial evidence, including Velazquez’s alibi, the lack of evidence connecting him to the crime and inconsistent witness descriptions.
Velazquez was granted clemency in 2021 by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and spoke with President Joe Biden as an activist for criminal justice reform.
His case is featured in the 2023 movie, “Sing Sing,” named for the prison, about a wrongfully imprisoned man who “finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men,” according to A24.
“JJ Velazquez has lived in the shadow of his conviction for more than 25 years, and I hope that today brings with it a new chapter for him,” Bragg said in a statement. The reinvestigation was conducted by the Office’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit and defense counsel for Velazquez.
The creation of the Post-Conviction Justice Unit in 2022 has led to 10 vacated convictions, Bragg said.
“These convictions have deep consequences for individuals and their loved ones, compromise public safety and undermine trust in the criminal justice system, which is why this work is of the utmost importance to me,” Bragg said.
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(LAS VEGAS) — A former Nevada politician was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on Wednesday of killing journalist Jeff German in September 2022.
As the jury’s foreperson read out the guilty verdict, former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles looked down and shook his head.
Telles was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after a minimum of 20 years served.
In a press conference after the verdict was announced, Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson thanked the jury for their work on the case.
“Today’s verdict should send a message, and that message is a clear message that any attempts to silence the media, or to silence or intimidate a journalist, will not be tolerated,” Wolfson said.
Prosecutors said former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles, 47, stabbed the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter to death after German exposed corruption in his office, destroying both his political career and his marriage. German’s story detailed an allegedly hostile work environment in Telles’ office — including bullying, retaliation and an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a staffer — all of which Telles denied.
Telles was arrested days after German was found dead outside his Las Vegas home. Police said DNA evidence found in Telles’ home tied him to the crime scene, and a straw hat and sneakers — which the suspect was seen wearing in surveillance footage — were found cut up in his home. His DNA was also found on German’s hands and fingernails, police said.
He had pleaded not guilty to murder.
In her opening statement, Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly walked through the timeline of the murder and how Telles came to be pinpointed as the suspect.
“In the end, this case isn’t about politics,” Weckerly said. “It’s not about alleged inappropriate relationships. It’s not about who’s a good boss or who’s a good supervisor or favoritism at work — it’s just about murder.”
Telles took the stand in his own trial on Aug. 21, “unequivocally” maintaining his innocence and insisting he was “framed” in a sweeping conspiracy by a real estate company that he said he was investigating for alleged bribery.
“Somebody framed me for this, and I believe that it is Compass Realty, and I believe it’s for the work that I’ve done against them,” Telles told the court.
In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in January, Compass Realty owner Takumba Britt denied Telles’ conspiracy claims, calling him a “desperate man who has been charged with violently murdering a beloved local journalist” who would “do and say anything to escape answering for this charge.”
Wolfson also hit back against Telles’ conspiracy claims after the jury announced its verdict.
“There was no conspiracy,” Wolfson said. “The only conspiracy was between him and his evil mind.”
When police took Telles into custody, he had what they said were non-life-threatening, self-inflicted stab wounds. His defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, said the suicide attempt was not out of guilt, but because Telles’ “life was coming apart.”
Draskovich echoed Telles’ claims of a conspiracy against him, saying in his opening statement the “old guard” in the public administrator’s office had been upset by Telles’ efforts to root out internal corruption. He also claimed that, because of German’s track record of investigating corrupt figures, there were other people who may have wanted him dead.
“There were others that had far more motive to make it look like [Telles] was the killer, and to conduct this killing because Jeff German was a good reporter — he would ultimately get to what the truth was,” Draskovich said.
Ahead of sentencing on Wednesday, German’s three siblings addressed the court, speaking about what their oldest brother meant to them.
“Jeff was our leader — he was the older brother we all leaned on,” his brother, Jay German, said.
The siblings remembered him as a “wonderful” uncle, a “fearless” journalist and a lover of football and sitcoms.
His sister, Jill Zwerg, who said German was “like a second father,” recalled how he bought a whole round of champagne for the bar when she told me she’d gotten engaged.
“He’s so deeply missed every day,” Zwerg said through tears.
Telles’ wife and ex-wife also spoke, tearfully asking the jury not to sentence him to life in prison without parole.
“I would love at some point to give my children the chance to have their father back,” his wife, Mary Ann Ismael, said.
Telles wept as his mother, Rosalinda Anaya, took the stand.
“I accept the verdict, but if you could — please — give my son the chance of parole,” Anaya said. “His family is still very young and I would like for him to someday be back with them again.”
Before sending the jury off to deliberate on sentencing, Draskovich urged jurors not to hand down a life sentence.
“Give him the opportunity — give his children the opportunity — decades from now, to have their father back,” Draskovich said.
But prosecutors argued a life sentence — either with or without parole — was necessary in such a case. Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Hamner said Telles “decided to be judge, jury, and literally executioner” of German “because he simply wasn’t happy about what was being written about him.”
“When you think about the situation he was in, the world wasn’t going to end. He simply lost an election,” Hamner said. “The way Robert Telles chose to handle this was devastating, and it was his choice and his choice alone.”
German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022, with a total of at least 67 journalists killed worldwide that year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo previously described the case against Telles as “unusual,” and said that “the killing of a journalist is particularly troublesome.”
“It is troublesome because it is a journalist. And we expect journalism to be open and transparent and the watchdog for government,” Lombardo said. “And when people take it upon themselves to create harm associated with that profession, I think it’s very important we put all eyes on and address the case appropriately such as we did in this case.”
In a statement published by the paper, Las Vegas Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook praised the verdict “as a measure of justice” for German, as well as for “slain journalists all over the world.”
“Jeff was killed for doing the kind of work in which he took great pride: His reporting held an elected official accountable for bad behavior and empowered voters to choose someone else for the job,” Cook wrote. “Robert Telles could have joined the long line of publicly shamed Nevada politicians who’ve gone on with their lives, out of the spotlight or back in it. Instead, he carried out a premeditated revenge killing with terrifying savagery.”
“Let’s also remember that this community has lost much more than a trusted journalist,” Cook added. “Jeff was a good man who left behind a family who loved him and friends who cherished him. His murder remains an outrage. He is missed.”
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(LOS ANGELES) — A second man has died of heat exposure in California’s Death Valley National Park this summer, according to the National Park Service.
Peter Hayes Robino, 57, a Los Angeles resident, died of hyperthermia on Aug. 1, the park announced Monday.
Bystanders saw Robino stumble as he returned from the National Bridge Trail — a 1-mile round-trip journey — and offered to help him but he declined, the NPS said, adding bystanders said his responses were not making sense.
Robino then got in his car and drove off a steep, 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot and his car rolled over, deploying its airbags. A bystander left to call 911 and other bystanders helped him walk back to the parking lot and sit in the shade, the NPS said.
Bystanders said Robino was still breathing until just before park rangers arrived to provide help, according to officials. NPS emergency responders said they provided Robino with CPR and moved him to an air-conditioned ambulance.
He was declared dead shortly afterward, according to the park service.
The temperature reached 119 degrees in Death Valley that afternoon.
Symptoms of overheating can include confusion, irritability and lack of coordination.
Park rangers in Death Valley National Park advise summer visitors to avoid the heat by staying in or near air conditioning, not hiking at low elevations after 10 a.m., drinking plenty of water and eating salty snacks.
“My condolences go out to Mr. Robino’s family and friends,” said Mike Reynolds, a superintendent at the park and emergency medical technician who responded to the incident. “His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat.”
(NEW YORK) — Two people were injured, including a student, after a vehicle collided head-on with a school bus in California in a fiery crash, authorities said.
The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. PT Tuesday in Santa Cruz County, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A man driving a Kia Forte northbound on Green Valley Road began traveling in the southbound lane “for reasons under investigation,” CHP said in a press release.
A “head-on crash occurred between the Kia and the school bus,” CHP said.
The collision caused a fire and firefighters from CAL FIRE and the Pajaro Valley Fire District responded. Extensive fire damage could be seen to the front of the bus following the crash.
A 13-year-old girl on the school bus was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, CHP said.
The 28-year-old driver of the Kia was also transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, CHP said.
The driver of the school bus, which had 43 children on board, was uninjured, CHP said.
It is unclear what speed the Kia and school bus were traveling at, CHP said.
“The cause of the crash is still under investigation,” CHP said. “It is not believed that alcohol and/or drugs are factors in this crash.”
The bus was transporting students to Aptos junior and high schools, according to a Pajaro Valley Unified School District official.
“Immediate evacuation of all students took place, with first responders arriving promptly,” Jenny Im, the school district’s chief business officer, said in a letter to families. “Our bus driver and transportation department staff acted swiftly in response.”
Im said the incident “has understandably shaken all students involved,” while noting that the district is providing counseling services at both schools.
