A
judge dismissed
today the murder
conviction of a
Queens man who
spent 15 years
in prison for a
stabbing he has
always
maintained he
did not commit.
Kareem Bellamy
was convicted
for the 1994
stabbing death
of James Abbott
Jr. in Far
Rockaway, but
continued to
insist he was
innocent.
He was released
in 2008, after a
review of
evidence raised
questions over
the credibility
of witnesses and
accuracy of
trial testimony.
After being
cleared of all
charges today,
Bellamy said it
was the happiest
day of his life.
"It hurts, it
does. It still
hurts because I
know I've been
exonerated, I'm
innocent," said
Bellamy. "I'm an
innocent man. I
had nothing to
do with what
happened, and if
the same
evidence was
produced back
then, I probably
would have never
got convicted."
A
new team of
attorneys and
investigators
took on
Bellamy's case
in 2004,
including a
former FBI agent
and a former New
York City Police
Department
officer. They
said the Queens
district
attorney's
office did not
want to listen.
"He was hell
bent on keeping
Kareem in jail,
and I think it
was wrong," said
former NYPD
Officer Ed
Henson. "If I
didn't think he
was innocent I
would have never
ever been
involved in this
case."
Lawyers said the
most important
new evidence was
a 2008
confession made
to a friend by
the man they
claimed actually
committed the
crime. They said
the same person
confessed
shortly after
the murder, but
it was never
properly
investigated.
A
State Supreme
Court judge
agreed to grant
a new trial, but
the district
attorney's
office told the
court that under
current laws it
could not
successfully go
to trial and
convict Bellamy
again.
The district
attorney's
office
reluctantly
asked for the
case to be
tossed out, but
not before
saying Bellamy
was freed by a
legal
technicality.
"Mr. Bellamy has
now be freed
from that
conviction based
on an outright
fraud
perpetrated
against this
court. He is not
been
exonerated,"
said Queens
Assistant
District
Attorney Brad
Leventhal.
"What more proof
do they need?"
said Bellamy.
"They want James
to come out of
the grave and
say 'He didn't
kill me,' you
know?"
The defense team
said dozens of
people worked
for free on a
case that
otherwise would
have required
millions in
legal fees, in
order to find
witnesses and
evidence to
prove Bellamy
was innocent.
"It's not only
about Mr.
Bellamy, it's
about how people
got together,
saw a just cause
and got together
to undo this
horrific wrong,"
said attorney
Thomas Hoffman.
Bellamy told
reporters today
that his heart
goes out to
Abbott's family.
He also said all
prisoners who
say they are
truly innocent
should keep
pushing forward
to prove that,
and that his
case is evidence
it can happen.
