NEW YORK, April 8 (UPI) -- A New York man has been cleared after 24 years in prison for murder by a receipt showing he was in Florida at the time, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Jonathan Fleming, 51, denied killing Darryl Rush -- who was shot in 1989 in a Brooklyn housing project -- claiming he was in Florida on vacation. But a prosecutor convinced a jury in 1990 that Fleming could have flown to New York, committed the crime and returned to Florida, and an eyewitness identified him as the shooter.
Taylor Koss, Fleming's lawyer, said a receipt that showed he had paid a phone bill at Walt Disney World near the time of the killing was in the possession of the Brooklyn District Attorney but only came to light when the case in reopened recently. Koss said the eyewitness recanted within weeks of the trial, saying a detective had coerced the identification of Fleming.
Another witness has now come forward, saying he drove the getaway car and identifying Rush's killer, Koss said.
Fleming was expected to be freed Tuesday.
