Jabbar Collins
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Jabbar Collins | |
|---|---|
 Jabbar Collins | |
| Born | July 8, 1972 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Known for | Wrongful conviction |
Jabbar Collins (born in or around 1974) is an American man who was convicted of second-degree murder following the February 1994 death of Orthodox Rabbi Abraham Pollack in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. [1] Police charged 20-year-old Collins, who lived in a nearby housing project, with the murder. He was then sentenced by a jury in March 1995 to 34-years-to-life, sixteen of which were served.[2]
In 2010, Collins was exonerated a key witness recanted. The case settled in 2014 for $13 million. It is notable for exposing questionable policies under the former Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, and his right-hand man, Michael F. Vecchione.[3] [4]
The case is presently being used by the Honorable Frederic Block in support of a bill for the nation’s first Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.[3] Said bill is pending approval by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Background
Jabbar Collins was raised in Brooklyn, New York.[5] At the time of the murder, he lived in a nearby housing project within the vicinity of the crime scene.[2] A father of three,[6] Collins was not able to finish high school but nonetheless earned a high school equivalency diploma. He had been enrolled in college classes before his arrest.[7]
Collins identifies as a Christian.[8]
Murder of Abraham Pollack
Rabbi Abraham Pollack was fatally shot in a failed robbery attempt while collecting rent in a Brooklyn apartment building in which he served as landlord.[7] Those who knew him describe him as a devoted husband and father of nine who “treated everyone fairly” and “didn’t hassle you” about late rent. His generosity and fairness also extended to his workers; Pollack had allowed the janitor, a formerly homeless man, to live in the building’s basement in exchange for assisting the superintendent.[9]
On a Sunday in early February 1994, Rabbi Pollack was shot to death at the age of thirty-five. The building superintendent witnessed the crime and ran to get assistance from the janitor, who intervened during the attack and was shot and seriously injured.
Approximately two weeks after Rabbi Pollack’s murder, the janitor spoke to detectives and an assistant district attorney. He revealed that he had cut the the perpetrator of the crime on his right side with a knife while intervening during the crime. [9]
Curiously, Collins did not exhibit any injury on his side when he voluntarily went to the 90th Precinct for a police interview twelve days following the murder.
Although both the building super and janitor were eyewitnesses to the murder of Rabbi Pollack, neither witness positively identified Collins as the perpetrator in a police lineup. Furthermore, Collins has a strong alibi placing him away from the scene of the crime.[9]
Early police reports indicate that a few witnesses had stated that the perpetrator was a local drug dealer who had been under recent investigation, alongside his brother, for another robbery. In the hour following the crime, the superintendent was shown photos of this drug dealer and his brother, whom he said resembled the man who murdered Rabbi Pollack. Another police report also states that that one of the brothers has a scar “on [the] stomach area” — the same area where the janitor had cut the perpetrator with a knife. [9]
Regardless of the fact that there was incriminating evidence against other suspects, the police continued to focus their investigation on Collins after they had received an anonymous phone call implicating him. The case built against Collins relied substantially on three witnesses, who were heavy drug users and whose accounts were not consistent with those of actual eyewitnesses.[9]
Trial
Collins was convicted in March 1995 after two witnesses testified to seeing him flee the crime scene. Another witness claimed that Collins had revealed his plans to rob Pollack as he was collecting rent.[7]
Verdict and sentencing
Collins was sentenced to 34-years-to-life in prison for murder in the second-degree.
However, according to court documents, police were aware of exculpatory information pertaining to Collins.[9]
Appeal
Sure of his innocence, Collins began fighting his conviction while at the Green Haven Correctional Facility, a maximum security state prison. Upon requesting documents through the Freedom of Information Act, Collins soon realized that some of these materials had not been provided to his trial lawyer at the time of his conviction. He decided to contact the witnesses whose testimonies implicated him in the murder of Rabbi Pollack. Collins soon found discrepancies in their stories and realized that the men had "received favorable treatment on pending cases in exchange for their testimony."[7] Witness admitted to having been enticed or threatened by the prosecution.[1] One of these witnesses later testified at a hearing that when he tried to recant his statement implicating Collins before trial, a prosecutor had threatened to hit him with a coffee table.[7] Fortunately, all three witnesses ultimately recanted their statements.
Collins also uncovered important prosecutorial misconduct in that a prosecutor did not turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense. Ultimately, the city admitted to the withholding of this exculpatory evidence at the time of the 1995 trial, conceding that Collins’ conviction and sentencing "resulted from violations of his constitutional rights."[1]
After failing to receive relief in state court, Collins filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal court and enlisted the help of Attorney Joel B. Rudin.[1] The defense asked for an order prohibiting retrial because of the gross misconduct. Following a one-day evidentiary hearing, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office decided not to oppose that outcome, perhaps because the prosecution witnesses were too compromised to retry the case. Even so, the office continued to allege that Collins was guilty.[2]
In June 2010, officials at the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, who had previously stated that they would retry Collins, dismissed the case. A representative said at the time that the office still believed Collins to be the killer. [7]
Settlement
Settlement was reached in July 2014. At the behest of Judge Frederic Block, who urged city and state officials to settle Collins’ wrongful conviction lawsuit before going to trial,[7] the matter settled for $3 million under the Unjust Conviction Act.[1][10] On the topic of this agreement, Collins’ attorney, Joel B. Rudin, commented, “Three million dollars is a lot of money, but it is a fraction of what Jabbar Collins is entitled to for 15 horrendous years in a maximum security state prison. We look forward now to concentrating totally on his much larger claim for damages against New York City.” [7]
Allegations of Prosecutorial Misconduct
Charles Hynes
As of July 2018, Collins is also suing former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, former members of his office, and New York Police Department detectives for civil violations in federal court.[7]
This lawsuit follows depositions conducted by Collins’ lawyer, Joel B. Rudin, in the murder case. During a December 2010 deposition, Hynes reportedly stated that when he ordered the case dismissed, he no longer believed that Collins was guilty and that there was no evidence connecting him to the murder. He also stated under questioning that there was “a failure of ethical responsibility by someone involved in the case.”[7]
Michael Vecchione
The case also brought to question the conduct of former Assistant District Attorney Michael F. Vecchione, who is renowned as an aggressive prosecutor who has overseen many high profile cases and co-author of the book, Friends of the Family.[11] According to a New York Times article, Collins accused Vecchione of “playing God” in his threats against witnesses, elicitation of inaccurate testimonies, and withholding of exculpatory evidence. The misconduct which Collins believed deprived him of a fair trial, included the elicitation of a testimony from Angel Santos, one of the three witnesses who testified in the 1995 trial. In his testimony at the aborted habeas corpus hearing, Santos recounted coercion by Vecchione at the initial trial, stating that he was not only threatened but also held in jail for a week, until he testified.[6]
The settlement spared the testimony of Vecchione who, in 2006, had signed a sworn affidavit dispeling notions of use of force or threats in obtaining witness testimonies.[6] Highly criticized for his conduct in this case by District Attorney Charles Hynes’ successor Kenneth Thompson, though not officially related, Vecchione retired in December 2013.[4]
Judicial Significance: Bill for Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct
According to a New York Daily News opinions editorial, Federal Judge Frederic Block (who served in the settled civil case) was troubled by the lack of accountability in this matter.[12] While he ruled that the city could be held liable, he was forced to dismiss the claims against the prosecutor and the district attorney of prosecutorial immunity.
Block notes, as of July 30, 2018, the state and city taxpayers have paid $13 million in settlements. Despite his “egregious behavior,” the prosecutor has neither been forced to pay for the settlement or face any punishment.[3] Block maintains that it is not uncommon for wrongful conviction cases across New York to stem from “a whole array of prosecutorial misconduct” yet simultaneously cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars “for the many years the innocent defendants spent in jail.” Prosecutors, he notes, have curiously remained largely unscathed.[3]
Personal Life
While in prison, both of Collins’ grandmothers passed away.[8]
While incarcerated, Collins spent eight years helping his fellow inmates by acting as a legal research instructor. Since being released from prison, Collins has worked as a legal analyst at the Law Offices of Joel B. Rudin. He currently works as a legal analyst for Horizon Research Services[13][13]
In 2017, Collins appeared on NY1 to discuss wrongful convictions with his legal partner Rita Dave.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Exonerated Man Reaches $10 Million Deal With New York City". 19 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ a b c "Jabbar Collins - National Registry of Exonerations". www.law.umich.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ a b c d Block, Frederic. "Prosecutors aren't above the law: Gov. Cuomo must sign legislation creating an oversight commission - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ a b Yee, Vivian. "Under Fire, Brooklyn Deputy Prosecutor Will Retire". Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ "Man who spent 16 years behind bars gets $10M for wrongful conviction". New York Post. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ a b c Sulzberger, A. G. "Brooklyn Prosecutor Drops Case Against Man Held in Murder". Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gardiner, Sean (2014-07-10). "Jabbar Collins Settles Wrongful Conviction Suit for $3 Million". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ a b c "Jabbar Collins: Wrongfully convicted, now helping others". Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ a b c d e f "Twenty Years On, Second Thoughts About Chasid's Killer". Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ "Claims for unjust conviction and imprisonment". NY State Senate. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ Marzulli, John. "New book, 'Friends of the Family,' on Mafia cops claims FBI hogged the glory - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
- ^ Marzulli, John. "Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes in hot seat for protecting prosecutor who imprisoned innocent man - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
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