Wrongfully Convicted Brooklyn Man Exonerated After 14 Years in Prison

Steven Ruffin's case is the latest to be disavowed in a series of reinvestigations connected to retired Detective Louis Scarcella's troubling tactics.

Steven Ruffin, who spent 14 years in prison for a 1996 killing he didn't commit, has been exonerated after prosecutors agreed with his long-standing claim that the killer was an acquaintance.
Ruffin's case is the latest of over three dozen that Brooklyn prosecutors have disavowed after reinvestigations over the last decade, many of which were connected to retired Detective Louis Scarcella, who has been accused of coercing confessions and other troubling tactics.
Ruffin was convicted based on a single eyewitness testimony and a confession that he later recanted, which was obtained by Scarcella and Ruffin's estranged father, a police officer.
Ruffin's defense lawyer at the time failed to tell the jury that Ruffin's sister's boyfriend, believed to be the actual gunman, also had a cracked front tooth, just like Ruffin, and confessed to several people that he committed the crime.
Prosecutors are now exploring whether to charge the man they now believe to be the actual killer, but any charges would not come immediately due to the need to ensure sufficient evidence.