By Mark Hallum
MANHATTAN – Prosecutors have decided not to seek a retrial in the case of Johnny Hincapie, whose murder conviction was overturned in 2015 after the man from Bayside had spent 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors decided Wednesday they still believe Hincapie is guilty, but decided that since he already had served 25 years more prison time would be unnecessary, according to NY1.
Hincapie was only 18 when he was arrested and charged with killing Utah tourist Brian Watkins, who was in the city for the US Open in 1990. Watkins was stabbed to death during a robbery by several young men inside the subway station at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue while trying to defend his parents.
In the 1990s, city crime rates were the highest they had ever been and elected and police officials were under pressure to arrest the men responsible for the high-profile death of Watkins.
Within 24 hours, police had rounded up seven suspects, including Johnny Hincapie, who would not return home to Bayside for 25 years.
Hincapie claims he was coerced into confessing by NYPD and the DA’s office.
In October, Hincapie’s conviction was overturned by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Eduardo Padro and he was granted a new trial based on new evidence. It was the first time a conviction had been voided and a new trial was granted in a non-DNA related evidence-based case.
