New York’s Bronx.On Tuesday, a Bronx judge overturned Kimberly Hanzlik’s conviction, freeing her from prison after 13 years for a 1999 murder conviction that prosecutors now claim was founded on shaky evidence.
Darcel D. Clark, the district attorney for the Bronx, said that the Conviction Integrity Bureau of her office had found information that raised questions about Hanzlik’s involvement in the shooting death of Joseph Brown at Frenchy’s Bar on East Tremont Avenue. At a hearing held at the Bronx Hall of Justice, Judge Alvin Yearwood dismissed the charges, sealed the case, and ordered Hanzlik’s release.
According to Clark, Ms. Hanzlik’s 13-year prison sentence was based on trial testimony that did not pass today’s credibility standard. She said the dismissal was in the interest of justice, but she also noted the suffering this decision may bring the victim’s family.
The 59-year-old Hanzlik and her co-defendant, Joseph Meldish, were found guilty in 2011 of their claimed involvement in the deadly shot. According to the prosecution, Hanzlik went into the bar to find Thomas Brown, the intended victim, and let Meldish know where he was. Then Meldish went inside and shot Joseph Brown, who looked like his brother Thomas, and ran away.
Despite giving contradictory testimony, Meldish’s getaway driver, a crucial witness, stated during the trial that Hanzlik was there and identified the victim. Furthermore, in 2006, seven years after the murder, Joseph Brown’s wife named Hanzlik in an interview with a now-deceased NYPD detective who was eventually linked to another case involving compelled testimony.
According to hidden 1999 police records reviewed by the Conviction Integrity Bureau, the getaway driver first claimed Hanzlik was not present when the murder occurred. The decision to overturn the conviction was eventually influenced by this as well as concerns over the reliability of the late detective’s investigative techniques.
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