Two men who were incarcerated as teenagers for a 1994 killing were acquitted on Thursday by prosecutors citing new DNA testing and a reexamination of evidence that undermined the convictions. Brian Boles and Charles Collins had spent years in prison before being released on parole, with Collins in 2017 and Boles just last year. They have now been cleared of their convictions in the case involving the death of James Reid, an elderly man who was assaulted in his Harlem residence. A judge overturned the convictions and charges against them.
Boles’ attorney, Jane Pucher from the Innocence Project, stated that he had lost thirty years of his life for a crime he did not commit. Collins’ lead lawyer, Christopher Conniff, described the court’s decision as correcting a grave injustice. Reid’s possible relative was contacted for comment on the recent developments.
The case began when a maintenance worker discovered Reid, 85, beaten and seemingly strangled in his apartment, which had been burglarized. Boles, a resident in the same building, and Collins, who was staying with him, became suspects after being arrested in a separate robbery. Both teens gave confessions that their lawyers argued were coerced by aggressive police interrogations. Boles recanted before his trial, but he was still convicted of murder, while Collins later pleaded guilty.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office now acknowledges that witness statements contradicted the teens’ confessions, indicating that Reid was alive after they claimed he was killed. Additionally, a new round of DNA testing revealed that genetic material found under Reid’s fingernails did not match Boles or Collins, using advanced techniques not available in the 1990s. The DNA sample cannot be widely searched in law enforcement databases due to technical reasons, but it could be valuable if a lead emerges through other means.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg emphasized the various injustices in the case that led to the men’s wrongful imprisonment and urged anyone with information to come forward. Boles, now 48, pursued education in prison and recently obtained a degree in sociology, aiming to work with marginalized communities. Information about Collins’ post-release endeavors was not disclosed by his lawyers.
