NEW YORK – A woman convicted of killing a man in a 1991 New York City robbery is set to be exonerated after prosecutors concluded she made a false confession.
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson says his office will ask a judge Tuesday to overturn Vanessa Gathers' manslaughter conviction. The 58-year-old Gathers spent 10 years behind bars and was paroled in 2007.
Seventy-one-year-old Michael Shaw died in April 1992 of injuries from a robbery and assault five months earlier.
Gathers was questioned, denied involvement and was released. Detective Louis Scarcella (skahr-SEHL'-uh) questioned her again five years later, and she confessed and was convicted.
Thompson says the confession was vague and inaccurate, and prosecutors now doubt its validity.
Prosecutors have reviewed dozens of Scarcella's cases amid questions about his tactics. He denies any wrongdoing.
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