A New Jersey man who spent 16 years in prison for the murder of two women will be set free after new evidence raised doubts about his guilt, officials announced Friday.
It’s the first time a new team within the state attorney general’s office has successfully fought to have a conviction thrown out.
“This is an important milestone for the Conviction Review Unit,” state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that our criminal justice system operates fairly and justly for all people.”
Taron Hill, 34, was convicted of the 2004 murder of Robin Battie and Tinesha Lewis, who were among a crowd of bystanders killed in a Camden shooting.
Hill was originally identified by an eyewitness and two jailhouse informants claimed he had confessed to them that he was the shooter.
But the review unit took a fresh look at the evidence and found the eyewitness identification process to be flawed. The two jailhouse informants have since recanted.
Camden Superior Court Judge Edward McBride Jr. agreed to vacate the conviction during a court hearing Friday. It was not immediately clear when Hill will be released.
Grewal said they are now launching a new investigation into who killed Battie and Lewis, whose relatives were notified before Friday’s court hearing.
“I know today is an extremely difficult day for their families, and we want to assure those families that we are working diligently to bring closure to this terrible episode,” Grewal added.
In 2004, only one person saw the shooter, officials said. That witness identified Hill based off a single photo.
“Although this evidence was admitted at trial, it is not an investigative best practice under current identification procedures,” Grewal’s office said in a statement.
No murder weapon was recovered, and no DNA or fingerprint evidence tied Hill to the killings, officials said.
“As a longtime prosecutor, I know the satisfaction of securing justice by convicting a defendant who has committed a serious crime like murder,” Carolyn Murray, the unit’s director, said in a statement. “But we must always be vigilant.”
Hill was prosecuted by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, which previously did not have access to new evidence obtained by the review unit, according to the press release. The same agency also saw its prosecution of two men accused of a 1995 double murder overruled last year.
This is a breaking news story. Details will be added as they become available.
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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Blake Nelson may be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.
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Citing new evidence, AG drops murder charges for N.J. man. He spent 16 years locked up. - NJ.com
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