Two people who spent 17 years in prison for the 1995 murder of livery cab driver Baithe Diop in The Bronx before being freed when evidence emerged they did not commit the crime had their convictions vacated and electronic monitoring devices removed from their ankles today.
Eric Glisson and Cathy Watkins were greeted by thunderous applause from supporters as Bronx Supreme Court Judge Denis Boyle exonerated them for the slaying — just as Boyle did Wednesday for their three co-defendants.
Glisson and Watkins were freed from prison in October after the Bronx DA’s office learned that two former gang members had confessed to the killing of a cab driver who is believed to have been Diop.
The three other men convicted of that crime in 1997 — Devon Ayers, Michael Cosme and Carlos Perez — remain locked up in prison pending a Jan. 2 hearing on whether those three men should also have their convictions vacated in the murder of Fed Ex executive Denise Raymond in her Soundview home a day or two before Diop.
Prosecutors at the time had argued that the killings of Raymond and Diop were linked. Lawyers for the men still locked up argue they should be exonerated for Raymond’s killing because the conviction relied on testimony from witnesses whose testimony about Diop’s slaying is now discredited.
“A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I have a new life now and as for what I’ve been through, that’s something that I am never going to look back on,” a teary-eyed Glisson said as he left court.