A Brooklyn man’s murder conviction was tossed Wednesday, the beginning of what his family considers a happily-ever-after ending to his 27 yearlong prison stint.
Emmanuelle Cooper, 54, has always maintained his innocence in the 1992 murder of MTA worker Andres Barretto, who was fatally shot in a Euclid Avenue subway station in East New York after two men forced their way into a booth and robbed the token clerks inside.
In two trips to the parole board, Cooper, who was serving a 25-years-to-life sentence at Ulster Correctional Facility, refused to admit guilt for the murder, according to his lawyers. He also refused to say he did it at his original sentencing.
Cooper’s defiance was finally rewarded after a judge vacated his 1993 conviction in a decision that caught his lawyer and family off guard.
Cooper’s legal team wasn’t given a heads-up about Judge Ruth Shillingford’s decision. His delighted family, including his ex-wife and current spouse, attended the proceeding.
“I’m happy. I’m ecstatic,” said Sandy Cooper, a childhood sweetheart who married Cooper a year ago. “He kept his dignity. He remained strong for 28 years. Above all, he persevered.”
Cooper nodded to his family as he entered the courtroom in brown prison garb and glasses. He began to cry and lifted his hand to his heart as his lawyer, Thomas Hoffman, read a heartbreaking letter from Cooper’s mother, who has since passed away.
“Oh Lord, please help my son for me,” the desperate mom wrote. “I used to pray to you and ask you to lock him up because I didn’t want him to get killed in the streets. Dear God, please help him to get out of this mess.”
The mess began to unravel after Cooper’s lawyers argued in a motion last year that there was no “physical evidence or incriminating statements” against their client, and that the prosecution’s case hinged on “the deeply flawed identifications of two token clerks.”
“Both clerks had only fleeting glimpses of the shooter and, critically, failed to identify Cooper from a photo array conducted just days after the crime,” the motion reads.
The motion claims one of the main witnesses, Rico Sanchez, who was in prison at the time of the trial, was forced by the Brooklyn DA’s office to testify against Cooper.
Sanchez told jurors he saw Cooper run away from the train station and jump into a getaway car, according to the motion. But the motion alleges Sanchez only testified because he was facing criminal charges on another case, and was promised he’d be released in exchange for his testimony.
Prosecutors admitted Wednesday that Sanchez was facing other charges during Cooper’s case, and that they should have revealed that to Cooper’s defense lawyers at the time.
Cooper’s motion to overturn his conviction was written by Jabbar Collins, a paralegal on the case who spent 16 years in prison for murder before being exonerated and reaching a $10 million settlement with the city.
Cooper wasn’t immediately freed. He returned to state custody while procedural issues were being ironed out.
The Brooklyn DA can still appeal or retry the case if they choose. Cooper’s next court date is Feb. 21.
Cooper’s wife said they plan to move to North Carolina when he’s freed.
“We’re going to have our happily ever after, as corny as that sounds,” she said.
