Injustice: Colin Warner's Wrongful Conviction

This paper depicts how a sequence of injustices led to the wrongful conviction of a Trinidadian immigrant living in the Brooklyn Crown Heights neighborhood. No motive, no murder weapon, no forensic evidence, a questionable autopsy report, coerced witness testimonies, and a lying witness resulted in Colin Warner spending 21 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. It was the year of 1982 when Colin Warner was convicted for the murder of 16 year old Mario Hamilton. Martell Hamilton, the victim’s brother, and Thomas Charlemagne, 14 year old Haitian immigrant, were picked up by investigators shortly after Hamilton’s murder. Thomas Charlemagne would soon become the investigator’s star witness for this case. After hours of interrogation and

stressful conditions, both boys randomly pointed at a picture of Colin Warner, as a man that they have seen before. This was all the information the lead detective needed to hear, and it was not long after that, Colin was called into questioning and placed in prison, where he fought against the criminal justice system for several years to prove his innocence. The people of Brooklyn Crown Heights neighborhood knew the identity of the real murderer, Norman Simmonds, who was not taken into custody until later. The prosecution made the decision to consolidate the two cases, naming Simmonds as the killer and Warner as the driver. The star witness in this case, Thomas Charlemagne, who was also known as the neighborhood liar, would later change his testimony several times along with admit that he lied to the grand jury. In light of Charlemagne’s testimony, there was an opportunity for Simmonds to receive a lighter sentence and Warner to be set free, but Simmonds turned it down. After Simmonds turned down this offer, Colin Warner, an innocent Trinidadian immigrant, and Carl King, his longtime friend who devoted his life to the cause, began their journey towards proving Warner’s innocence.