Karen Matthews
Associated Press
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Lawyers for 84-year-old Muhammad Aziz filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn.
A second lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the estate of Khalil Islam, who was also wrongfully convicted in this case.
Malcolm X was shot on February 21, 1965 in Manhattan. MM. Aziz and Islam, then known as Thomas 15X Johnson’s Norman 3X Butler, and a third man were convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison in March 1966.
The third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim, admitted shooting Malcolm X, but claimed that MM. Aziz and Islam had nothing to do with it. Mr. Halim was conditionally released in 2010.
A Manhattan judge overturned the convictions of Messrs. Aziz and Islam in November 2021, when prosecutors announced that new evidence significantly undermined the case against them.
The then New York County Attorney General, Cyrus Vance Jr, had apologized for the “gross and unacceptable violations of the law and the public trust” by law enforcement.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, attorneys David Shanies and Deborah Francois claim that Messrs. Aziz and Islam were at home at the time of the murder.
They point out that Mr. Aziz spent 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and that he has carried the burden of having been convicted of murder for 55 years. Mr Islam spent 22 years behind bars and died before he could clear his name, causing “irreparable” harm to his family, the lawyers say.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he believes overturning the men’s convictions was “just” and the city is considering the lawsuit.
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Related
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Karen Matthews
Associated Press
–
Lawyers for 84-year-old Muhammad Aziz filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn.
A second lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the estate of Khalil Islam, who was also wrongfully convicted in this case.
Malcolm X was shot on February 21, 1965 in Manhattan. MM. Aziz and Islam, then known as Thomas 15X Johnson’s Norman 3X Butler, and a third man were convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison in March 1966.
The third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim, admitted shooting Malcolm X, but claimed that MM. Aziz and Islam had nothing to do with it. Mr. Halim was conditionally released in 2010.
A Manhattan judge overturned the convictions of Messrs. Aziz and Islam in November 2021, when prosecutors announced that new evidence significantly undermined the case against them.
The then New York County Attorney General, Cyrus Vance Jr, had apologized for the “gross and unacceptable violations of the law and the public trust” by law enforcement.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, attorneys David Shanies and Deborah Francois claim that Messrs. Aziz and Islam were at home at the time of the murder.
They point out that Mr. Aziz spent 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and that he has carried the burden of having been convicted of murder for 55 years. Mr Islam spent 22 years behind bars and died before he could clear his name, causing “irreparable” harm to his family, the lawyers say.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he believes overturning the men’s convictions was “just” and the city is considering the lawsuit.
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