1996 murder case dropped after freed man’s unusual request
NEW YORK — A man imprisoned for 20 years for a killing he said he didn’t come within 1,000 miles of committing got the case dismissed Monday, though he didn’t get the vindication he wanted.
Richard Rosario had already been freed in March, after prosecutors agreed his former lawyers hadn’t done enough to find some 13 alibi witnesses, making his trial unfair. After reinvestigating the 1996 murder case, prosecutors said in June they were ready to drop it because they no longer felt they could prove it, stopping short of declaring Rosario innocent.