In 1999, Anthony Sims was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Li Run Chen, a young man who was killed by a single shotgun blast while working at a Chinese restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The evidence always pointed away from Anthony and towards his high school friend, Julius Graves. The shotgun used in the murder was kept in a lockbox in the brownstone where Julius lived. After the murder, Julius took the shotgun, wiped it of his fingerprints and gave the gun to a 14 year-old to hide from police. Meanwhile, it made no sense that Anthony would commit such a terrible crime out of the blue -- he was a husband and father of two young boys with a steady job as a technician.

And yet, Anthony was charged with the murder because Julius, his friends and his family pinned the murder on Anthony. Anthony was also charged because police and prosecutors were more interested in getting a conviction than getting to the truth. At trial, they presented dubious testimony by Julius and those loyal to him, while at the same time concealing evidence of Anthony’s innocence. This concealed evidence included a report from a credible eyewitness who told police she saw Julius – who was her neighbor – running out of the Chinese restaurant with a shotgun. At trial, the government also withheld evidence that Julius had been violating his probation for weapons possession and that, after Julius testified, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office provided him with leniency as well as cash payments and free housing. The full list of evidence withheld at trial is long and also includes police reports that could have been used to discredit the trial testimony of prosecution witnesses. You can read more about Anthony’s case here.

Anthony has filed a motion to vacate his conviction based on the overwhelming evidence that he is innocent and was denied a fair trial. So far, the Brooklyn D.A.’s Office has opposed Anthony's motion. Brooklyn prosecutors plan to continue defending Anthony's unjust conviction at a hearing on his claims, which is scheduled to begin October 14.

Meanwhile, it is not too late for Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez to change course and do the right thing: join Anthony's motion to vacate his conviction and let him go home, where he belongs. We are calling on D.A. Gonzalez to do what is right: Let Anthony reunite with his parents, his sons and his wife!