Judge Rules Man Convicted In Slaying Of Brooklyn Rabbi Is Actually Innocent
A judge has vacated the conviction of Carl Miller, who spent 30 years in prison for the 1980 killing of Rabbi David Okunov in Crown Heights.
The court declared that Miller is actually innocent of the crime, a ruling that meets a higher legal standard than simply overturning a conviction.
Rabbi Okunov, a Soviet immigrant and Chabad Chassid, was murdered after being attacked and robbed while walking to shachris.
Miller was 19 at the time of his conviction, which occurred during a period of record-high crime rates in New York City.
The judge’s decision follows a trend of recent exonerations involving cases from that era, many of which were based on coerced confessions or falsified evidence.
With Miller officially cleared, the investigation into who killed Rabbi Okunov remains unresolved.
