Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez has finally been exonerated of his wrongful murder conviction after spending almost 24 years in prison.
Appearing at a Manhattan courthouse on Monday (September 30), Velazquez reportedly held back tears and pounded his chest as he was officially cleared of the 1998 murder of a retired New York police officer, per Variety.
Although Velazquez did not match the description of the suspect and had an alibi corroborated by phone records, he was wrongly convicted of the murder.
While serving 25 years to life behind bars, Dateline NBC producer Dan Slepian began an investigation into Velazquez’s case in 2002, which aired on February 12, 2012.
The broadcast not only ignited a new public interest, but the Manhattan District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit also agreed to review Velazquez’s case.
Eventually – after reviews and appeals – Velazquez was granted executive clemency by then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in August 2021, and he was released from Sing Sing prison several weeks later on September 9, 2021.
He had spent 23 years, eight months, and seven days of his life behind bars.
President Joe Biden issued an apology on “behalf of all society” to Velazquez in October 2022.
Ahead of his exoneration, he told Variety: “It’s a lot deeper than discrimination. It comes down to diminishing a person’s human dignity. I’m getting a part of my dignity back.”
He continued: “There’s nothing that they can do to give me back the 24 years I lost, and all of the tribulations to incur as a result. There’s a spirit of vindication, but there’s still a lot of trauma that’s unaddressed — that the system refuses to address.”
Less than a year after his release in 2021, Velazquez started filming Sing Sing – which tells the story of John “Divine G” Whitfield, a man imprisoned the facility for a crime he didn’t commit.
Sing Sing producers Kwedar, Monique Walton and Clint Bentley said in a joint statement to Variety that Velazquez’s exoneration is “yet another step in his powerful journey. A moment he will no doubt use for the betterment of others, and to advocate for those still behind the walls. Because that’s just who he is.”
As well as his acting career – which he hopes to continue – Velazquez is a criminal legal reform activist and a founding member of the Voices From Within project. The group is dedicated to “addressing the epidemic of crime and incarceration directly through the voices of people living with the consequences of their choices, and the victims left in their wake.”