What to Know
- Eric Smokes and David Warren, best friends growing up, went to prison together as teens for a 1987 Times Square murder they claimed they didn't commit
- A judge vacated their convictions Wednesday after a years-long effort
- "The number of witnesses, the police misconduct that’s alleged is mind-blowing," one of their attorneys had argued
They were best friends growing up together, then went to prison together for a murder they claimed they didn't commit. Decades later, they've finally cleared their names.
A judge on Wednesday vacated the convictions of Eric Smokes and David Warren for a 1987 tourist murder in Times Square.
The nightmare began early on New Year's Day that year, when a French tourist named Jean Casse was set upon and mugged in Times Square. He was viciously beaten and died of his injuries, and within days, Manhattan North detectives charged Smokes, then 19, and Warren, 16, with robbery and murder.
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It was a high-profile crime during a time of escalating violence in New York City and simmering racial tensions. Tabloids claimed that "wilding" Black youths planned to target whites.
The two men always maintained they had traveled with friends into Manhattan to see the ball drop, but were never anywhere near the crime scene. The teens had an alibi. No physical evidence linked them to the crime but police used several other teens to implicate Smokes and Warren.
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The prime witness against the two was a career criminal who, years later, signed an affidavit that he lied about their involvement in the crime. Other witnesses have also since signed sworn statements that they were pressured to lie by police officers and/or the prosecutor. Smokes has said he and Warren were ideal to use as the "fall guy."
Both were convicted and sentenced to terms of 15 years to life in prison.
The two kept in contact in different prisons through the years, writing to each other once a month. They vowed to prove their innocence together, once released.
After serving more than 20 years behind bars, both men were eventually paroled: Smokes in 2007, Waren in 2011. Both married high school girlfriends and became construction workers.
The two won a hearing on newly discovered evidence in 2018 after multiple witnesses recanted. Still, State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Antignani supported the position of the district attorney’s office, which argued the recanting witnesses weren’t credible.
Alvin Bragg, elected as Manhattan DA in 2021, formed a Post Conviction Justice Unit which re-investigated the case. In Oct. 2023, the unit sent a letter to the court recommending that the convictions be vacated. Among the lapses, the unit noted that photographs of the defendants and witnesses were “misplaced” and not located until after the evidentiary hearing. No one could explain why that evidence wasn’t found before.
The justice unit also noted that "law enforcement received specific information that two individuals other than Mr. Smokes and Mr. Warren were suspected in the crime."
"There was tunnel vision," said Smokes, "but we were never going to stop fighting until we took our last breath."
The attorneys for Smokes and Warren plan to file a civil lawsuit, and they say they will call the original police detectives and prosecutors, and the assistant district attorney who led the evidentiary hearing that began in 2018.
