John Bunn’s wrongful conviction began in August 1991, when NYPD detectives arrested him at age 14 for a Brooklyn murder he did not commit. He spent 17 years in prison on the strength of a single eyewitness identification arranged by Detective Louis Scarcella, a Brooklyn homicide investigator later tied to more than a dozen tainted convictions. A judge vacated Bunn’s conviction in 2016, and all charges were dismissed in May 2018.
The 1991 Crown Heights Shooting
Around 4 a.m. on August 13, 1991, two men on bicycles approached a parked Volvo outside the Kingsborough Houses in Crown Heights. Inside were Rolando Neischer and Robert Crosson, two off-duty Rikers Island correction officers. The approach became a carjacking, Neischer reached for his service weapon, and a firefight followed. Neischer was shot five times and died four days later. Crosson was shot through the hand and survived.1The New York Times. Detective’s Errors Were Just the Start of a Nightmare Case
Arrested at 14, Convicted in One Day
The next day, detectives led by Louis Scarcella and his partner, Stephen Chmil, arrested Bunn at his mother’s apartment. His co-defendant, 17-year-old Rosean Hargrave, was arrested as well. On August 17, 1991, the 14-year-old Bunn was formally charged with robbery and murder.2CNN. John Bunn Exonerated Literacy
The case against the two teenagers rested almost entirely on Crosson’s identification of Bunn in a lineup Scarcella organized. Physical evidence at the scene, including blood samples and multiple fingerprints, matched neither teenager.3CNN. NY Wrongly Convicted Man Exonerated In November 1992, Bunn was tried in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. The trial lasted one day. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years to life, later reduced to 9 years to life after arguments that he had been improperly charged as an adult. His original defense attorney, Harold Venokur, was later described as having a “poor reputation.”4The New York Times. Man Seeking to Vacate Murder Record Says Detective Mishandled His Case
What Scarcella Did Wrong
Louis Scarcella was a Brooklyn homicide detective whose work in the 1980s and 1990s has since been tied to a long list of overturned convictions. He has been accused of coaching witnesses before lineups, fabricating confessions, and using misleading testimony to secure convictions.5Exoneration Initiative. John Bunn Case
In Bunn’s case, the eyewitness description did not match the person arrested. Crosson described the two suspects as light-skinned Black men around 5-foot-10. Bunn was dark-skinned and 5-foot-2. Scarcella ran the lineup in which Crosson picked Bunn anyway. Defense attorneys later argued that Scarcella used an unrelated robbery arrest as a pretext to hold the teenager for the murder investigation, and court records established there was no probable cause for the initial arrest.6New York Post. Louis Scarcella Will Take the Stand in Framed Murder Case7Georgetown Law. A Conversation With John Bunn
Scarcella has never been charged with a crime. He has maintained he did nothing wrong, calling himself a “cog” in the system during a high-crime era.8The New York Times. Louis Scarcella Detective Overturned Conviction As of late 2023, New York City and the state had paid a combined $110 million to 14 defendants whose convictions were linked to his investigations.9The New York Times. Louis Scarcella NYPD Settlements
Seventeen Years in Prison
Bunn spent roughly 16 months at the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx and close to a year and a half at the Bridges Juvenile Center awaiting trial. He was then transferred to Elmira Correctional Facility, an adult maximum-security prison upstate, where he served the bulk of his sentence. He later called his juvenile detention time “gladiator school.”2CNN. John Bunn Exonerated Literacy
Bunn was illiterate when he entered the system at 14. Inside, he taught himself to read and write, earned his GED, and eventually worked as an anger management counselor for other inmates. He filed appeals early in his sentence. They were denied. In 2006, after intervening to protect a prison counselor during an assault, he was granted parole. A brief return to jail followed in 2008 for a missed parole meeting, and he was released again in 2009. In total, the wrongful conviction consumed 27 years of his life: 17 in prison and another decade under parole supervision.2CNN. John Bunn Exonerated Literacy
How the Conviction Was Overturned
The case against Bunn began to collapse through his co-defendant. On April 14, 2015, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice ShawnDya Simpson vacated Rosean Hargrave’s conviction and ordered a new trial, citing “scant evidence” and Scarcella’s “false and misleading practices.” There had been no fingerprint match, no biological evidence, and no admission of guilt. Hargrave had served more than 23 years.10NY Daily News. Man Convicted in 1991 Murder Gets New Trial as Judge Tosses Verdict
Bunn’s attorneys at the Exoneration Initiative filed their own motion to vacate. In November 2016, Justice Simpson granted Bunn a new trial, again citing Scarcella’s “false and misleading practices” and describing the evidence used to convict him as “paltry.”11New York Post. Another Victim of Disgraced Cop Will Have All Charges Dismissed
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office appealed, delaying resolution by more than a year. In April 2018, a panel of appellate judges unanimously upheld the ruling vacating Hargrave’s conviction, and the DA’s office then dropped its appeal in Bunn’s case. On May 15, 2018, prosecutors told Judge Simpson they would not retry either man. A spokesman said: “Given the totality of circumstances… we are unable to retry this case and therefore agreed to dismiss the indictment in the interest of justice.” Bunn told the court: “I am an innocent man, Your Honor, and I have always been an innocent man.”12New York Post. Man Put in Jail for 24 Years by Disgraced Detective Walks Free2CNN. John Bunn Exonerated Literacy No one else has been identified as the actual shooter.3CNN. NY Wrongly Convicted Man Exonerated
The $9.9 Million Civil Settlement
In August 2019, Bunn filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Brooklyn against New York City and Scarcella. The 48-page complaint alleged malicious prosecution, denial of due process, and civil rights conspiracy, citing the “questionable tactics” used by Scarcella and Chmil.13New York Post. Wrongfully Convicted Man Sues NYC, Disgraced Detective Louis Scarcella The case was resolved for $9.9 million, obtained by the firm Rickner Moskovitz with Glenn Garber of the Exoneration Initiative.14Rickner Moskovitz. Wrongful Conviction Lawyer NYC
Life After Exoneration
Bunn, who did not learn to read until he was 16, has built his post-prison life around literacy work. He founded the nonprofit A Voice 4 The Unheard, which focuses on urban youth and incarcerated people. The organization began with a book drive to refurbish libraries at Rikers Island and has since donated more than 20,000 books to prisons and underserved communities. Bunn has worked at Rikers twice a week, running group sessions and a book club for incarcerated teenagers.2CNN. John Bunn Exonerated Literacy
He also speaks at schools and universities, including Rutgers, Medgar Evers College, William Paterson University, and Adelphi, which hosted a 2019 event and book drive for his organization.15A Voice 4 The Unheard. Workshops16Adelphi University. John Bunn Was Imprisoned for a Crime He Didn’t Commit. Now He’s Sharing His Story