Hearing set for October in Long Island case

Marty Tankleff was a senior in high school in 1988 when his parents were killed. He allegedly confessed to the crime and has served more than half his life in prison for killing his parents – a crime he has always maintained he didn’t commit. An appeal based on new evidence of his innocence will be heard by a New York appeals court on October 4.

The Innocence Project is among groups that have urged the court to grant Tankleff a new trial based on evidence that Tankleff’s confession was false and other new evidence in the case. In a press release yesterday, Tankleff’s attorneys called for justice after nearly two decades.

“In light of the overwhelming evidence that Marty's conviction was unjust, the outcome of this case will say more about our system of justice than it will about Marty.  No system of justice can claim legitimacy if it incarcerates a man so obviously innocent.  Our optimism, therefore, is based on the quality of our judicial system, the integrity of appellate judges who are separated from local politics and ultimately our faith that truth will prevail.

Read the full press release here

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Read the Innocence Project’s Amicus brief in this case, as well as other briefs filed on Tankleff’s behalf and the District Attorney’s response

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Listen to Innocence Project Staff Attorney Olga Akselrod and others as they discuss Tankleff’s case on

public radio in March 2007

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