A man who spent nearly four decades fighting to clear his name after being wrongfully convicted of murder has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and several NYPD officers.
The lawsuit filed by plaintiff Keith Roberts accuses officers Sabrina Elder, Robert Roiland, Elizabeth Gavaghen, Warren Rogers, and unnamed John and Jane Doe officers of gross misconduct that led to Roberts' wrongful conviction. According to the lawsuit, on September 15, 1987, Roberts was convicted of a murder he did not commit and spent eight years in prison. According to the complaint, "gross police misconduct" was at the heart of this investigation. The investigation into Roberts allegedly lasted less than 24 hours and was marred by falsehoods and misrepresentations. Despite evidence suggesting other suspects were involved in the crime, Roberts was charged with second-degree murder. It wasn't until October 3, 2024—after spending approximately 37 years stating his innocence—that his conviction was vacated.
Roberts' conviction was largely based on an unduly suggestive identification process and multiple Brady violations, where exculpatory evidence was withheld from him. One key witness, Elanor Chapman, provided contradictory statements about the shooter that were never disclosed to Roberts or during his trial. Another witness failed to identify Roberts in a lineup conducted by Officer Elder—a fact that was also suppressed.
The complaint further alleges that after Roberts' arrest in September 1986, numerous phone calls were made to the detective squad indicating he was not the shooter. These calls were ignored by superior officers who insisted that "the case was closed." In addition to these procedural failings, there were also allegations of racial bias influencing law enforcement's rush to judgment against Roberts.
After years of persistent efforts to prove his innocence, including two motions to vacate his conviction, Roberts finally found relief through the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. Established around 2014 to investigate claims of wrongful convictions, CRU conducted an extensive review and concluded there was a reasonable probability that Roberts had no involvement in the crime.
In their findings published in a comprehensive report attached as Exhibit 1 in court documents, CRU detailed how systemic failures within NYPD investigations contributed significantly to wrongful convictions like Roberts'. They highlighted issues such as nondisclosure practices regarding favorable evidence and improper eyewitness identification procedures as critical factors leading up to these injustices.
Roberts is seeking unspecified damages for physical pain suffered during incarceration, along with mental anguish endured over decades spent fighting for vindication while living under the stigma associated with being labeled guilty despite knowing otherwise all along.
The plaintiff is represented by attorneys from Shulman & Hill PLLC. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under Case ID: 1:25-CV-1917 and is presided over by Judge Matthew D’Emic.