By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma
On June 18, 1992, 18-year-old Tony Yarbough came home to find his family murdered. Through a series of systemic failures, he was wrongly convicted of this horrible crime. The real murderer, according to DNA evidence, went on to kill again seven years later. He has never been caught. A polygraph of Tony’s only accuser, an expert report proving the victims died while he was miles away in Manhattan, and the medical examiner’s DNA report linking the murders to another killer all show beyond any shadow of a doubt that Tony is innocent and always has been. An affidavit by Tony’s trial lawyer shows he was denied a fair trial. The ZMO Law PLLC has been investigating the case and pushing for Tony’s release since 2009.
On Thursday, Tony will be brought to New York from Attica Correctional Facility. He and his co-defendant Sharrif Wilson will face Judge Raymond Guzman at Kings County Supreme Court. The People will be represented by the new Brooklyn District Attorney, Kenneth Thompson. The evidence is all in: either Mr. Thompson will agree that Sharrif and Tony are the wrong men, or attorneys Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Adam Perlmutter and Philip Smallman will ask Judge Guzman for an expeditious hearing to finally resolve the case in court.
Either way, no evidence exists implicating Tony in the murders. The evidence that does exist overwhelmingly exonerates him. Our system is too good to permit him to stay imprisoned much longer.