Conviction Vacated 2024
Brady Violation
22 Years Imprisoned
People v. Jermaine Archer
Kings County Supreme Court · Ind. No. 02893-1998
On July 21, 1997, Patrick Niles was shot and killed in Brooklyn. The sole eyewitness — Carlos Bethune — initially told police he could not identify the shooter. Days later, he reversed course and named Jermaine Archer. In April 1999, a jury convicted Archer of Murder in the Second Degree and related charges. He was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.
What the jury never knew — and what the prosecution never disclosed — was that the Kings County District Attorney's Office had entered into a secret relocation agreement with Bethune to pay his rent and security deposit for a new apartment in exchange for his testimony. This agreement, although dated May 26, 1999, was arranged in April even as Bethune was on the stand. Under Brady v. Maryland, the prosecution was constitutionally required to disclose it.
"The People's entire case rested on the testimony of Bethune as the sole eyewitness of the crime; without his testimony, there was no evidence connecting the defendant to the crime."— Hon. Craig S. Walker, J.S.C., Kings County Supreme Court, July 18, 2024
Peter Cross brought a CPL § 440.10 motion to vacate the conviction, uncovering and presenting the suppressed relocation agreement. After extensive evidentiary hearings spanning September through November 2023, Justice Craig S. Walker granted the motion on July 18, 2024 — finding a clear Brady violation that had deprived Archer of his constitutional right to a fair trial.
Jermaine Archer had spent 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. His conviction was vacated. The case now continues — and Peter Cross continues to fight for full justice.
Court Decision
People v. Jermaine Archer, Ind. No. 02893-1998
Decision & Order of Hon. Craig S. Walker, J.S.C. · Kings County Supreme Court · July 18, 2024
Motion to Vacate Judgment of Conviction — GRANTED · CPL § 440.10(1)(h) · Brady v. Maryland
Postscript
Following Judge Walker's decision vacating Jermaine's conviction, the Kings County District Attorney filed a Notice of Appeal. After nearly a year's delay in perfecting their appeal, the case was argued before the Appellate Division, Second Department on May 6, 2026. A decision is pending.
But Jermaine has moved on with his life. While incarcerated, he earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. Following his release, Jermaine worked as a Sentence Mitigation Specialist at the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County, NY and later joined the Schusterman Family Philanthropies' Criminal Justice Grantmaking Team.
Jermaine is currently the Executive Director of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, a non-profit organization founded in 1996 that uses theater, dance, music, and other forms of the arts to teach critical life skills to incarcerated men and women.
