David Bryant

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Bronx, New York

Years Served: 44

Charges: First Degree Murder

Year Convicted: 1976

Sentence: 25 to life

Factors Contributing to Wrongful Conviction: False Confession, False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct, Inadequate Legal Defense.

Year Freed: 2020

In 1975, eight-year-old Karen Smith was found raped and murdered in the stairwell of an apartment building in the Bronx. Seventeen-year-old David Bryant, who lived nearby, was brought in for questioning after police received reports that he had been seen around the building a few weeks earlier. Following hours of interrogation, Bryant signed a confession that he immediately recanted, claiming it was coerced. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and the serological testing available at the time did not implicate him. Nevertheless, in 1976, Bryant was convicted of murder, rape, sodomy, and weapon possession in Bronx County Supreme Court and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

For decades, Bryant maintained his innocence. His post-conviction legal team—led by Centurion—reinvestigated the case and uncovered significant flaws in the original investigation and defense. Among the most critical issues was the failure of Bryant’s trial attorney to retain a serology expert or to present scientific evidence showing that Bryant’s blood type and secretor status were inconsistent with biological evidence found at the scene. The absence of this evidence deprived the jury of crucial context that could have established that Bryant was not the assailant.

In 2013, after extensive review, the New York Supreme Court (Bronx County) vacated Bryant’s conviction, finding that he had been denied effective assistance of counsel. The court concluded that his attorney’s failure to consult a forensic expert constituted a serious error that undermined confidence in the verdict. After nearly 38 years in prison, Bryant was released.

However, later that year, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the trial court’s decision, ruling that because the serological evidence did not directly inculpate Bryant, his attorney’s failure to use it did not meet the constitutional threshold for ineffective assistance. Centurion then filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the Southern District of New York, asserting Bryant’s actual innocence and renewing the claim of ineffective counsel.

In 2018, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet granted the petition, finding the evidence of Bryant’s innocence “credible and compelling.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed that decision, describing Judge Sweet’s analysis as “thorough and well-reasoned.” The ruling led to Bryant’s unconditional release on July 11, 2018, after more than four decades of wrongful imprisonment.

David Bryant’s exoneration stands as one of the longest wrongful incarcerations in New York history. His case highlights the devastating consequences of coerced confessions, inadequate legal representation, and the failure to properly assess forensic evidence. After spending over 40 years imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, Bryant is now officially vindicated and exonerated!

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