Brickbat: Close Enough

A New York judge has vacated the conviction of Sheldon Thomas, who spent 18 years in prison for murder. Thomas was arrested after New York City police officers showed a witness a photo of another man with the same name and she identified him. They then arrested Thomas. An investigation found that the detectives knew there were two men with the same name but were intent on arresting Thomas and used the identification of the other man as a pretext. The same witness later identified Thomas in a lineup, meaning she identified two different men as the suspect.