Man Who Spent 16 Years in Prison For Murder He Didn't Commit Exonerated by Surveillance Video

Arvel Marshall was released from prison in New York on Friday, Aug. 9

A Brooklyn man who was convicted of a 2008 murder was exonerated after surveillance footage of the crime pointed to another suspect.

Arvel Marshall, 52, was sentenced to 25 years to life in 2009, after he was convicted of the July 15, 2008 murder of Moustapha Oumaria, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office says.

The conviction was vacated after the DA’s Conviction Review Unit determined that he was unjustly found guilty. For years, Marshall maintained his innocence.

“An investigation by my Conviction Review Unit found that everyone involved in this case – defense, prosecution, police, and the Court – failed, depriving Mr. Marshall of a fair trial,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “A critical piece of evidence was not turned over, leading to this unjust conviction. The CRU’s work often reveals systemic failures, and this is a prime example of that. We will continue to expose, correct, and learn from every wrongful conviction that took place in Brooklyn.”

Before and during his trial, the CRU determined, Marshall repeatedly requested surveillance video footage, which was never shown, in part because of technical difficulties. But the video was playable, and had it been turned over to the defense, the trial likely would have had a different outcome.

“...the prosecutor was unable to play the video in court, making several attempts to do so,” the DA’s office said. “He said that his understanding was that the stills represented the pertinent parts of the footage, and that the video has ‘no evidentiary value.’ It appears that no one actually watched the entire video, and the issue was not pursued later in the trial.”

The video footage depicts two young men in the area around the time of the murder. One of the young men wore clothing matching an eyewitness description of the shooter, and removed an "object" from his waistband. A tipster told a defense investigator that the shooter was a teenager. Marshall was 36 at the time of the shooting.

The review of the case also found that Marshall’s attorney “did little to prepare for trial and had little or no regard for [the] defendant.”

On Friday, Aug. 9, Gonzalez moved to vacate Marshall’s conviction. That same day, WABC reported, his conviction was tossed by a judge and Marshall was released after 16 years behind bars.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

"They knew I was innocent,” Marshall said after his release, according to the outlet. “They knew I could prove my innocence. So, they tried to keep it under the table. They were hoping I'd just shut up and just accept everything that they did to me. And I said, 'nah, I'm going to fight.'”

A suspect in Oumaria's killing has not been identified at this time.

Since 204, 39 convictions have been vacated following reviews by Brooklyn’s Conviction Review Unit.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.