Jabbar Collins

Jabbar Collins (born July 8, 1972) is an American man who served 16 years for a crime he did not commit. He was convicted of second-degree murder following the February 1994 death of Orthodox rabbi Abraham Pollack in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The 20-year-old Collins, who lived in a nearby housing project, was arrested and charged with the murder. In March 1995, he was sentenced by a jury to 34-years-to-life in prison, sixteen of which he served.

In 2010, Collins was exonerated after a key witness recanted. The case was settled in 2014 for $13 million. It exposed questionable policies under the former Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, and Hynes' right-hand man Michael F. Vecchione.

The case has been used by Judge Frederic Block in support of a bill for the nation's first commission on prosecutorial conduct. At the time of the murder, he lived in a nearby housing project within the vicinity of the crime scene.

Collins identifies as a Christian.

Murder of Abraham Pollack

On a Sunday in early February 1994, 35-year-old Rabbi Abraham Pollack was fatally shot in a failed robbery attempt while collecting rent in a Brooklyn apartment building.

Approximately two weeks after the murder, the janitor spoke to detectives and an assistant district attorney. He revealed that he had cut the perpetrator on his right side with a knife while intervening during the crime. According to a New York Times article, Collins accused Vecchione of “playing God” in his threats against witnesses, elicitation of inaccurate testimonies and withholding of exculpatory evidence. The misconduct that Collins believed had deprived him of a fair trial included testimony by Angel Santos, one of the three witnesses who had testified in the 1995 trial. In his testimony at the aborted habeas corpus hearing, Santos recounted coercion by Vecchione at the initial trial, stating that he was not only threatened but also held in jail for a week until he testified. He was highly criticized for his conduct in the case by Hynes’ successor, Kenneth Thompson. Vecchione retired in December 2013. While he ruled that the city could be held liable, he was forced to dismiss the claims against the prosecutor and the district attorney because of prosecutorial immunity.

Block noted that, as of July 30, 2018, the state and city taxpayers had paid $13 million in settlements. Despite his "egregious behavior," the prosecutor has neither been forced to pay for the settlement or face any punishment.

In 2017, Collins appeared on NY1 to discuss wrongful convictions with his legal partner, Rita Dave.