John Bunn

John Bunn (born 1976) is an African American man wrongfully convicted of a murder committed in 1991, when he was 14. Bunn spent over 16 years in prison and nearly 12 on parole before he was exonerated in 2018. After his release, Bunn founded a nonprofit that aims to educate incarcerated youth and provide access to books to promote literacy.

Early life Bunn grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He and his younger sister were raised by his mother.

Louis N. Scarcella, an NYPD detective later accused of serially falsifying evidence, arrested 14-year-old Bunn and 17-year-old Rosean Hargrave on an anonymous tip the following day, although neither teen fit the physical descriptions provided by Crosson. Crosson subsequently identified the two as the shooters, in a photo lineup organized by Scarcella's partner. In November 1992, a jury convicted both teens of second degree murder. Hargrave was sentenced to 30 years to life and Bunn was sentenced to 7 years to life.

Exoneration In 2013, evidence of extensive misconduct by Detective Scarcella came to light, triggering a number of motions for retrial from defendants previously accused by him of crimes. In April 2015, Justice ShawnDya Simpson vacated the conviction of Rosean Hargrave, based on the "false and misleading practices" of Scarcella. which the city settled for $5.9 million in 2020.