Decades-old murder trial begins in Nassau County
Gary Lawrence is on trial for the second time, charged in connection with the murder of Joseph Healy, a Hofstra football coach.
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Joseph Healy, a Hofstra football coach, was killed in an Arby's parking lot in Hempstead in 1990.
Gary Lawrence, charged in Healy's murder, is on trial for the second time.
Lawrence was convicted of murder and attempted robbery in the 1990s. He served a full sentence, was released on parole, was discharged from parole and then found out "the trial was fundamentally unfair," his attorney Ron Kuby told News 12.
Hundreds of pages of evidence hadn't seen the light of day because, Kuby says, detectives "buried" the evidence. Lawrence's conviction, along with the conviction of Christopher Ellis, was set aside. Ellis was found not guilty in his second trial.
Prosecutor Daryl Levy told jurors that Lawrence admitted to his role in the attempted robbery and killing and stressed that he'd even signed a confession.
The defense said that Lawrence had nothing to do with the crime. They said when he was at the Freeport police station, the place where he signed the confession, he was scared and had been physically and verbally abused.
Following opening statements, jurors heard from a police officer who responded to the scene and two eyewitnesses who were at the Arby's with the victim when he was shot.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
