Man serving life in prison for Brooklyn murders may soon be free

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN (WABC) -- A man convicted of murdering two people in Brooklyn more than a decade ago and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2010 may soon be a free man after a stunning admission from the District Attorney's Office regarding due process.

For eight years, 46-year-old Wayne Martin has insisted he's innocent of the so-called Brooklyn tire shop killings -- a double homicide in East Flatbush dating back to 2005.

In the years that followed, a witness pointed the finger at Martin, who was convicted and sentenced to life without parole.

But in court Thursday, prosecutors made a stunning admission that their own witness who testified against Martin had identified another suspect on the day of the murders. And that testimony was deliberately wiped out of their file.

"The altered copy was found in a file that was marked 'discovery,'" said Mark Hale, of the Brooklyn DA's Conviction Review Unit.

None of that was ever disclosed to the defense or heard by the jury, and other testimony blaming yet another person for the murders was simply omitted. All of these are life-changing developments for Martin.

"Because that trial was so grossly unfair and had such obvious constitutional violations in it, that the conviction should be vacated," Hale said.

The judge agreed but stopped short of freeing Martin, instead granting prosecutors two more weeks to research the newly discovered details. Martin's niece and sister were disappointed with that decision.

"We've been fighting this for years," sister Angela McIntyre said. "It's like, everything we know, he'll be released."

They say Martin should be living the rest of his life a free man with his six children.

"My youngest cousin, she hasn't seen her dad in 10 years," niece Audri Douglas said. "That's life changing. And you know, that he could see her, is powerful. I just know that a brand of justice will be served. I think we're a step in the right direction."