“The more than 20 years that I spent in prison were stolen from me and my family, and while the official record now recognizes the truth that has been known for decades, nothing can undo the damage that my wrongful conviction caused to all of us. Those responsible for depriving me of my liberty and for depriving my family of a husband, a father, and a grandfather should be held accountable,” Aziz said in statement about his lawsuit.
Aziz spent 26 years in prison after being convicted of killing the civil rights leader in 1966. Released in 1985, he lost his wife while in prison and missed raising his six children. After his release, he still had to live with the stigma and fear of retaliation that he killed Malcolm X. Islam was released from prison in 1987 and died in 2009.
There have always been doubts about the guilt of the two men, who many believed were patsies. The D.A.’s office investigation and attorneys for Aziz and Islam found that prosecutors, the FBI and New York Police Department withheld key evidence that, had it been turned over, would have likely led to acquittal for both of them. Those findings led to the exonerations.
