New York man who served 18 years for murder acquitted at 2nd trial

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit was found not guilty at a second trial. Newsday reports 66-year-old Paul Scrimo was acquitted on Thursday in Nassau County Court in the strangulation death of Ruth Williams in 2000. Scrimo was convicted of murder in 2002, but an appeals court overturned the conviction in 2019, saying Scrimo had been denied a fair trial. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal said in its ruling that DNA under the victim’s fingernails was not Scrimo’s. A spokesperson for the district attorney said prosecutors respect the verdict.