Family members rally for Queens man still behind bars after life sentence reversed
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Robert Majors, center, with members of his family before he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Photo courtesy of Tom Hoffman
By David Brand
The family of a Jamaica man who 11 days ago had his virtual life sentence overturned by a Queens judge called on District Attorney Melinda Katz to drop the case Friday, after misconduct by prosecutors working for her predecessor resulted in the reversal.
Robert Majors, 54, successfully proved that prosecutors working his 1997 attempted murder case withheld a handwritten affidavit by a police informant naming another suspect in an ambush of an armored vehicle that left two guards critically wounded. After a months-long court battle, Queens Judge John Latella threw out two of Majors’ convictions for attempted murder and armed robbery.
But Majors, who has diabetes, remains behind bars in a COVID-plagued upstate prison, where he is serving a 12-years-to-life sentence for a weapons conviction related to the violent heist that Latella let stand.
The reversals by Latella qualify Majors for parole and gives him his first chance to secure his freedom at an upcoming hearing. Katz, however, may still opt to retry the case, which could keep Majors locked up. She could also appeal Latella’s decision. The Queens DA’s Office did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking information on how Katz will proceed.
Majors’ family made their perspective clear.
“I just want my brother home,” said Majors’ sister, Katrina Majors during a virtual rally with justice reform advocates Friday. “That’s all I can say. He’s innocent. The paperwork proves it.”
Majors spent years attempting to obtain the affidavit before prosecutors finally turned it over in 2018 in response to Majors’ tenth Freedom of Information Law request. The document provided the foundation for the challenge before Latella, the same judge who sentenced him at bench trial in 2001. Major was previously convicted in 1997, but the verdict was overturned for juror misconduct.
Majors was convicted with two co-defendants, including his brother-in-law, for firing nearly 50 bullets at an off-duty detective and retired cop guarding the money in May 1997. A day after the attack, police arrested Majors’ brother-in-law and targeted Majors, who led officers in a car chase before ditching the vehicle with his 4-year-old daughter still inside. When cops caught up with him, they found a duffel bag filled with guns, including the weapons used in the attack.
Majors contends that he picked up the bag as a favor for his brother-in-law without realizing it contained guns until the cops approached and he looked inside.
Whether or not he knew there were guns in the bag, Majors has already served nearly double the minimum sentence on his weapons possession conviction, said his niece, Lanasia Majors McNeil.
“It’s been 20 years now. Time is served,” she said.
Majors’ first attorney, former Bronx Criminal Court Judge William Martin, also participated in the virtual rally, where he blasted the Queens DA’s Office for withholding the affidavit. He suggested he might join Majors’ defense team if he faces yet another trial.
“What happened to Robert Majors tears at my heart,” Martin said. “If the Queens DA wants to try the case again, I’d love to kick their ass.”
