Charles Collins and Brian Boles Were Convicted After Falsely Confessing to a 1994 Homicide

New DNA Testing and Exculpatory Evidence Undermines Convictions

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced his Office joined in motions to vacate the convictions of Charles Collins, 49 years old, and Brian Boles, 48 years old, for the murder of 85-year-old James Reid in 1994. Mr. Boles was 17 years old when he was convicted by a jury and served nearly 30 years in state prison before he was paroled in 2024. Mr. Collins also was 17 years old when he pleaded guilty and served nearly 22 years in state prison before he was paroled in 2017.

The Office joined in motions with the Innocence Project on behalf of Mr. Boles and the law firm Ropes & Gray on behalf of Mr. Collins to vacate the convictions and dismiss the indictment based on newly discovered DNA evidence and because neither received due process in their trial and plea proceedings.

The vacaturs are the result of joint investigations conducted by the Office’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit (PCJU) in collaboration with defense counsel for both Mr. Boles and Mr. Collins.

The investigation focused on testing DNA found on Mr. Reid’s fingernails, which was detected through technology more advanced than what existed at the time of Mr. Reid’s death. This testing detected foreign DNA that did not belong to either Mr. Boles or Mr. Collins, casting serious doubt on their confessions, which both men said they felt pressured to give while being questioned.

Furthermore, the investigation found that neither man had been able to use key exculpatory evidence prior to their convictions. The investigation also included an in-depth review of the prosecution and police files and court transcripts, as well as interviews with witnesses, detectives and prosecutors.

“Charles Collins and Brian Boles served significant time in jail and suffered the devastating consequences of their unjust convictions for decades,” said District Attorney Bragg. “We cannot undo the harm to their lives, but it is never too late to do what is right. I also want to acknowledge the pain still felt by the family of Mr. Reid, whose life was lost in this terrible act of violence. Unjust convictions not only hurt impacted individuals, but also undermine faith in the criminal justice system, which makes all of us less safe. I want to commend our Post-Conviction Justice Unit for an incredibly rigorous and thorough investigation that included new DNA testing in partnership with OCME, which was not possible at the time of the original investigation. I hope that Mr. Collins and Mr. Boles can take some measure of comfort now that their convictions are officially vacated.”

“We are grateful to the District Attorney and to the tremendous efforts of the Post-Conviction Justice Unit to right this injustice that took decades away from Mr. Boles and Mr. Collins, starting when they were just teenagers,” said Jane Pucher, Innocence Project Senior Staff Attorney.

On February 8, 1994, James Reid was found dead in his Central Harlem apartment, after an apparent strangulation. Mr. Boles lived in the same building as James Reid, and Mr. Collins was staying with Mr. Boles at the time of Mr. Reid’s murder.

Approximately one week later, Mr. Boles and Mr. Collins robbed Burnell Curtis Meeks, who was a friend of Mr. Boles. On March 10, 1994, detectives questioned Mr. Boles about the robbery of Mr. Meeks, before eventually asking about the murder of Mr. Reid, because of supposed similarities between the cases. Mr. Boles initially denied involvement in the murder. The detectives questioning Mr. Boles told him he had been implicated by a neighbor, which was not true. Mr. Boles then told detectives that he and Mr. Collins were involved.

Police arrested Mr. Collins later that night, who denied any involvement in Mr. Reid’s murder. The detectives spoke to Mr. Boles again at 2:15 a.m. the next morning, this time stating Mr. Collins implicated him in the murder. Mr. Collins had not implicated Mr. Boles at that time. Mr. Boles eventually wrote a statement describing how he and Mr. Collins participated in the murder. The statement was also captured on video, which was then shown to Mr. Collins, who then issued his own statement that said they both participated in the attack.

Both men were subsequently charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Murder in the Second Degree and Robbery in the First and Second Degrees for the murder of Mr.Reid, along with additional charges for the separate, earlier robbery.

Mr. Boles was convicted at trial on all counts and was sentenced to 25 years-to-life. Mr. Collins subsequently pleaded guilty to Murder in the Second Degree and was sentenced to 20-years to life. They were also convicted and sentenced for the robbery of Mr. Meeks.

Mr. Boles tried to recant his statement that he and Mr. Collins committed the murder prior to his trial. Today, both admit that they committed the robbery, but say they falsely confessed – and falsely accused each other – of the murder because they felt pressured and scared.

Key Brady information, or exculpatory material, about the murder of Mr. Reid was never presented to any finder of fact, including:

• A lab report indicating Mr. Collins’ boots could not be compared to footwear impressions found at the crime scene because the impressions were too partial. Despite this, a detective testified at trial that the footwear impressions were in fact a match to Mr. Collins’ boots.
• Multiple documents containing witness interviews indicating Mr. Reid was alive hours after Mr. Collins and Mr. Boles said the murder occurred during their confessions.

Furthermore, as part of its reinvestigation, the Office coordinated with the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner to conduct DNA testing of Mr. Reid’s fingernails collected during the autopsy. The testing concluded that neither the DNA of Mr. Collins nor Mr. Boles was present in the samples.  

Since its creation in 2022, PCJU has successfully moved to vacate 13 convictions, including 7 homicide convictions. It has also successfully moved to vacate and dismiss more than 500 convictions tied to police officers accused of misconduct.

The reinvestigation was led by Assistant D.A. Jenna Dunton and former Assistant D.A. Sheryl Anania, under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Terri Rosenblatt (Deputy General Counsel and former PCJU Chief) and Shalena Howard (current PCJU Chief). Christo Christonikos and Randy DaSilva, Senior Rackets Investigators assigned to PCJU, provided invaluable assistance in this reinvestigation, as did Supervising PCJU Analyst Karina Patel, Senior Analyst Daniel Altabet, and Analyst Ilana Gut.

D.A. Bragg thanked Helen Rapa Rafaniello, Debrah Briones, Jennifer Dorry, and Martin Mai of the Post-Conviction Group at the Forensic Biology Laboratory of the OCME, as well as Jennifer Lady of the NYPD fingerprint lab. 

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