(Kirk Condyles for The New York Times)Martin Tankleff, second from right, with his attorneys, Bruce Barket, right, and Barry Pollack, at a bail hearing on Thursday.
After Half a Lifetime in Prison, an Inmate Is Free for Now
By BRUCE LAMBERT
Published: December 28, 2007
Published: December 28, 2007
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — After being imprisoned nearly half his life for the murders of his parents — crimes he insists he did not commit — Martin H. Tankleff shed his shackles Thursday and celebrated at a victory party with family, friends and other supporters.
At the party, friends gave him a lesson on navigating the outside world by teaching him how to operate a cellphone. Sitting on a couch, he was soon making calls, holding the phone to his right ear while putting a finger in his left to muffle the din of the party.
His day had begun in a more humbling posture. Hands still cuffed behind his back, Mr. Tankleff entered a hushed Suffolk County courtroom here for a brief bail hearing, where relatives posted a $1 million bond.
Judge Stephen L. Braslow said, “You will be released forthwith.” The dozens of supporters packing the courtroom burst into applause. Sheriff’s deputies escorted Mr. Tankleff to the adjacent jail for discharge. Then he returned to the courthouse, without handcuffs, for a crowded news conference.
Before speaking, the smiling Mr. Tankleff hugged his aunts, uncles and cousins, one by one. All of them wept. He was also surrounded by his lawyers, his private investigator and the organizers of the campaign to free him.
“If my arrest and conviction was a nightmare, this is a dream come true,” Mr. Tankleff said, stepping up to the radio and television microphones and calmly reading a short statement.
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