By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - A New York man freed this
week after spending 23 years in prison for a murder he did not
commit, suffered a heart attack after just two days of freedom,
his lawyer said on Saturday.
David Ranta, 58, was being treated at the cardiac intensive
care unit of a New York hospital after suffering a heart attack
on Friday night, attorney Pierre Sussman said.
Ranta was convicted of killing a Hasidic rabbi more than two
decades ago but freed on Thursday after the conviction integrity
unit of the Brooklyn district attorney's office concluded that
the case against him was fatally flawed.
Prosecutors had joined Ranta's defense in asking the court
to overturn his conviction "in the interest of justice."
Since the heart attack on Friday evening, Ranta's condition
has been stabilized, Sussman said.
"The accumulated trauma of being falsely convicted and
incarcerated for 23 years, coupled with the intense emotions
experienced surrounding his release, has had a profound impact
