Brooklyn, NY: Man found guilty of shooting NYPD cop wife to death in 1997 cleared for release by court

A Brooklyn man convicted of murdering his police officer wife in front of their infant son could walk free after his conviction was reversed - just as he predicted in 1997.

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that a Brooklyn jury lacked the evidence to convict John Rivera of depraved indifference murder in the gruesome slaying of his estranged spouse.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals also ordered a lower court to spring the longtime inmate, although the timetable for his release was unclear.

The ruling infuriated the family of NYPD scooter cop Kimberly Rivera, who died of a single bullet wound to the head on Jan. 13, 1996.

"We're very upset, obviously," said her 40-year-old sister, Stephanie Cassas. "This shouldn't be happening. He's guilty, so he shouldn't be getting out in the first place.

"I love my sister," the Brooklyn woman said through tears. "I miss her so much."

Rivera, now 52, spewed obscenities and vowed to beat the case after his July 1997 conviction.

"I'll be back down on appeal!" he shouted after the verdict was read. He taunted and spat at the 70 cops who turned out two months later to watch him receive a jail term of 23 years to life.

Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes said his office was "reviewing the decision and considering our options."

Rivera, eligible for parole in 2019, was a less-than-model inmate with about two dozen mostly minor violations - including a 2003 fight, prison officials said.

Kimberly Rivera, a five-year NYPD veteran, was shot once in the head outside her husband's Bath Beach apartment as they argued over custody of their 8-month-old child.

The little boy sat inside a car seat just a few feet away when his mom was mortally wounded. The boy, now 16, lives with Kimberly's sister and ailing mother.

Rivera was acquitted of intentional murder, but convicted him of depraved indifference murder.

Prosecutors said Rivera pumped a bullet from an illegal 9mm Beretta pistol into his wife's head - and then planted the gun on his wife, claiming it was a suicide.

His lawyer, since-jailed radical attorney Lynne Stewart, claimed at trial that Rivera's wife threatened suicide, that he jumped in to disarm her, and the gun accidentally went off.