Category: Wrongful Conviction

Counsel Ineffective for Failure to Present Psychiatric Evidence at Pre-Trial Hearing

On June 6, 2013, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the Appellate Division, First Department order vacating George Oliveras’s murder conviction.  In 1999, Mr. Oliveras voluntarily went to a police station when he heard police were looking for him in connection with a murder.  Even though Mr. Oliveras’s mother informed police prior to the interrogation that he suffered from mental illness, detectives interrogated Oliveras for six and a half hours – eliciting statements that were the only direct evidence connecting him to the crime. The description provided by a 911 caller did not match Oliveras and bullets found at the scene did not connect him to the crime.

Defense counsel moved to suppress Oliveras’ in-custody statements as false and coerced.  But, counsel failed to conduct the investigation and analysis necessary to succeed in his strategy. Trial counsel failed to subpoena his client’s mental health records, and did not hire an expert. Oliveras was convicted.

Post-conviction, the Office of the Appellate Defender brought a C.P.L. 440.10 motion to vacate, arguing trial counsel was ineffective.  After a hearing, the trial court dismissed the motion, but the Appellate Division First Department reversed and ordered a new trial. The Court of Appeals affirmed, explaining that counsel failed to pursue the minimal investigation required under the circumstances.

The strategy to present defendant’s mental capacity and susceptibility to police interrogation could only be fully developed after counsel’s investigation of the fact and law, which required review of the records.

New York Courts are finally looking beyond the record on appeal and requiring counsel to undertake investigation demanded by the facts of the case.

To read the decision, click here.

Let’s Make Brady v. Maryland Meaningful

The Brooklyn District Attorney has promised to review 50 convictions that relied on the work of police detective Louis Scarcella – linked to “troubling aspects” of one case that was recently overturned.

The newly established Conviction Integrity Unit will review all of the cases where Scarcella was the lead detective and where the police investigation culminated in a conviction after trial.  

The New York Times reported that Scarcella relied on a single eyewitness to make at least a dozen cases.  The witness was known to be a drug-addicted prostitute who claimed to have seen multiple different murders happen before her eyes.

We applaud DA Hynes for establishing a Conviction Integrity Unity, and for focusing on the work of Scarcella. However, we believe that broader interpretation of the Brady rule would have prevented these convictions and could prevent other miscarriages of justice going forward.  Any time a police informant takes the stand, the prosecution should be required to discover and disclose not just a witness’s prior record and the benefit expected in exchange for testimony (that information is required to be disclosed now – pursuant to the current conservative interpretation of Brady), but also information about all the other cases where the informant has testified in the past.  If defense counsel had been told that Scarcella’s informant had traveled around Brooklyn spotting murders, counsel might have argued to the jury that the informant’s testimony was simply not credible. The prosecution might have reached that same conclusion on its own. But, since Scarcella was not required to enlighten the prosecution regarding the informant’s special history, the prosecution could turn a blind eye and keep defense counsel in the dark too.  A broader reading of the Brady obligation would put a stop to such willful ignorance.  

Read the New York Times May 19, 2013 editorial on Brady here:  

Related Readings

 

A Conviction Integrity Unit Acts: A Welcome First Step

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has announced that his office will review convictions that involved evidence secured by a specific police detective.  This is welcome news.   Similar action is being called for in Chicago.

One wonders, however, whether having acknowledged the need for review, the district attorneys should request a state commission look into these prior convictions.  While it is possible that prosecutors were duped by false evidence given to them by the police, it is also possible that prosecutorial misconduct or at least willful blindness helped lead to wrongful convictions in these cases.  Conviction Integrity Units could serve a useful purpose as one of several avenues for identifying potential wrongful convictions for review.  But if the purpose of maintaining or restoring confidence in the criminal justice system is to be achieved or real reform enacted, New York State’s Commission on Wrongful Convictions should consider appointing an independent body to take over.

Related Readings

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/nyregion/doubts-about-detective-haunt-50-murder-cases.html?_r=2&

http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/20084502-474/editorial-check-out-all-abuse-claims-against-one-cop.html

Execution Halted due to Dept. of Justice review of FBI Hair Analysis

Willie Manning was scheduled to be executed in Mississippi on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, despite pleas from his lawyers for time to conduct DNA testing of hair found in the clenched fists and on the clothes of the woman Manning was convicted of murdering. The hairs were not the victim’s and Manning’s lawyers thought that DNA testing could provide evidence of innocence by pointing to an alternative perpetrator. Last minute requests for a stay to permit testing were ignored by the courts until the FBI weighed in on the case.

Simultaneously, while lawyer’s battled to save Manning’s life, the Department of Justice was engaged in conducting a full internal review of all cases where FBI agents performed forensic hair analysis and subsequently testified in trials about the analysis. DOJ undertook the review because in too many cases, post-conviction DNA test results showed FBI agents  testified inaccurately and unscientifically about hair comparison. DOJ identified Willie Manning’s case as one where the FBI agent provided false testimony at trial — testimony that was used by the prosecutor in closing to link Willie Manning to the crime scene. The FBI now admits that the agent’s testimony that the hair came from a member of the “black race” is scientifically invalid. The case was given priority because of the impending execution.

When the FBI position was brought to the attention of the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Court granted the request for a stay by a vote of 8 to1. The majority did not write an opinion. The dissent, in a rambling colloquy, faulted the FBI for working with the Innocence Project and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers – even though the organizations were all joined in a search for scientific accuracy.

Read the decision here: Manning Stay

Did you know that post-conviction DNA testing statutes are far from uniform? Have you ever used CPL 440.30(1-a)? What was your experience?

Former DA, now Sitting State Court Judge, Charged and Arrested for Past Brady Violations

In an unprecedented move against prosecutorial misconduct, former District Attorney Ken Anderson was arrested and released on $7500 based on charges that he violated state evidence tampering statutes and committed contempt of court when he violated a court order by suppressing powerful exculpatory evidence in the decades-old Michael Morton case. Morton was prosecuted for murder but was exonerated through DNA evidence after he served nearly 25 years in prison. District Judge Louis Surms, who is sitting as the court of inquiry into the Morton conviction, also issued an order to show cause requiring Anderson to appear on a criminal contempt citation.

Judge Sturms found that Anderson had concealed two critical pieces of evidence:  a police interview transcript that showed Morton’s young son had witnessed the murder and reported that his father had not been home at the time; and evidence that a man with a green van parked near the Morton home had been seen walking repeatedly into the woods behind the house.

Related Readings

Michael Morton Prosecutor Will Face Criminal Charges for Withholding Evidence by Innocence Project (Apr. 2013)