Martin Tankleff: New York; New York Law Journal reports on a ruling in a civil suit Tankleff has brought against Suffolk County and various detectives for their liability in his now-vacated convictions in the murder of his parents: He can include a claim that the defendants failed to disclose a medical examiner's doubts about the purported murder weapon. The Innocence Project's Barry Scheck says the new claim was a "very significant development in the case" and something that did not emerge even in the attorney general's "very thorough" reinvestigation." (Must Read. HL);

STORY: "Testimony on knife adds another claim to Tankleff suit," by reporter Andrew Keshner, published by The New York Law Journal on May 8 2015.

GIST: "As Martin Tankleff presses his case against Suffolk County and various detectives for their liability in his now-vacated convictions in the murder of his parents, a federal magistrate judge has decided he can include a claim that defendants failed to disclose a medical examiner's doubts about the purported murder weapon.  Eastern District Magistrate Judge Anne Shields permitted Tankleff to amend his complaint so that he could allege a Brady violation now that fact discovery has concluded in the case. The new claim arises from the deposition testimony of then-Suffolk County Medical Examiner Dr. Vernard Adams, who said it was "not a reasonable possibility" that Arlene Tankleff's stab wounds were made with a watermelon knife found at the scene.........Arlene and Seymour Tankleff were murdered in their Belle Terre home in 1988.  At the scene, detectives found a watermelon knife with a 9 1/2-inch blade. At trial, prosecutors relied heavily on a disputed confession, which Tankleff recanted hours after he gave it. Tankleff's attorneys say he was induced to make the recanted confession through trickery and facts fed to him.........In 1990, Tankleff was convicted of the intentional murder of his father and the depraved indifference murder of his mother..........In 2007, the Appellate Division, Second Department, vacated the conviction and ordered a retrial. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota asked then-state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to become the case's special prosecutor. But Cuomo's office decided in 2008 there was insufficient evidence to bring a new case and moved to dismiss the case in the interest of justice. Tankleff was incarcerated for more than 17 years before his conviction was vacated. Tankleff filed the Eastern District action, Tankleff v. County of Suffolk, 09-cv-01207, which named the county, the detectives on his case and various police officials as defendants. Tankleff also filed an unjust conviction and imprisonment lawsuit against New York state. On the eve of trial last year, the parties settled that case for almost $3.4 million. In the federal lawsuit, one of the original arguments was a Brady claim, based on a bloody knife imprint in bed sheets found at the scene. Tankleff said the detectives chose not to tell prosecutors about the imprint, which did not match the watermelon knife......... In the deposition, one of Tankleff's attorneys, Barry Scheck of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, questioned Adams on whether Arlene Tankleff's wounds could have been made by the knife and whether Adams communicated his opinions to the detectives at the autopsy. Adams said "the only way the watermelon knife could have been the weapon is if it was used gingerly and carefully." Asked about the possibility that Arlene's wounds were made with the knife, Adams said he "would agree that it's not a reasonable possibility" and that an "assailant with [the watermelon] knife should have been penetrating body cavities." When asked if it was fair to say he would have told the detectives at the autopsy that there was no reasonable possibility the watermelon knife was the weapon, Adams said it was a "reasonable supposition. I don't have any recollection of what we actually communicated, but that seems reasonable.".........In an interview, Scheck said the new claim was a "very significant development in the case" and something that did not emerge even in the attorney general's "very thorough" reinvestigation.""

The entire story  -  by Maurice Possley -  can be found at:

 http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/home/id=1202725823453/Testimony-on-Knife-Adds-Another-Claim-to-Tankleff-Suit?mcode=1202617075062&curindex=2&slreturn=20150407214146

See National Exonerations Registry account for overall context: (It is presented as a New York 'false confession' case);  (Great Read. HL);  "About 6 a.m., on September 7, 1988, 17-year-old high school senior Martin Tankleff awoke to discover his parents had been attacked in their bed in their home on Long Island, New York. His mother, Arlene, was stabbed to death, but his father, Seymour, though severely beaten, was still alive. Tankleff called police and after the ambulance had departed, police took him in for questioning because, with blood on his hands, they suspected he was involved. The interrogation went on for hours, although Tankleff told the police that his father’s partner in a bagel store owed his father $500,000, had threatened his parents with violence and was the last person to leave the home the night before. At one point, detective K. James McCready told Tankleff that his father had awakened at the hospital and identified him as his mother’s attacker. At that point, Tankleff said his father never lied and that perhaps he had blacked out and killed his mother. He provided a possible, though inaccurate narrative of how it happened and was asked to sign the statement. Tankleff, however, refused to sign it and disavowed any involvement in the crime. He was charged with killing his mother and attempting to kill his father—a charge that was changed to murder after his father died on October 6, 1988 without ever regaining consciousness. By then, Seymour Tankleff’s business partner, Jerry Steuerman, had vanished. In late spring 1990, Tankleff went on trial in Suffolk County District Court. Among the witnesses was Steuerman, who had been in the Tankleff home for a poker game and was the last to leave. After the crime, Steuerman withdrew money from a joint bank account with Tankleff, fled to California, adopted an alias and shaved his beard. Eventually, Steuerman resurfaced and was called as a witness at the trial. He said that he had fled out of fear that he would be blamed. He testified, “I did not do this.” The cornerstone of the prosecution case was Tankleff’s unsigned confession. On June 28, 1990, after a 13-week trial, Tankleff was convicted of both murders.  On October 23, 1990, he was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.  The conviction was upheld by the Appellate Division New York State Supreme Court in December 1993 by a vote of 3 to 2. The dissenting judges said there was insufficient evidence to convict him. Over the next 10 years, Tankleff obtained pro bono legal assistance and numerous appeals were filed in state and federal courts. Although he continued to lose, attorneys and investigators began assembling what they hoped would be a critical mass of evidence of his innocence. In 2003, a private investigator tracked down Glenn Harris, who gave a sworn statement that he had driven two hit men, Joe Creedon and Peter Kent, to and from the Tankleff residence on the night of the crime. Harris said he did so at the behest of Steuerman. At a hearing in July 2004, Suffolk County Judge Stephen Braslow declined to grant Harris immunity from prosecution and so Harris invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and his testimony was not heard. Over the next two years, more evidence was unearthed that began to corroborate Harris’s account.Another witness, Karlene Kovacs, said Creedon told her that he was involved. She said Creedon told her that he and another man hid in the bushes behind the Tankleff house, ran to avoid being caught and had to get rid of their bloody clothes. Meanwhile, evidence surfaced that McCready, the detective who obtained the alleged confession from Tankleff, had come under investigation for perjury.  Further, the lead prosecutor in the case against Tankleff had a business relationship with Steuerman prior to the murders. Eventually, the defense assembled more than 20 witnesses to paint a picture of that Steuerman orchestrated the murders.  One piece of new evidence was a bloody imprint on a sheet in Arlene Tankleff’s bedroom that appeared to be from a knife. No matching knife was found, suggesting that someone other than Martin Tankleff had taken it. In addition, two witnesses  came forward to say that McCready had been seen together with Steuerman prior to the murders. Other evidence showed that McCready, had violated police department rules by showing crime-scene photographs to unauthorized persons.But on March 17, 2006, another petition for a new trial was denied following a hearing. On December 18, 2007, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn unanimously overturned the convictions, ruling that if a jury heard the new evidence, it would probably acquit Tankleff. Tankleff was released on December 27, 2007. The charges were dismissed on July 22, 2008. In March 2009, Tankleff filed a federal civil wrongful conviction lawsuit against the State of New York and the Suffolk County police department and several officers, including McCready. In January 2014, the State of New York settled for $3.375 million."

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3675

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 
 
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;