PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Perry and Counts were represented by lawyers from the Innocence Project and the Office of the Appellate Defender, who undertook a first-time ever collaboration with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office Conviction Integrity Program, which is charged with investigating wrongful conviction claims.Martin Tankleff, a lawyer who works to free the innocent, and who himself served more than 17 years after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents, told Oxygen.com that “It’s refreshing to see the District Attorney finally working with the defense bar seeking exonerations."
STORY: "Two Innocent Men Cleared Of 1991 Central Park Gang Rape That Never Happened," by reporter J.B. Nicholas, published by Oxygen,com on May 11, 2018.
PHOTO CAPTION: VanDyke Perry and Gregory Counts cleared after a quarter-century of a 1991 Central Park gang rape that never happened.
He decried sex-offender registration laws that made it difficult for
him to restart his life after his release, including an additional six
month jail sentence for refusing to register — which he said he did not
do because he was innocent. “I’d like to thank my lawyers,” Perry said. “I’m very grateful for
them helping me get my freedom back. This wrongful conviction destroyed
my life.” Perry and Counts were represented by lawyers from the Innocence
Project and the Office of the Appellate Defender, who undertook a
first-time ever collaboration with the Manhattan District Attorney’s
office Conviction Integrity Program, which is charged with investigating
wrongful conviction claims. Martin Tankleff, a lawyer who works to free the innocent, and who
himself served more than 17 years after being wrongfully convicted of
murdering his parents, told Oxygen.com that “It’s refreshing to see the District Attorney finally working with the defense bar seeking exonerations.” The case against Perry and Counts offers a window into “old New
York,” a dysfunctional, violent city that was the American murder
capital in 1990, where crime ruled and "normal" sometimes seemed like a
foreign concept. According to a sworn affirmation prepared by prosecutors formally
asking that Perry and Counts’ convictions be thrown out, the two were
drug dealers in 1991, who were owed a debt by the boyfriend of the woman
who ultimately accused them of gang-raping her. At their 1992 trial, the woman testified that Perry and Counts
kidnapped her at knifepoint and demanded she tell them where her
boyfriend lived so they could collect that debt. When she refused, she
testified, they raped her repeatedly. Counts, she added, separately
tried to sodomize her. The woman also accused a third man of taking part in the sexual assault, but he was never charged. Perry and Counts appealed their convictions, but those appeals were
denied. In 2012, the Innocence Project agreed to represent Counts, which
in turn led, in 2015, to DNA testing that excluded Counts as the source
of semen found on the woman’s underwear. That’s when investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s
office found and re-interviewed the woman, who admitted “she had been
living life in the street and had done a lot of things to survive back
then of which she was not proud,” the affirmation submitted by
prosecutors says. Specifically, the woman said she had had “a drug habit and would sell
herself to pay for her drugs.” The semen, she explained, had probably
belonged to a man she “hooked up” with. When asked more questions, she
refused to answer. In 2017, prosecutors agreed to re-investigate the case in a
collaborative manner with attorneys for Perry and Count, which led back
to the woman, just two weeks ago. On April 24, she recanted her
accusations against Perry and Counts, according to the affirmation. The woman, the affirmation reveals, told investigators that her
boyfriend “had made her say that they had raped her.” Asked to explain
why, the woman said her boyfriend “made her tell ‘that lie’ because he
was in trouble over owing drug money to the men.” She added that she was “very sorry,” and “that she was woman enough now to tell the truth.” “Don’t think this doesn’t haunt me,” she added. “I apologize to them.”"
The entire story can be read at:
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/c
