STORY: "Judge Denies Motion To Overturn Murder Conviction Of Man In Case Featuring Testimony By Infamous NYPD Detective," published by CBS New York on August 29, 2019.
GIST: "A judge has rejected a motion to overturn the murder conviction of a man over the involvement of a former NYPD detective accused of coercing confessions in previous cases. Nelson Cruz was incarcerated 21 years ago for the 1998 murder of Trevor Vieira in East New York. Cruz’s attorneys have previously alleged that another man – the real killer – told former NYPD detective Louis Scarcella that Cruz committed the crime, and claim Scarcella used witness Andre Bellinger, who didn’t even see the crime. After denying the motion, the judge said the defense could re-argue their motion to overturn, and set a date for that to happen on Dec. 16." Since 2013, more than 50 convictions linked to investigations by Scarcella were put under review.
At the time, the retired Scarcella told the New York Times that he did
not expect prosecutors to find anything – but the district attorney’s
office found otherwise. Scarcella was the lead detective on the murder of Brooklyn Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger. The second-degree murder conviction of David Ranta was vacated after Ranta spent two decades in prison. In the years that followed, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office worked to get several convictions tied to Scarcella’s investigations overturned. In 2014, Scarcella tried to minimize his role in the conviction of Rosean Hargrave for
the 1991 killing of a correction officer in Crown Heights. Hargrave
claimed he was framed, and after serving 24 years in prison, he was
freed. Derrick Hamilton had served 21 years in prison before being paroled in 2011. A decision in 2015 cleared his conviction. In 2016, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office asked a judge to overturn Vanessa Gathers’ manslaughter conviction,
based on a confession that prosecutors saw as too vague and inaccurate
to be valid beyond a reasonable doubt. She also was freed after 10 years
in prison. A year later, Sundhe Moses served 18 years for the 1995 murder of a
4-year-old Brooklyn girl. When he was paroled in 2013, he insisted he
was innocent, claiming that Scarcella beat him to give a false confession. Jabbar Washington was also freed that year after
spending 21 years in prison for a 1995 robbery and deadly shooting in
Brownsville, Brooklyn. One person was killed and five more were shot.
One of the victims, Lisa Todd, identified Jabbar in a lineup conducted
by two former detectives – one being Scarcella. “Detective Scarcella lied on the witness stand about the sole
eyewitness identifying Jabbar Washington,” said defense attorney Ronald
Kuby at the time. “That eyewitness never identified Jabbar Washington as
the person who committed the crime, or the person who was there in the
apartment that night. She did identify him, correctly, as someone who
lived in the building.""
The entire story can be read at:
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/08/29/detective-louis-scarcella-nelson-cruz-case-2/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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
