PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "His exoneration followed an extensive investigation by the Brooklyn DA’s Conviction Reversal Unit, according to the DA’s office. (Brooklyn District Attorney) Gonzales said the case against Thomas “was compromised from the very start by grave errors and lack of probable cause to arrest Mr. Thomas. He was further deprived of his due process rights when the prosecution proceeded even after the erroneous identification came to light, making his conviction fundamentally unfair.”
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Detectives asked to use a photo of Thomas from a gun arrest months earlier so they could show an eyewitness as part of an array of photos, the DA’s office said. Before they obtained that photo, the detectives decided to pull a photo from a police database that was in fact of a different Sheldon Thomas, according to the office. The eyewitness identified that photo in the array as the shooter, not knowing that it was the wrong Sheldon Thomas, according to Gonzales. Detectives went to Thomas’ address – not that of the Sheldon Thomas whose photo was actually used – and arrested him, according to a report from the DA’s Conviction Reversal Unit. Two others were also arrested in connection with the killing. That same eyewitness then identified Thomas in a police lineup, not knowing that the photo and the person she saw in the lineup were two different people, Gonzales said.
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Before the trial started, charges were dismissed against the other two arrested for the murder. Thomas was found guilty of a slew of charges, including one count of second-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and weapons charges. He was sentenced to 25 years to life. When he was given the chance to speak before the sentence was handed down, Thomas stated one more time that he was innocent, according to the CRU report. Years later, the Brooklyn DA’s CRU re-interviewed the witnesses in the case in their own investigation, according to the DA’s office. They determined that Thomas was denied due process at every stage, making the conviction fundamentally unfair, according to the report. The CRU also determined that the detectives on the case repeatedly harassed Thomas after his gun arrest, which contradicted their testimony that they had never even seen Thomas, according to the DA’s office. The report also pointed out “prosecutorial missteps, and counsel’s failures.”
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STORY: "A man wrongfully imprisoned for over 18 years despite a botched identification has been freed," by Reporter Mark Morales, published by CNN, on March 10, 2023.
PHOTO CAPTON: "Sheldon Thomas spent more than 18 years in prison because he was mistaken for a different person with the same name."
GIST: "A 35-year-old man who spent almost 19 years wrongfully imprisoned for murder after detectives misled a witness into identifying the wrong person, is now free.'
Sheldon Thomas, who was convicted of killing a 14-year-old boy on Christmas Eve in 2004 in New York City, had his conviction overturned and the indictment vacated Thursday – years after an eyewitness identified him after being given a photo of the wrong Sheldon Thomas, according to a statement from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzales.
When the botched identification came out in court at the time, a judge said there was still probable cause for the arrest and that the photo had enough of a resemblance, Gonzalez said.
Thomas was only 17 when he was arrested and charged for the murder, records show.
His exoneration followed an extensive investigation by the Brooklyn DA’s Conviction Reversal Unit, according to the DA’s office.
Gonzales said the case against Thomas “was compromised from the very start by grave errors and lack of probable cause to arrest Mr. Thomas. He was further deprived of his due process rights when the prosecution proceeded even after the erroneous identification came to light, making his conviction fundamentally unfair.”
“There’s so many times when I was in my cell I would think of this moment,” Thomas said in court Thursday. “Right now, I’m just speechless.”
Thomas was one of three alleged gang members accused of killing teenager Anderson Bercy and wounding another person, according to the DA’s office.
Detectives asked to use a photo of Thomas from a gun arrest months earlier so they could show an eyewitness as part of an array of photos, the DA’s office said.
Before they obtained that photo, the detectives decided to pull a photo from a police database that was in fact of a different Sheldon Thomas, according to the office.
The eyewitness identified that photo in the array as the shooter, not knowing that it was the wrong Sheldon Thomas, according to Gonzales.
Detectives went to Thomas’ address – not that of the Sheldon Thomas whose photo was actually used – and arrested him, according to a report from the DA’s Conviction Reversal Unit.
Two others were also arrested in connection with the killing.
That same eyewitness then identified Thomas in a police lineup, not knowing that the photo and the person she saw in the lineup were two different people, Gonzales said.
During a pretrial hearing in 2006, the detective on the case admitted during cross examination that he used a photo of the wrong Sheldon Thomas, admitting that he falsely testified, Gonzales said. Another detective then said Thomas told them he was not the man in the photo, according to the DA’s office.
At that time, the judge said there was still probable cause because of the anonymous tips, adding that the photo resembled Thomas, despite it being of a different person.
Before the trial started, charges were dismissed against the other two arrested for the murder.
Thomas was found guilty of a slew of charges, including one count of second-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and weapons charges.
He was sentenced to 25 years to life.
When he was given the chance to speak before the sentence was handed down, Thomas stated one more time that he was innocent, according to the CRU report.
Years later, the Brooklyn DA’s CRU re-interviewed the witnesses in the case in their own investigation, according to the DA’s office.
They determined that Thomas was denied due process at every stage, making the conviction fundamentally unfair, according to the report.
The CRU also determined that the detectives on the case repeatedly harassed Thomas after his gun arrest, which contradicted their testimony that they had never even seen Thomas, according to the DA’s office.
The report also pointed out “prosecutorial missteps, and counsel’s failures.”
“Each of these errors, on its own, deprived defendant of a fair trial,” the report concluded. “Together the errors undermined the integrity of the entire judicial process and defendant’s resulting conviction.”
Since 2014, the unit’s work has resulted in 34 convictions being vacated. There are currently 50 open investigations, according to a DA’s office spokesperson.
“We must strive to ensure fairness and integrity in every case and have the courage to correct mistakes of the past,” Gonzalez said in his statement.
An attorney for Thomas did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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