revelarts
02-21-2014, 10:32 AM
Man Framed by Detective Will Get $6.4 Million From New York City After Serving 23 Years for Murder
A man who was framed by a rogue detective and served 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit will receive $6.4 million from the City of New York in a settlement that came before a civil rights lawsuit was even filed, lawyers involved in the case said on Thursday.
A $150 million claim filed last year by the man, David Ranta, was settled by the city comptroller’s office without ever involving the city’s legal department — which the lawyers involved in the negotiations described as a “groundbreaking” decision that acknowledged the overwhelming evidence the city faced.
The comptroller’s quick acceptance of liability in the high-profile conviction is also significant because the case is the first of what is expected to be a series of wrongful conviction claims by men who were sent to prison based on the flawed investigative work of the detective, Louis Scarcella, who has been accused of inventing confessions, coercing witnesses and recycling informers.
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary">.......
</aside>The rabbi’s death shook the Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg, which was a major voting bloc for the newly elected district attorney at the time, Charles J. Hynes.
Mr. Hynes’s office defended the conviction for decades, fighting off appeals and rejecting evidence that pointed to another killer. But when one eyewitness came forward decades later to say that a detective had told him to pick the man with “the big nose” out of a lineup — Mr. Ranta was the only person who fit that description — the district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit conducted a yearlong investigation and discovered more serious problems.
When investigators approached two other witnesses in the case, they immediately admitted that they had lied.
The two career criminals who implicated Mr. Ranta in the crime used their cooperation in the case as a means to obtain get-out-of-jail excursions provided by Mr. Scarcella, who before retiring had been well regarded for his ability to solve homicides at a time when Brooklyn was awash in violence. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Mr. Ranta had always accused the detective of manufacturing his confession. Mr. Scarcella said Mr. Ranta confessed while handcuffed to a bench at Central Booking. Although the allegation about the confession was never proven, the mounting questions about Mr. Scarcella’s methods made it increasingly suspect.
Prosecutors also discovered that Mr. Scarcella had followed up on an anonymous telephone call that attributed the killing to a robber named Joseph Astin. Mr. Scarcella questioned Mr. Astin’s wife and tried to track down a parole officer to collect recent photographs of him. But he dropped that lead when Mr. Astin died in a car accident, and then the officer never submitted any paperwork documenting the time spent investigating him.
<figure class="media photo embedded layout-small-vertical" data-media-action="modal" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/02/21/nyregion/ranta-3/ranta-3-master180.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/02/21/nyregion/ranta-3/ranta-3-master180.jpg
Mr. Scarcella, a detective who has been accused of inventing confessions,
coercing witnesses and recycling informers.
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description">
</figcaption> </figure> Years later, Mr. Astin’s widow came forward to say her husband was the real killer, but legal efforts to free Mr. Ranta based on that information failed.
Two months after Mr. Ranta was released, he filed a notice that he would sue the city. Negotiations took place for several months under the previous comptroller, John C. Liu. But it was Mr. Liu’s successor, Scott M. Stringer, swayed by the fact that the Brooklyn district attorney’s office had joined in the motion to free Mr. Ranta from prison, who ultimately agreed to settle the case.
“This settlement is in the best interests of all parties and closes the door on a truly regrettable episode in our city’s history,” Mr. Stringer said in a statement. “I am pleased that my office was able to move quickly on this case.”
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department, which would have had responsibility for defending the city had the case proceeded, declined to comment on the settlement, which is among the largest the city has ever reached with an individual.
Mr. Ranta is expected to make a separate wrongful conviction claim against the state. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman proposed legislation on Wednesday that would make it easier for people like Mr. Ranta to make such claims; under current law, it is difficult for people who made false confessions to be compensated for wrongful convictions.
The news of the settlement came as Kenneth P. Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, convened a new three-member panel to review dozens of Mr. Scarcella’s cases....
....Details of their responsibilities have not been ironed out, but they are expected to play an advisory role in the dozens of innocence claims that have arisen in cases investigated by Mr. Scarcella.
After Mr. Ranta’s release, an investigation by The New York Times found that Mr. Scarcella had used the same witness in several different murder cases and that at least six confessions had included similar phraseology: “You got it right. I was there.” Some confessions did not match the evidence.
One inmate, Sundhe Moses, who had been investigated by the detective, hired lawyers who tracked down a star witness, who said detectives had coached him to lie. The Parole Board released Mr. Moses in December after he served 16 years for the murder of a 4-year-old girl....
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/nyregion/man-framed-by-new-york-detective-to-get-6-4-million-without-filing-suit.html?emc=edit_na_20140220&_r=0
do you believe evidence or respected authorities?
Just because he's wearing abadge or has a degree or is a respected member of the community, a good republican don't mean he ain't a crap faced lying sonofab that will let you rot injail or die.
Trust but verify. let the evidence speak. the drug dealer convict or the weirdo crackpot might be telling the truth.
what does the evidence say?
I hope that cop ends up in the worse prison in the state.
A man who was framed by a rogue detective and served 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit will receive $6.4 million from the City of New York in a settlement that came before a civil rights lawsuit was even filed, lawyers involved in the case said on Thursday.
A $150 million claim filed last year by the man, David Ranta, was settled by the city comptroller’s office without ever involving the city’s legal department — which the lawyers involved in the negotiations described as a “groundbreaking” decision that acknowledged the overwhelming evidence the city faced.
The comptroller’s quick acceptance of liability in the high-profile conviction is also significant because the case is the first of what is expected to be a series of wrongful conviction claims by men who were sent to prison based on the flawed investigative work of the detective, Louis Scarcella, who has been accused of inventing confessions, coercing witnesses and recycling informers.
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary">.......
</aside>The rabbi’s death shook the Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg, which was a major voting bloc for the newly elected district attorney at the time, Charles J. Hynes.
Mr. Hynes’s office defended the conviction for decades, fighting off appeals and rejecting evidence that pointed to another killer. But when one eyewitness came forward decades later to say that a detective had told him to pick the man with “the big nose” out of a lineup — Mr. Ranta was the only person who fit that description — the district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit conducted a yearlong investigation and discovered more serious problems.
When investigators approached two other witnesses in the case, they immediately admitted that they had lied.
The two career criminals who implicated Mr. Ranta in the crime used their cooperation in the case as a means to obtain get-out-of-jail excursions provided by Mr. Scarcella, who before retiring had been well regarded for his ability to solve homicides at a time when Brooklyn was awash in violence. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Mr. Ranta had always accused the detective of manufacturing his confession. Mr. Scarcella said Mr. Ranta confessed while handcuffed to a bench at Central Booking. Although the allegation about the confession was never proven, the mounting questions about Mr. Scarcella’s methods made it increasingly suspect.
Prosecutors also discovered that Mr. Scarcella had followed up on an anonymous telephone call that attributed the killing to a robber named Joseph Astin. Mr. Scarcella questioned Mr. Astin’s wife and tried to track down a parole officer to collect recent photographs of him. But he dropped that lead when Mr. Astin died in a car accident, and then the officer never submitted any paperwork documenting the time spent investigating him.
<figure class="media photo embedded layout-small-vertical" data-media-action="modal" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/02/21/nyregion/ranta-3/ranta-3-master180.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/02/21/nyregion/ranta-3/ranta-3-master180.jpg
Mr. Scarcella, a detective who has been accused of inventing confessions,
coercing witnesses and recycling informers.
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description">
</figcaption> </figure> Years later, Mr. Astin’s widow came forward to say her husband was the real killer, but legal efforts to free Mr. Ranta based on that information failed.
Two months after Mr. Ranta was released, he filed a notice that he would sue the city. Negotiations took place for several months under the previous comptroller, John C. Liu. But it was Mr. Liu’s successor, Scott M. Stringer, swayed by the fact that the Brooklyn district attorney’s office had joined in the motion to free Mr. Ranta from prison, who ultimately agreed to settle the case.
“This settlement is in the best interests of all parties and closes the door on a truly regrettable episode in our city’s history,” Mr. Stringer said in a statement. “I am pleased that my office was able to move quickly on this case.”
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department, which would have had responsibility for defending the city had the case proceeded, declined to comment on the settlement, which is among the largest the city has ever reached with an individual.
Mr. Ranta is expected to make a separate wrongful conviction claim against the state. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman proposed legislation on Wednesday that would make it easier for people like Mr. Ranta to make such claims; under current law, it is difficult for people who made false confessions to be compensated for wrongful convictions.
The news of the settlement came as Kenneth P. Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, convened a new three-member panel to review dozens of Mr. Scarcella’s cases....
....Details of their responsibilities have not been ironed out, but they are expected to play an advisory role in the dozens of innocence claims that have arisen in cases investigated by Mr. Scarcella.
After Mr. Ranta’s release, an investigation by The New York Times found that Mr. Scarcella had used the same witness in several different murder cases and that at least six confessions had included similar phraseology: “You got it right. I was there.” Some confessions did not match the evidence.
One inmate, Sundhe Moses, who had been investigated by the detective, hired lawyers who tracked down a star witness, who said detectives had coached him to lie. The Parole Board released Mr. Moses in December after he served 16 years for the murder of a 4-year-old girl....
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/nyregion/man-framed-by-new-york-detective-to-get-6-4-million-without-filing-suit.html?emc=edit_na_20140220&_r=0
do you believe evidence or respected authorities?
Just because he's wearing abadge or has a degree or is a respected member of the community, a good republican don't mean he ain't a crap faced lying sonofab that will let you rot injail or die.
Trust but verify. let the evidence speak. the drug dealer convict or the weirdo crackpot might be telling the truth.
what does the evidence say?
I hope that cop ends up in the worse prison in the state.