Jonathan Fleming, convicted in killing despite alibi, freed after 24 years

[roo_ster]

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/186599/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/08/justice/new-york-wrongful-conviction/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

At his trial, defense lawyers provided family photos and home videos of Fleming in Florida around the time of Rush’s killing. But according to Taylor Koss, another of Fleming’s lawyers, they did not have evidence he was in Florida on the day of the slaying. The prosecution persuaded jurors to ignore the alibi.

Fleming told his attorneys he had paid a bill for phone calls made from his Florida hotel room the night before Rush was killed, and he believed the receipt was in his pocket when police arrested him. But authorities told the defense he had no such receipt, according to Koss.

In the course of the investigation, the Conviction Review Unit found the receipt in police records, time stamped and dated — solidifying Fleming’s claim that he was in Florida at the time of the killing, according to the district attorney’s office.

“This is proof of alibi that was basically purposely withheld,” Koss said.

The review unit also interviewed Fleming’s former girlfriend, who said she called Fleming the night of the killing while he was still at his hotel in Florida. The investigation found her story to be credible, with phone records to support it.

The prosecution also produced a witness who said she saw Fleming commit the crime.

According to Koss, the woman recanted her testimony weeks after Fleming’s conviction. She later testified in front of a judge that she was on parole and had been arrested with another woman for being in a stolen van the night of the killing. She said police persuaded her to give a statement against Fleming to avoid going back to jail.

And a quote from instapundit:

Stuff to remember, should you find yourself on a jury.

Here's a tip for police & prosecutors:
If you want Joe Citizen to believe you, stop lying.

[roo_ster]

Also:
If CEOs and other C-level businesscritters can be held personally liable for accounting discrepancies, why ought prosecutors and police not be held liable for investigatory discrepancies?

Remove sovereign immunity.  Unwise and unconstitutional.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Agreed.  Lack of accountability is key. This isn't the worst example. Harry Connick sr in New Orleans had a real bad rep. One case involved a prosecutor confessing to another on his death bed. And the guy who heard the confession sat on it a couple more years.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

[RoadKingLarry]

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/186599/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/08/justice/new-york-wrongful-conviction/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

And a quote from instapundit:
Here's a tip for police & prosecutors:
If you want Joe Citizen to believe you, stop lying.

Way too late for that.

[MechAg94]

I always wonder about cases like this.  They had no evidence tying this man to the murder.  What motivated them to talk this one witness into testifying against him?  Did they "believe" they had the right guy or were they just trying to get guilty verdict of some kind to keep their numbers up?  You see similar cases around the country where the only real evidence is a witness who was sure of who it was, but not really.  At some point, someone in that chain knows they don't have the right person, but acted to get him convicted anyway. 

There is a classic criminal court story on TV drama's of the woman who was talked into testifying that she saw "that" guy do it because they told her they had the right guy.  I guess it wasn't fiction.  Makes you wonder if they ought to convict one of those people of perjury and publicize the hell out of it.  Can the cops/prosecutors be prosecuted for conspriacy to commit perjury?


Also, was the jury allowed to know about the witness's record and the fact that charges were dropped for testifying?  I had that happen in a murder case I sat on.  One prosecution witness was a whore current in jail and was specifically asked if she received any break in her sentence for testifying.  Luckily, her testimony wasn't what we based the conviction on.

[KD5NRH]

Makes you wonder if they ought to convict one of those people of perjury and publicize the hell out of it.

I don't wonder at all.

I know that if you intentionally or through gross negligence cause a miscarriage of justice like that, the minimum penalty should be serving the full term or terms you caused others to wrongly face.

[zxcvbob]

Can the cops/prosecutors be prosecuted for conspriacy to commit perjury?

The cops can be (but never are), but AFAIK not the prosecutor -- or even the judge if the judge is in on it.  That's the difference between qualified immunity and sovereign immunity.

I know that if you intentionally or through gross negligence cause a miscarriage of justice like that, the minimum penalty should be serving the full term or terms you caused others to wrongly face.

Up to and including the death penalty.