Five Wrongfully Convicted Of Homicide Awarded $40 million

Eric Glisson, right, with his lawyer Peter Cross

[From article]

Five innocent people who each spent nearly 20 years in the slammer for a murder they didn’t commit are dropping their malicious-prosecution suits in exchange for $40 million, Peter Cross, a lawyer for one of the ex-inmates, said Thursday.
Eric Glisson, Cathy Watkins, Carlos Perez, Devon Ayers and Michael Cosme were found guilty in the 1995 shooting of livery driver Baithe Diop, who was killed in The Bronx amid a rash of 1990s cabby holdups.
While in jail, Glisson learned Diop was actually killed by the Sex Money Murder gang, and he sent a letter with that info to the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office.

http://nypost.com/2016/04/22/five-wrongfully-jailed-murderers-get-40m-payout/

Five wrongfully jailed ‘murderers’ get $40M payout
By Bruce Golding
New York Post
April 22, 2016 | 2:41am

New York State's Highest Court Rules Medical Examiner Not Required To Return All Body Parts To Families

[From article]

Medical examiners don't have to return to families all organs from autopsied bodies or even tell them parts are missing, the state's highest court ruled Wednesday.
The case involves a New York City couple who buried their 17-year-old son after a 2005 car crash, not knowing his brain had been removed. Two months after the funeral, Jesse Shipley's high school class saw his brain in a labeled jar during a morgue field trip.
The Shipleys got it back and had a second funeral. A jury awarded them $1 million for emotional distress. A midlevel court upheld the city's liability in 2010 but reduced the award to $600,000.
The Court of Appeals, divided 5-2, reversed that decision Wednesday, dismissing the family's claim and concluding that state law and burial rights don't require returning parts that can be legally removed during an autopsy.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TEEN_MISSING_BRAIN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-10-11-05-23

Jun 10, 3:22 PM EDT
NY COURT: MEDICAL EXAMINERS DON'T HAVE TO RETURN ALL ORGANS
BY MICHAEL VIRTANEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York City Council Wants To Weaken Police Arrest Powers. FBI Informant, Tax Cheat, Rev. Al Sharpton Agrees

Trickle down economics may not work, but trickle down lawlessness certainly does. After 7 years of a lawless White House and Attorney General, ordinary people are imitating federal officials and their attitudes toward laws. It was only a matter of time before laws became optional under the Obama-Holder doctrine. One concept that politicians seem unable to understand is the the legal notion of jurisdiction. City officials may be able to reduce city ordinances to violations, but state laws are another matter. They just do not have jurisdiction. But again under Obama-Holder omniscient morally superior elitists can ignore inconvenient laws. 

[From article]

A pair of bills proposed in the City Council would decriminalize several low-level offenses.
The list also includes bicycling on a sidewalk, being in a park after dark, littering, failing to obey a sign and making excessive noise.
Reverend Al Sharpton says over policing of minor crimes like these often creates tension between community and law enforcement.
“Until police understand mutual respect, we will continue having these tensions” he said.

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/28902636/city-council-wants-to-decriminalize-low-level-crimes

City Council wants to decriminalize low level crimes
Posted: Apr 26, 2015 6:12 PM EDTUpdated: Apr 26, 2015 8:38 PM EDT
By MYFOX NEW YORK STAFF

* * *

[From article]

The city’s top cop also said that “if you remove the ability to have a penalty for [an] offense, then you lose the ability to be in control of the streets.”
Bratton’s dire prediction was his harshest assessment of a plan by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverto to turn a host of anti-social behavior into civil offenses instead of crimes.
He made the comments outside a Citizens Crime Commission breakfast in Manhattan, where the state’s chief judge said “common sense” dictated that ignoring quality-of-life offenses could lead to more serious crimes.
But Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman also said the nearly 400,000 summonses issued in the city last year were overwhelming the court system.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/27/bratton-crime-could-come-back-if-quality-of-life-offenses-decriminalized/

Bratton: Crime will surge if minor offenses decriminalized
By Dana Sauchelli, Rebecca Harshbarger and Bruce Golding
New York Post
April 27, 2015 | 3:04pm

NY Man Freed After 14 Years of Prison For Rape He Did Not Commit

Johnnie O’Neal

[From article]
A 54-year-old man who spent 14 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit slapped the city with a federal lawsuit Monday alleging he was done in by false testimony from a Housing Authority detective.
Johnnie O’Neal, of Suffolk County, also names the city Housing Authority detective, Jose Morales, as a defendant in the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court Monday and accuses the city on not properly training Morales and other officers on civil rights issues.
O’Neal was convicted of raping a woman at knife-point on an Upper West Side rooftop in 1984, although he and five relatives said he had been at home watching TV.
The Manhattan DA offered O’Neal a two-year plea deal if he copped to a lesser charge. He refused.

http://nypost.com/2014/09/22/man-sues-nyc-after-being-wrongly-imprisoned-14-years-for-rape/

Man sues NYC after being wrongly imprisoned 14 years for rape
By Rich Calder
New York Post
September 22, 2014 | 7:35pm

Murder Suspect, Fugitive Claims Victim Ruined His Life By Dying

[From article]

The man brought to face justice by the daughter of an Inwood restaurateur he fatally shot over 25 years ago told a judge Thursday that the killing was an act of “self defense” and then, in a stunning move, blamed the victim for destroying his life.
Justo Santos, 44, was on the lam when Joselyn Martinez tracked him to a Miami hideout last year through social media sites.
“It destroyed my life,” whined the clean-cut father of five, wearing glasses and a smart beige blazer in a Manhattan court hearing.
“Your killing Mr. Martinez destroyed your life?” Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer asked incredulously, referring to the victim, Jose Martinez.
“I was the victim, too,” he complained.
The hearing was set to determine whether Santos’ due process rights were violated by authorities failing to arrest and prosecute him in a timely manner.

http://nypost.com/2014/08/14/killer-who-spent-years-in-hiding-blames-victim-for-ruining-his-life/

Killer who spent years in hiding blames victim for ‘ruining his life’
By Rebecca Rosenberg
New York Post
August 14, 2014 | 7:21pm

NY Man Free After 24 Years of Wrongful Conviction

[From article]
“I gave them details: What plane I took there, what plane I took back, what hotel we stayed in, the hotel room numbers. I thought I would not be found guilty for this crime.”
Fleming and his lawyers are convinced that a key piece of evidence — a time stamped hotel receipt — was withheld by cops or prosecutors.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/09/innocent-man-who-spent-24-years-in-jail-savoring-the-little-things/

Innocent man savoring new life after 24 years in jail
By Reuven Fenton and Leonard Greene
New York Post
April 9, 2014 | 6:47pm

NY Man Compensated For Wrongful Rape Conviction

Compensation: Jeffrey Deskovic embraces MarryAnn Lubas, director of the National Freedom March for the Wrongfully Convicted. Deskovic spent 16 years in jail for a murder he didn't commit starting in high school

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2412551/A-man-wrongfully-imprisoned-16-years-starting-high-school-receive-5-4million-settlement-New-York-town.html

A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years starting in high school will receive $5.4million settlement from New York town

'There is much more at stake than a personal apology': Jeffrey Deskovic, 39, still shamed officials, who admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement
The agreement reached on Tuesday brings Deskovic's total compensation for the years he spent behind bars to $11.9M
By JOSHUA GARDNER
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 10:40 EST, 5 September 2013 | UPDATED: 11:04 EST, 5 September 2013

Government Criminals Get One Free

A former elected official gets released on bail and calls the FBI informant witness against him. The judge says, "If you do that again you'll revoke bail." Ahem? Do criminals now get one do-over? Is there any doubt that government is now run by criminals? How many law abiding citizens would be free after pulling a stunt like that? When the criminals say they are connected they really mean it. How was this official going to make an arrest go away? Why is there no scrutiny of who else is part of the criminal government connection?


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/busted_bail_assemblyman_called_witness_IlM2DQu4HKkgwAHS8aC2hJ

Busted ex-Assemblyman called witness in bribery case minutes after he was released on $1M bail
By MITCHEL MADDUX
New York Post
Last Updated: 2:56 PM, July 25, 2012
Posted: 1:08 PM, July 25, 2012

Courts Allow Mobbed Up Cops to Relax

Courts allow special criminals to have vacation.


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/wiseguy_gets_break_ywY6IzAqeCjPRtidW6IePO

'Wiseguy' gets a 'break'
By MITCHEL MADDUX
New York Post
Last Updated: 1:02 AM, March 17, 2011
Posted: 1:02 AM, March 17, 2011

Special New York Courts Offer Treatment as Punishment

Here is one more example of life imitating art. In Anthony Burgess' novel Clockwork Orange, prisoners were offered freedom if they submitted to behavior conditioning. This turned out to be a far worse form of punishment. Consider other abuses by criminals who exploit mental illness to avoid criminal liability. Most offensive is the idea that psychiatric treatment is an alternative to punishment. How can treatment be punishment?

[From article]
"Defendants approved for the program -- so far none have been -- would plead guilty and agree to a court-mandated course of treatment, at the end of which the charges would either be reduced or dismissed, said Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/severely_mentally_ill_defendants_ceeOlP7McaTh9RcHy5S08L

Severely mentally ill defendants to have own Manhattan courtroom
By LAURA ITALIANO
New York Post
Last Updated: 10:42 PM, March 16, 2011
Posted: 6:20 PM, March 16, 2011

NY Judge Gives Pass to Corrupt Cop

If "jail sentence[s don't] deter a public official from misconduct," why would it deter ordinary civilians? This judge sounds as if he was doing someone a favor.

[From article]
"But [Judge] Walsh, a former cop, rejected prison for Johnstone, saying removal from society and rehabilitation were not issues for Johnstone and jailing him would not prevent more corruption.

"I have yet to see a jail sentence deter a public official from misconduct," Walsh said.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/wrist_slap_for_dirty_klyn_drug_cop_kdmjCRmS3VNaq9eQFSU6yK

Wrist slap for dirty B'klyn drug cop
By WILLIAM J. GORTA
New York Post
Last Updated: 1:50 AM, March 15, 2011
Posted: 1:09 AM, March 15, 2011