Angelo Martinez - Perjury / Police Misconduct

Martinez, Angelo; murder; NRE: mistaken witness identification, perjury/false accusation, police officer misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant

Suggestibility issues

[543:116]; 2nd Dept. 6/26/89; affirmed

[Apparently, there was an unduly suggestive lineup procedure.]

from Records and Briefs:

[4] "On October 3, 1985 a [pre-trial hearing] was held before the Hon. Robert T. Grohan ...of...Queens County...The sole witness to testify was the identifying witness, Mr. James Schweigert ...[who] testified as follows:

"On April 10, 1985 in the evening hours in the vicinity of 111th Avenue he observed a shooting...He saw the assailant exit a white Nova and then approach him asking for a cigarette and inquiring about the time Bingo was over. At about 10:30 P.M. the individual crossed Atlantic Avenue, approached an elderly man and shot him..."

"On April 12, 1985 he identified a photograph from a group of 300 pictures and on May 3, 1985 he was called to view a lineup wherein he identified [Martinez]..."

[15] "On cross-examination the witness stated that prior to viewing the lineup the police had informed him that the person whose picture he selected was in the lineup and that he should come down and pick him out..."

"The Court [Robert T. Grohan] suppressed the lineup identification but, on October 24, 1985 the Court entertained the [DA's] motion to reargue and reversed its decision, denying suppression..."

"The trial on this matter commenced on September 4, 1986 before the Hon. Seymour Lakritz..."

"Charles Fox, a cartographer testified that he drew a sketch of the crime-scene and said sketch was offered and introduced into testimony...and through Police Officer Freiburger additional photographs of the crime scene were introduced..."

[6] "Detective James Curran testified that he arrested [Martinez] on May 2, 1985 in Brooklyn..."

"Detective Anthony Burke testified that he conducted a lineup of...Martinez on May 2, 1985 at the 102nd Precinct...He further testified that [Martinez] was 5'9", 150 pounds and 19 years of age..."

"Detective John Solowsky testified that he received the two bullets that struck the deceased and upon examination they were .38 caliber. He further testified that the deceased had been shot at close distance..."

"Medical Examiner Dr. Yong-Myun Rho testified that the deceased was shot twice in the head..."

"James Schweigert, the sole identifying witness, testified that on April 10, 1985 at about 9:45 P.M. he was at Atlantic Avenue between 110th and 111th Streets in Queens County waiting outside a Bingo parlor for his mother...A man approached him asking for a cigarette...He had seen the same man around [noon that day]...Both he and the man remained there for about a half-hour until Bingo let out...He saw an elderly man and woman leave the Bingo parlor and approach a vehicle...[Martinez] (whom he identified as the [7] man in question) approached the elderly man and fired three shots at him.

"He described [Martinez] as being 19, having a mustache..."

"John Padilla testified that he knew [Martinez] 8 years and used to live in the same neighborhood...He was with [Martinez] in mid-April 1985 when [Martinez] [supposedly] told him he killed the old man...He did not tell him where this happened..."

"On cross-examination the witness stated he did not know the month or the year that [Martinez] made the statement..."

[So, in direct, Padilla says Martinez told him this in mid-April 1985. But then, on cross, he says he didn't know the month or year this was said.]

"Antoinette Burgos, a student at Manhattan Community College testified that the eyewitness James Schweigert did not have a good reputation for truthfulness..."

[8] "Elsie Rodriguez testified that around the time of the incident [Martinez] had no mustache."

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"On April 10, 1985, 70-year-old Rudolph Marasco was shot to death while leaving a bingo hall in Queens..."

"Two days later, a witness, 19-year-old James Schweigert, identified Angelo Martinez, 19, in a photo lineup.

"On May 3, 1985, Schweigert identified Martinez in a live lineup and Martinez was charged with murder. At the same time, a friend of Martinez, John Padilla, was also taken into custody. Police said he told them that Martinez had admitted shooting an old man.

"Martinez went on trial September 4, 1986. Schweigert identified Martinez as the gunman, although he did not disclose that a friend of his had previously accused Martinez of assault. Padilla testified that he implicated Martinez after police threatened to charge him with the murder.

"Martinez was convicted on September 10, 1986 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

"In March 1989, Charles Rivera, a cooperating witness in a federal investigation, disclosed that he had committed the murder.

"Authorities didn't believe him, and their disbelief seemed to be confirmed when Rivera failed a polygraph exam.

"However, in his statement, Rivera provided a missing element -- motive. He said that Marasco lived in a building owned by Frank Sgro, father of his half-sister. Sgro wanted to sell the building, but Marasco wouldn't move out, so -- according to Rivera -- Sgro hired Rivera for $10,000 to kill Marasco.

"The building was sold four months after Marasco was murdered.

"Though federal authorities didn't believe Rivera, they passed the information to the Queens [DA's] Office. The information was then passed on to Martinez's attorney, Jennifer Maiolo, but she did nothing.

"In 2001 James Quinn, then deputy chief of homicide in the Queens [DA's] Office, checked and discovered that Maiolo had not acted on the information. He re-assigned the case to a prosecutor and two detectives for a re-investigation. Maiolo was later disbarred for actions in an unrelated case.

"During an interview, Rivera told them that he had killed Marasco and disclosed that he had used copper-jacketed bullets -- a detail that had never been publicly disclosed. He also said that he was chased by two people after the shooting -- a fact that was confirmed in police reports.

"Ultimately the investigators found a man that Rivera said was his driver that night, and that man confirmed that he drove Rivera to the bingo hall where the shooting occurred.

"On June 12, 2002, a joint motion by defense attorneys for Martinez and the prosecution was presented in court. The murder conviction was overturned and the charges were dismissed.

"On July 22, 2002, Martinez was released on bail, pending disposition of a federal conviction for selling cocaine in prison after he was locked up for the murder conviction. That sentence, 292 months, was later commuted to time served, in part because the lengthy term was the result of an enhancement based on his murder conviction.

"Martinez later filed a $50 million lawsuit in the New York Court of Claims. The suit was settled for $700,000."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]