Darren Felix - Mistaken ID / Perjury

- Felix, Darren; attempted murder; NRE: mistaken witness identification, perjury/false accusation, prosecutor misconduct, police officer misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating ci-defendant

Suggestibility issues

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"At about 10:15 p.m. on July 23, 2003, 38-year-old Kantari Barangi was shot twice and gravely wounded following a dispute with a man outside of a McDonald's restaurant on East 176th Street in the Bronx..."

"Police arrived and issued a radio bulletin for a black male suspect wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. One block from the shooting, police took 20-year-old Darren Felix into custody because he fit the description of the gunman."*

[* Let's actually think about this for a minute: Felix has supposedly just shot Barangi, and nearly killed him. (And for all the shooter knows, maybe he did kill him.) Knowing there were witnesses (and cameras) who saw what happened, the shooter then stays within a one-block area of the scene? That's preposterous. ]

"Felix was taken to the hospital where Barangi was being treated because police feared Barangi was going to die. Barangi looked at Felix from a hospital bed and identified him* as the gunman. No weapon was recovered."

[* This is what's known as a 'show-up,' which is extremely suggestive. (It's also reminiscent of a scene from the wrongful conviction biopic: 'Hurricane: The Ruben Carter Story.')] p> "Felix told police he was not involved in the shooting and that the gunman was a neighorhood resident he knew as 'Justo.' He was arrested..."

"One week after the shooting, [a] 15-year-old [young woman], who was working at the counter at McDonald's, told police that the gunman was a regular customer who usually ordered an ice tea and often flirted with her, but she did not know his name.

"[She] was shown a photographic array which included Felix's photograph. She told a detective that Felix resembled the gunman. When the detective asked her if she was sure, [she] said that she was sure, prompting the detective to tell her she had picked the man who had been arrested for the shooting."*

[* So now, we have two instances of witnesses being improperly influenced via suggestion.]

"Although the detective was required by department rules to record the witness's statement, he failed to do so and never informed the prosecution that [she] at first had only said Felix 'looked like' the gunman.

"Felix went to trial...in November 2004. The victim identified Felix as the gunman.

"When [the 15-year-old witness] got on the witness stand and the prosecutor asked her if she saw the gunman in the courtroom, [she] said she did not. The prosecutor then was granted a recess to speak privately with [her]. When [she] returned to the witness stand, she testified that she could no longer remember what the gunman looked like.

"The prosecutor [then] was allowed to introduce into evidence [her] identification of Felix from the photographic array conducted by the detective.

"On December 9, 2004, the jury convicted Felix..."

"Legal Aid Society lawyer Elizabeth Felber, who had been assisting in the trial, continued to investigate the case after Felix went to prison. She and an investigator were able to identify 'Justo' as Justo Hechavarria and located him in prison in Pennsylvania. With a photograph, they were able to track down a man who had lived with Hechavarria for about six months after the shooting.

"The man told the investigator that Hechavarria had admitted on several occasions that he shot Barangi and then fled New York the day after the shooting.* The photograph of Hechavarria showed that Hechavarria and Felix were remarkably similar in appearance."*

[* So now, we see that the actual shooter, far from staying within a one-block area of the crime, fled the state. ]

"[The 15-year-old witness] was interviewed and said that on the day she came to court to testify, she was standing in the hallway when Felix was being led into the courtroom. [She] said she realized that Felix was not the gunman and immediately told the prosecutor.

"[She] said she began to weep when the prosecutor insisted that she was mistaken and assured her that some defendants change their appearance to confuse witnesses in court.

"In 2009, Felber turned over the new evidence to the Bronx [DA's] Office, which conducted its own investigation of the case.

"In addition to confirming that Hechavarria had admitted he shot Barangi, the prosecution convinced another witness, a woman who had never been interviewed by police, to speak about the shooting. Alhough the woman refused to speak to Felber, she agreed to speak to the prosecutors and said she was present when Hechavarria, whom she knew, began quarreling with Barangi, who was a stranger.

"The woman said that Hechavarria and Barangi argued inside the McDonald's and continued arguing on the street until Barangi retrieved a piece of pipe from his vehicle and chased Hechavarria away. The woman said that Hechavarria returned minutes later with a gun and shot Barangi.

"The woman's presence and vantage point were corroborated by the security videotape.

"The woman also confirmed that Felix, who was a boyfriend of Hechavarria's cousin, was about a half-block away from the shooting at the time it occurred.

"On May 7, 2010, the Bronx [DA's] Office and Felber appeared before Judge Denis Boyle, where the prosecution agreed that the conviction be vacated and the case dismissed.

"In May 2013, Felix filed a $28 million wrongful conviction lawsuit against the City of New York. Hechavarria could not be prosecuted for the shooting because the five-year statute of limitations had expired. Separately, Felix received $245,000 from the New York Court of Claims as compensation for his wrongful conviction."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]