David Ranta - Mistaken ID / False Confession / Perjury

Ranta, David; murder; NRE: mistaken witness identification, false confession, perjury/false accusation, police officer misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant; "OVERWHELMING"

Suggestibility issues

K18 "In 1991, David Ranta was convicted for the shooting death of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger in a botched diamond heist..."

"In the early morning of Feb. 8, 1990, Chaim Weinberger, a diamond courier, left his Brooklyn apartment..."

"He was approached by a gunman but escaped unharmed. The gunman then crossed the street to the car where Werzberger was sitting...The gunman shot the rabbi once in the head, pulled his body from the vehicle and sped off.

"Two New York City detectives, Louis Scarcella and Steven Chmil, were put on the case.

"Shortly after the crime, police got an anonymous call that a man named Joseph Astin was the killer. Astin died in a car crash two months after the shooting. Astin was fleeing officers pursuing him in connection with the shooting.

"Scarcella brought Weinberger, the courier, to the morgue to see if he could identify Astin's body, and when Weinberger could not, Scarcella stopped chasing leads on Astin.

"Intead, the detectives were informed that two inmates awaiting trial on unrelated robbery charges, Dmitry Drikman and Alan Bloom, could have useful information on the crime.

"Bloom, who has since died, fingered Ranta as the shooter, and Ranta was arrested in 1990.

"Weinberger, the courier, could not identify anyone at the first of two line-ups and three other witnesses pointed to stand-ins, not Ranta.

"At a second line-up, three youths, including Menachem Lieberman, who said they saw the shooter waiting in a car before the crime occurred, identified Ranta.

"Bloom, who was granted immunity, acted as the government's chief witness at trial..."

"Scarcella admitted he had not taken any notes during interviews of Bloom and Drikman. At one point, the presiding judge...expressed concern about his mistrust of the detectives to the defense and the prosecution, but never charged the jury [i.e., told them about] the issue.

"Astin's wife, Teresa, later came forward saying Astin had confessed to the crime.

"Lieberman, the witness who expressed discomfort at his identification of Ranta, told [subsequent Conviction Integrity Unit] investigators that just before entering the line-up room, a detective told him to 'pick the guy with the big nose' and he acted accordingly."

K17 "After spending some 23 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit, David Ranta walked out of a courtroon a free man yesterday after prosecutors conceded the evidence against him had 'degraded' to the point that they could no longer prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Ranta was convicted in 1991 for the high-profile shooting of a prominent ultra-Orthodox religious leader, Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger. But a fresh look at the case by the Brooklyn [DA's] Conviction Integrity Unit disclosed that a man who had once identified Ranta as the killer now felt 'discomfort' about his testimony, and others admitted they had fabricated statements fingering Ranta..."

[610:283]; 2nd Dept. 4/4/94; affirmed

"Although the police admittedly violated certain court orders, the police conduct challenged by [Ranta] was not so egregious as to 'manifest a disregard for cherished principles of law and order'...Given the overwhelming evidence of [Ranta's] guilt..."

[The Second Department 'justices' who signed off on this were Albert M. Rosenblatt, David S. Ritter, Vincent Pizzuto, and Myrian J. Altman. ]

from Records and Briefs:

[1] "Drikman gave Detective Scarcella information leading him to believe Mr. Ranta was involved in the case...However, he had no indication why Drikman would have such information or if Drikman was present at the scene of the crime ...Detective Scarcella claimed that Drikman picked out photos of Mr. Ranta and an individual named Steven Shakur and indicated these individuals were involved in the shooting..."

[3] "On July 13, 1990, [when Scarcella and Chmil first interviewed Bloom ], Bloom did not state that he witnessed the attempted robbery, saw anyone being dragged from a car, heard shots fired, or that he was present when the Rabbi was shot..."

"After receiving this information, Detective Scarcella spoke with members of Shakur's family who maintained Shakur was in Yugoslavia on [the day of the murder]... Despite the family's claim that Shakur was not in the country, they possessed Shakur's passport...Detective Scarcella did not attempt to verify the family's claims by examining the passport to see if it was stamped, thereby denoting entry into Yugoslavia on or near the dates in question...The detective also failed to show Shakur's photograph to any of the eyewitnesses ...The detectives' actions troubled the court...After hearing this testimony, the court raised the issue of selective prosecution on the part of the detectives..."

"Bloom's version of the events was not always consistent...Although Bloom gave consistent versions of the events on June 28, 1990, and July 13, 1990, at which time he implicated Shakur, four days later, on July 17, 1990, he told a different story."

[6] "After the detectives told Bloom they could not find Shakur, Bloom changed his story. The actions he attributed to Shakur four days earlier...he now attributed to Mr. Ranta* ...Bloom now alleged he sat double-parked...and smoked crack while he watched the events unfold. Bloom remained on the opposite side of the street two hundred feet away from where the crimes occurred. Yet, he claimed he was able to see the events transpire through his rearview mirror. ** "

[* It seems quite obvious that it was Scarcella who changed Bloom's story, when this 'detective' was greatly inconvenienced by the fact that (surprise, surprise) the alleged killer couldn't be found. ] [** That's preposterous, and would be laughable but for the fact it led to Ranta wrongfully spending decades in prison. No one can identify anyone via a rearview mirror from 200 feet away.] [7] "Bloom claimed he then heard two shots...However, Rabbi Werzberger was only shot once. There was absolutely no evidence of a second shot."

[8] "Drikman said he knew the identity of the individuals involved in the crime and the location of the murder weapon. Yet Bloom and the detectives claimed Drikman took no part in the crimes. Nothing was done to corroborate Drikman's non-involvement or to rule him out as the killer."

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"At about 5:30 a.m. on February 8, 1990, 38-year-old Chaim Weinberger, a jewelry courier, left his apartment building in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn...carrying a 50-pound suitcase full of diamonds and other valuables he was taking to the Dominican Republic. Weinberger noticed a tall blond man eyeing him as he left his apartment building and when he got near his car, he saw the man following him. He tossed the suitcase into the trunk and got into his car to get away.

"The blond man put a handkerchief over his face and drew a pistol as he approached. Weinberger drove in reverse, knocked the robber down and sped off.

"The robber then noticed Chaskel Werzberger, a 56-year-old rabbi, warming up his car nearby. The gunman walked over, shot Werzberger in the head, yanked him out of the vehicle and drove off. Werzberger died three days later. His car was found in another Brooklyn neighborhood a day after the shooting, splashed with paint in an apparent attempt to cover fingerprints.

"The murder of the esteemed rabbi shocked a city accustomed to murders and a $10,000 reward was offered for information.

"A number of witnesses told police that they saw the events in full or in part. Weinberger described the gunman as being between 5'11" and 6'0" tall, clean-shaven and with blonde hair. Several other witnesses recalled that prior to the crime they saw two men in a station wagon parked nearby, one in the driver's seat and the other in the front passenger's seat.

"More than one hundred names surfaced as potential suspects, including Thomas Joseph Astin, who police learned of through an anonymous telephone call. But Astin died in a car crash while being pursued by police on April 2, 1990. After his death, detectives brought Weinberger to the morgue to view Astin's body, but Weinberger was unable to identify him as the robber.

"Beginning in June 1990, Detective Louis Scarcella interviewed Dmitry Drikman, a convicted rapist facing robbery charges. Drikman pointed the detective to Allan Bloom, a convicted robber and drug addict, who was in jail facing charges that could send him to prison for life. After several conversations with Bloom, the detective said that Bloom had admitted that he attempted to rob Weinberger with 35-year-old David Ranta, an unemployed house painter with more than a dozen arrests for theft, robbery and drug possession.

"Drikman and Bloom were then housed in the same cell together and subsequently, Drikman also implicated Ranta in the crime. Drikman's girlfriend was then interviewed and she told police she had seen Ranta and Bloom plotting how to cover up the attempted robbery and murder.

"Bloom would ultimately testify against Ranta after being granted immunity for his involvement in the robbery and murder and a promise for a reduced sentence on his outstanding robbery charges. He told the police that he had helped to plan the robbery of Weinberger and said Ranta, whom he had known for a few years, was an accomplice, as was another man named Steven Shakir.* Bloom said he left before anything happened and did not know who the gunman was, but he said that Shakir had a gun."

[* The Records and Briefs above spell this surname 'Shakur.' It's not clear which is correct.]

"After he failed a polygraph test, Bloom changed his story to say that not only did he see the crimes, but that Ranta was the gunman. Bloom would later say that he lied about Shakir's involvement. He also said that on the night before the crimes he had been with Drikman.

"Bloom said that he had stolen the station wagon that several witnesses had observed at the crime scene prior to the crimes, and that he had used the station wagon to drive himself and Ranta to the crime scene. He said Ranta approached Weinberger, pointed a gun at him and attempted to rob him. Bloom told police that he was supposed to be the getaway driver, but that after Ranta left the car, a police car drove by so he moved the car about 10 feet further away. As a result, Bloom said, Ranta didn't immediately spot the car after the botched robbery attempt and apparently decided to steal Werzberger's car.

"Bloom said Ranta ran across the sreet, fired his gun twice, pulled the rabbi from his car and fled.

"Bloom said he met Ranta later that day, took Werzberger's car and abandoned it in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Bloom said that later, he and Drikman returned to Werzberger's car and splashed white paint on the interior to obscure any fingerprints. Bloom passed the polygraph test administered after his second statement.

"Two others corroborated Bloom. Cheryl Herbert told the police that she had been in a relationship with Ranta and that prior to her birthday in February, he told her he was expecting to come into possession of some nice jewelry. Herbert told police Ranta later told her that he was in a lot of trouble because he had participated in a robbery with two others and that they had abandoned him and as a result, he had to kill someone.

"Alison Picciano told the police that Ranta had admitted to her that he had pulled Werzberger from his car and shot him while he was on the ground.

"Ranta was arrested on August 13, 1990 and taken to a police station where detectives said that after initial denials, Ranta eventually admitted that he had been at the crime scene with Bloom and Drikman in a station wagon, which he believed Bloom had stolen. Police said Ranta said that he had known about a plan to rob a Jewish jewel courier and that he was to have been the 'lookout' during the robbery. The detectives said Ranta said he saw Bloom and Drikman exchange a gun in the station wagon and that, before any of the crimes occurred, he had left the scene when Bloom and Drikman began arguing about which one of them was going to commit the actual robbery.

"Ranta was placed in a lineup the following day. Scarcella reached out to a rabbi who came to the station with six witnesses. The first witness, Weinberger -- who had been the initial target of the robbery -- didn't recognize anyone. The next two witnesses identified someone other than Ranta.

"The fourth witness, who spoke only Yiddish and required an interpreter, initially said he didn't recognize anyone. The witness was then escorted to a nearby room with Detective Scarcella, a prosecutor and the interpreter. A tape recorder which was recording the lineup conversation was turned off and then turned back on as the witness said that, in fact, he had identified the man in position six -- which was Ranta.

"The fifth witness identified Ranta and the sixth witness identified another man in the lineup.

"A second lineup was held later that day. Three more witnesses came in and all three identified Ranta.

"Despite what police said Ranta had admitted, Ranta took and passed a polygraph examination.

"Ranta went on trial in [Manhattan] in May 1991.

"Bloom testified, as did Herbert and Picciano, portraying Ranta as the gunman. Bloom told the jury that when he and Ranta met later in the day after the crime, Ranta said, 'Why did you leave me? I had to kill someone.'

"Picciano testified that Ranta told her, 'I had to do what I had to do. I shot him.'

"Ranta's statement to the police was presented to the jury as well -- though it portrayed him as an accomplice instead of the gunman. The trial judge was critical of Detective Scarcella for failing to tape record Ranta's statement or take any notes and for failing to take any notes of his conversations with Drikman and Bloom. "The defense tried to suggest that Drikman was the gunman and that Ranta was innocent. Weinberger testified that Ranta was not the gunman.

"On May 22, 1991, Ranta was convicted by a jury. He was sentenced to 37-1/2 years to life in prison.

"His initial appeal was denied, but in 1996, Astin's wife signed a sworn affidavit saying that her husband, before he was killed in a car crash, had admitted that he killed Werzberger. She said that Astin left their home at 4 a.m. on the day of the crime and returned later in tears, saying he had robbed someone carrying jewelry and that someone had been hurt.

"Despite this affidavit, Ranta's motion for a new trial was denied. The judge said that Astin's wife's credibility was damaged because she was facing a drug charge* at the time she made the claim."

[* Recall that " Allan Bloom, a convicted robber and drug addict, who was in jail facing charges that could send him to prison for life," was nevertheless deemed sufficiently 'credible' to base this entire investigation on. Moreover, whereas Bloom stood to benefit immensely from testifying as he did, Astin's wife had absolutely nothing to gain by coming forward.]

"In 2011, Kings County [DA] Charles Hynes created a Conviction Integrity Unit and invited defense lawyers to present cases where they believed innocent defendants had been convicted. One of the cases proffered was Ranta's.

"The Integrity Unit began re-investigating. One of the witnesses who identified Ranta in the lineup said the lead police detective, Louis Scarcella, told him to pick 'the guy with the big nose,' so he picked Ranta because he had the biggest nose.

"The prosecution investigators discovered that during the weeks when police were interrogating Bloom and Drikman, both were allowed to leave jail, smoke crack cocaine and have sex with prostitutes in return for implicating Ranta.

"Drikman and his girlfriend recanted their accounts that implicated Bloom and Ranta. Bloom had since died.

"Ranta's lawyer, armed with the new evidence, filed a motion to vacate Ranta's conviction. The motion was not opposed by Kings County [DA] Charles Hynes, who was the [DA] when Ranta was arrested 23 years earlier.

"On March 21, 2013, Ranta was flown from his prison to a Brooklyn courtroom where his convictions were vacated and the charges were dismissed. He was then released.

"In May 2013, Ranta filed a $150 million wrongful conviction claim against the city of New York. In February 2014, the city settled the claim for $6.4 million. He also received $2 million in compensation from the New York Court of Claims."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]