McCallum & Stuckey - False Confession / Perjury

McCallum, David AND Stuckey, Willie; murder; NRE: false confession, perjury/false accusation, police officer misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, misconduct in interrogation of exoneree

Suggestibility issues

N9 [20] "In 1986, David McCallum...and Willie Stuckey, both 16, were convicted of murder, robbery, kidnapping and illegal use of a weapon after a man was abducted and murdered in Brooklyn...McCallum and Stuckey were exonerated in 2014 after the Brooklyn [DA's] Conviction Review Unit reinvestigated the case.

"The crime began with a kidnapping in 1985. Witnesses saw a man force Nathan Blenner into his car. Blenner's body was found the next day in a park with a single gunshot wound to the head. A security guard found Blenner's car two days later. Initially, the police had no leads for the murder, but then, during an interview with people in the area, a potential witness told police that Stuckey had recently given away a gun that he claimed had been used to kill someone.

"Stuckey and his friend McCallum were brought in for questioning. Both ultimately confessed, although their confessions did not match each other or the medical examiner's autopsy findings. Stuckey and McCallum both said later that detectives had slapped them during the interrogation.

"No physical or forensic evidence tied either teenager to the murder. They were convicted at separate jury trials and each was sentenced to 25 years to life.

"Stuckey died of a heart attack in prison after 14 years behind bars. McCallum continued to appeal his case.

"In 2011, McCallum's attorney asked Kings County (Brooklyn) [DA] Charles Hynes to submit the case to his Conviction Review Unit. Hynes informed McCallum's attorney that the Conviction Review Unit had determined that there was no credible evidence of innocence.

"After Kenneth Thompson was elected [DA] of Kings County in November 2013, McCallum's attorney asked him to take a fresh look at the case. Subsequently, DNA tests were performed on cigarette butts and a marijuana roach that had been found in Blenner's car. Neither Stuckey's nor McCallum's DNA was found, but a DNA profile that matched a man with a criminal record was developed. The reinvestigation also turned up evidence of alternate suspects who were known to police at the time of the initial investigation, but whose existence was not disclosed to the defense."

[McCallum] [551:808]; 2nd Dept. 1/29/90; affirmed

"[W]e are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence..."

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"On October 20, 1985, 20-year-old Nathan Blenner was forced into his car and abducted in Queens...The following day, Blenner's body was found in Aberdeen Park in Brooklyn with a single gunshot wound in the head. His car was found on October 22 when a security guard reported that a group of youths set it ablaze on Fulton Street in Brooklyn.

"Police canvassed Blenner's neighborhood and found a woman who said that about an hour before the crime, she was washing her car on the street about a block from Blenner's residence. She told police that two black men walked by and one said she had a nice car. She replied that if her car were stolen, she would 'know where to look.' The woman said the men were in their 20s and one had braided hair. One was 5 feet 10 inches tall and the other was 5 feet 6 inches tall.

"The woman went through several police books of mugshots of robbery arrestees, but she did not identify anyone.

"Not long after, police questioned Terrence Heyward and Herman Mumford, who were both in their 20s, about a series of carjackings in Brooklyn that happened prior to Blenner's abduction and murder. They were questioned about the Blenner case, but denied involvement. Heyward, however, told Detective Joseph Butta that he knew that a 16-year-old named Willie Stuckey had recently given a gun to James Johnson and claimed that the gun 'had a body on it,' meaning it had been used to kill someone.

"Johnson led police to Stuckey and a friend of Stuckey, 16-year-old David McCallum.

"McCallum and Stuckey were brought in for questioning on October 27, 1985. Detective Butta said both confessed to carjacking and killing Blenner, although their confessions did not match. Stuckey said McCallum killed Blenner and shot him three times. McCallum said Stuckey shot Blenner and fired just once.

"Stuckey also confessed that he and McCallum had approached a woman who was washing her car just before the carjacking and commented that she had a nice vehicle.

"Both said Blenner was shot at night. However, the medical examiner said an autopsy indicated Blenner was shot during the day shortly after he was abducted.

"McCallum and Stuckey recanted the confessions almost immediately and claimed that detectives had slapped them. McCallum also said that the detectives threatened to hit him with a chair unless he confessed.

"Both rejected offers to plead guilty in return for prison setences of 15 years to life and they went on trial in Kings County...in October 1986. No physical or forensic evidence linked them to the crime. There were no witnesses who said they saw either one commit the crime. The primary evidence against them was their confessions."

"In 2011, McCallum's attorney, Oscar...Michelen's re-investigation of the case revealed the police interrogation of Heyward and Mumford, which had not been disclosed to the defense attorneys for McCallum and Stuckey prior to...trial."

"In April 2014, Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a well-known middle-weight prize fighter who was cleared of a wrongful conviction for murder in 1985, died of prostate cancer. Before he died, Carter sent a letter asking Thompson -- as a dying wish -- to review McCallum's case anew."

"On October 15, 2014, Thompson moved the Kings County...Court to vacate the convictions of both McCallum and Stuckey. The motion was granted and the charges against both men were dismissed. McCallum was released immediately.

"Thompson said the confessions clearly were false. He also was harshly critical of his predecessor, Hynes, for failing to seriously address claims of innocence. Thompson declared, 'I inherited a legacy of disgrace with respect to wrongful convictions.'

"McCallum subsequently filed a claim for compensation with the New York Court of Claims and in 2016 received $3.7 million."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]