Michael Vasquez - Perjury / False Confession

Vasquez, Michael; robbery; NRE: perjury/false accusation

Suggestibility issues [700:690]; 1st Dept. 1/6/00; affirmed

"The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence."

[960:52]; N.Y. Cty. Ct. 6/13/12; motion to vacate granted, due to confession by true perpetrator

"The first count charged that...Vasquez forcibly stole property from Janette Andruiolo...and in the 'course of the commission of the crime...displayed what appeared to be a pistol.' The second count charged that Vasquez on such date 'forcibly stole a motor vehicle from' Janette.

"In the late afternoon of January 11, 1997, Raul [Gonzalez] drove his sister's car to Broadway and West 192nd Street in Manhattan and parked. He had three passengers in the car: Janette [Raul's girlfriend], Rigo Jr., and his father Rigoberto Gonzalez ('Rigo'). Raul and Rigo left the car to enter a building. Rigo Jr. remained in the car with Janette. At about 4:45 p.m., a man approached the car displaying what appeared to be a gun, ordered Janette and Rigo Jr. out of the car, and drove off with the car and Janette's purse which was in the car.

"While all parties agree that the events described above occurred, the parties present alternative narratives of what else took place at or around the time in question, especially as to the roles of the four passengers in the car and Vasquez.

"Vasquez's story was that...shortly before the day of the crime, [he] ran into an acquaintance...he then knew as 'Chase' whom he had befriended several years earlier...'Chase' visited Vasquez at Rigo's apartment and met Rigo who, independent of Vasquez, engaged 'Chase' to hijack the car where Rigo knew Paul would have left the $16,000 he was bringing to purchase a kilo of cocaine from Rigo...Although Vasquez...was not privy to such conversation, he suspected after the crime that Chase might have been involved.

"In 2011, about fourteen years after his conviction and upon having been transferred to Coxsackie state prison, Vasquez encountered his old friend 'Chase'...Only at that time did Vasquez learn that Charlemagne was 'Chase's' real name. When Charlemagne volunteered that he, Charlemagne, was the robber who displayed what appeared to have been a gun, forced Rigo Jr. and Janette out of the car, drove the car away and split certain proceeds of such robbery with Rigo, who had put him up to do the robbery."

[Charlemagne testified to the above at Vasquez's motion hearing.]

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"Police were called and Andruiolo gave a description of the robber. She said her purse, containing $700 from her just-cashed paycheck, was in the car. The following day, Andruiolo told a detective that the robber was Michael Vasquez. Although she did not know Vasquez (a fact which she hid from police), she identified him because her boyfriend, Raul, told her that Rigo had told him that Vasquez, 40, was the robber. Police pulled a booking photograph of Vasquez and, in February, prepared a photographic lineup. Andruiolo selected Vasquez's photograph and subsequently identified him in a live lineup."

"Vasquez went on trial in [Manhattan] in September 1997. The prosecution acknowledged that the purpose of the visit to 192nd Street was a drug deal. Andruiolo testified that she was not aware of the reason for the stop or that her boyfriend, Raul, was involved in the drug trade. She said she broke up with him when she found out he was a drug dealer. Andruiolo identified Vasquez as the robber in court."

"Although Vasquez did not testify at his trial, he maintained that he was innocent and suspected he had been set up. While in New York, Vasquez was staying with Rigo, who was engaged in the drug trade. Rigo Jr., a college student, lived with his father and occasionally helped out in his father's drug business by serving as a driver or making collections and deliveries."

"Vasquez's attorney, Herbert Moreira-Brown, then filed a post-conviction motion for a new trial, and in December 2011, a hearing commenced...Rigo was dead, but Rigo Jr., Raul, Andruiolo, and Charlemagne testified.

"Andruiolo testified that she was no longer sure of her identification and admitted that Raul gave her Vasquez's name. She continued to deny that she knew there was a drug transaction, but Raul testified that the $16,000 was in Andruiolo's purse. Raul testified that he gave a description to Andruiolo so she could identify Vasquez."

"None of the men involved faced any charges from their involvement because the statute of limitations for robbery had run out.

"On June 13, 2012, [Manhattan] Judge Lewis Bart Stone granted Vasquez's motion and vacated his convictions. Vasquez was released on bond on June 30, 2012. On December 21, 2012, the prosecution dismissed the charges."*

[* So, the prosecution left Vasquez 'hanging' for nearly six months, before finally dropping charges.]

"In 2013, Moreira-Brown filed a lawsuit on behalf of Vasquez in the New York Court of Claims, seeking compensation from the City of New York. As of October 2015, the lawsuit was pending. Vasquez also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, but it was dismissed."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]