Roman Carlton - Police Misconduct / Perjury

Roman, Carlton; murder; NRE: perjury/false accusation, police officer misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant, knowingly permitting perjury

Suggestibility issues

G35 "G'Bye to 'Hell': 'Full Story' Springs [Queens] Man After 32 Years in Jail," Noah Goldberg, Leonard Greene, and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 8/20/21, pg. 5

"Carlton Roman was an innocent man sent to jail on a lie.

"There, he languished for 32 years...until the right prosecutors came along and concluded the man convicted in Queens of a cold-blooded murder...didn't do the crime."

"Roman's freedom fight started after he was arrested and charged with [Lloyd] Witter's murder and for the attempted murder of Jomo Kenyatta, who survived the shooting, but has since had to use a wheelchair.

"A third man in the house, Paul Anderson, was found bound with telephone wire and handcuffed.

"The two survivors fingered Roman -- a friend of the murdered man -- as a ringleader and shooter..."

"But there was no hard evidence linking Roman -- a recent college graduate who had no criminal record* -- to the killlng. He was charged based on the eyewitnesses, despite the fact that his girlfriend confirmed his alibi."

[* Nickel also had no prior criminal record.]

"Roman submitted his case to be reinvestigated by the Queens DA's office in 2013 and 2018, but prosecutors made no moves to dismiss the charges. In April 2020, however, [Melinda] Katz, the new [DA], opened an investigation into the case.

"The case review found that Anderson recanted his story in 2019, saying that he falsely accused Roman of the killing.

"Anderson said Roman was not among the shooters and that he didn't even see him on the day of the crime, March 16, 1989.

"The Queens DA's office also found that Anderson, starting during the initial investigation and up to the present, has given six different versions of the events of the shooting and 'most are inconsistent with each other and the facts of the crime.'

"A new witness interviewed by the DA's office says Anderson and Kenyatta were involved in drug trafficking and that Kenyatta was a violent druglord.

"Despite that, Kenyatta testified at trial that he did not have a substantial criminal history, prosecutors said."

"The Queens DA's conviction integrity unit has overturned eight convictions since Katz became [DA]."

"Roman shared words of encouragement for those who have suffered his fate.

"'Stand strong,' he said, 'and never give up.'"

from NRE synopsis (by Ken Otterbourg):

"On March 16, 1989, 28-year-old Lloyd Witter was shot to death inside a house in the Jamaica section of Queens...Another person in the house, 27-year-old Jomo Kenyatta, was shot several times and taken to the hospital, where he remained unconscious for several weeks.

"Paul Anderson, who lived in the house, was found outside, bound and handcuffed, but otherwise unharmed. Anderson initially told Detective John Loguercio that four men came to his house. According to Loguercio's report, Anderson could not identify the men but gave a detailed description. He said the apparent leader was about 5'2" or 5'3" and walked with a limp. Two others, Anderson said, were no taller than 5'4". The fourth person was, Anderson said, about 6 feet tall and had a so-called 'Cameo' haircuit, tight on the sides and tall on top.

"A few hours later, at a precinct station of the [NYPD], Anderson told Detective William Pepey that an acquintance, 26-year-old Carlton Roman, was the shooter. Anderson referred to Roman, who had no criminal record and did not match any of his previous descriptions, by a nickname, 'Marshall.'

"Roman also knew Witter, and the next day, Roman called the home of Andrea Witter, Witter's wife. Roman asked her what had happened and said she was coming over to see her. Witter had previously received a call from Anderson about the shooting. Witter became scared and called the police. When Roman arrived at Witter's home, Pepey was waiting and arrested Roman. He was charged with [among other things] second-degree murder..."

"Separately, Anderson told the police on March 17 that a man named Hollis Laylor, who went by the nicknames 'Skinny' and 'Slim Man,' was another one of the assailants. The next day, he said two brothers, whom he only knew as 'Bigger' and 'Richie,' were the other assailants."

[So, on the day of the crime, Anderson says he couldn't identify the culprits. But just one day later, he provides the full names for two of them, and the nicknames of the two others.]

"Kenyatta remained at Mary Immaculate Hospital for several weeks, drifting in and out of consciousness. During that time, both Anderson and Pepey paid repeated visits. On April 13, 1989, Kenyatta identified Roman* as one of the participants in the shooting. The identification was unorthodox. Pepey brought a box containing letters, and Kenyatta spelled out 'Marshall,' 'Skinny,' and 'Richie' when Pepey asked who had shot him. He then showed Kenyatta a single photograph of Roman, and Kenyatta nodded to indicate the identification."**

[* Remember: Anderson -- who named Roman one day after he said he couldn't identify any of the assailants -- had visited Kenyatta in the hospital numerous times. Thus, it seems quite likely that Anderson (strongly) influenced Kenyatta to name Roman.]

[** This is reminiscent of a scene in 'Hurricane: The Rubin Carter Story,' where the latter is brought to the hospital for a 'show-up' in front of one of the (barely) surviving victims. That film chronicled another real-life wrongful conviction.]

"Roman's trial in Queens...began in October 1990. There was no physical or forensic evidence tying him to the shooting, and the state's case consisted of the testimony of Pepey, Anderson, and Kenyatta."

"At trial, Anderson... said that Roman, Laylor, Kenyatta and Witter had been at his house on March 15, 1989, and that a 'fuss' occurred after Kenyatta and Witter took a gun from Roman. The next day, Kenyatta and Witter came by to help Anderson move. Roman, Laylor, Biggie and Richie came by later. They handcuffed Anderson and placed him in the basement. After several hours, he heard the doorbell ring, then a series of shots.

"Anderson also testified that he was an architect, that he was not involved in dealing drugs, and that he had never been shot or treated at a hospital for a shooting."*

[* All three of these statements were lies. (See above and below.)]

"Kenyatta said the initial argument on March 15 was about drugs and involved Roman, Laylor, and Witter. Kenyatta said that he and Witter returned to Anderson's house on March 16. He said that when they walked in the house, the door closed quickly behind them. He then heard shots, and saw Laylor and Roman shooting Anderson.* Kenyatta said he tried to run away, but Roman shot him on the stairs. He said that he could look out the window and see the four assailants as they fled."

[* There is zero evidence (aside from Kenyatta's testimony here) that Anderson was ever shot -- or even, shot at. Anyway, according to Anderson himself, he was in the basement at the time, as opposed to just inside the front door, where Kenyatta said the shooting occurred.]

"Kenyatta testified on direct examination that his criminal record consisted of a single conviction for reckless driving and that he was not involved in the sale of drugs. But he was recalled to the witness stand after Roman's attorney produced evidence that he had pled guilty to attempted possession of a weapon after initially being charged with attempted murder.

"Pepey testified about Roman's interaction with Andrea Witter. He said that after Roman was arrested, he yelled out to Witter that he didn't kill her husband and 'when I got to the house I saw them there and left.'

"Pepey also testified that Andrea Witter told him that she had learned about her husband's alleged killer on March 16, when she left her house and walked to Anderson's at about 10 p.m. Andrea Witter did not testify.

"Roman testified and denied any involvement in the shooting. He said he wasn't involved in dealing drugs. He also presented two alibi witnesses, including his fiancee, who said Roman had been with them at the time of the shooting.

"The jury convicted Roman...on October 19, 1990."

"Laylor was never prosecuted.* Anderson returned to his native Jamaica, and Kenyatta experienced an apparent mental decline** that left him unable to testify."

[* Why> According to Kenyatta, he shot at Anderson. And even if he didn't, he was (allegedly) an accomplice to murder. And what about the other two alleged assailants? Did the police even try to find them?]

[** That was almost certainly feigned. (See below.)]

"Roman filed numerous appeals in state and federal courts, including a 2004 petition for a writ in...[the] Eastern District of New York. That petition, which was denied, claimed that his trial attorney had been ineffective through a lack of preparation.

"The pro se petition also said prosecutors 'relied on perjured testimony by their witnesses and failed to disclose aspects of their backgrounds that would have been favorable to the defense. That included...witnesses' denial of their prior criminal records and involvement, denial of having been shot, and claiming to have seen events they were not in a position to see.'

"Twice, in 2013 and 2018, Roman's attorneys asked the Queens...[DA's] Office to reexamine the conviction. Although the conviction was reviewed, no action was taken. In 2020, Roman's attorney, James Henning, resubmitted the case to the [DA's] new Conviction Integrity Unit.

"A new investigation found signfiicant problems with the evidence and testimony used to convict Roman, corroborating his defense that the men who testified against him were liars and drug dealers.

"Anderson had testfiied that he had never been shot, but he had refused to expose his leg to prove the absence of a gunshot wound. The investigation found medical records that said Anderson had been shot in November 1988. New witnesses told the CIU that Witter was the shooter in that incident. The investigation also found that Anderson had given at least six different accounts of the shooting that left Witter dead, and they were inconsistent with each other."

[* The fact that Witter -- the murder victim in this case -- had previously shot Anderson sure gave the latter a powerful motive to shoot him.]

"Kenyatta's credibility was also undermined. He testified that he was not involved in illegal activities but had become a victim by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The extent of his criminal record could not be determined at trial because of his extensive use of aliases.* It turned out that Kenyatta had been arrested under these names for a series of violent crimes. A half-brother of Kenyatta's told the CIU that Kenyatta was a violent man who carried a gun and that Anderson's house was being used to sell drugs. Kenyatta told CIU investigators that he could not concentrate or remember details about the shooting, but other evidence suggested Kenyatta's claims of neurological impairment were a ruse."

[* That seems quite dubious, given that the police and prosecutors keep extensive files on aliases.]

"Pepey's testimony also came under scrutiny. The CIU interviewed Andrea Witter. She said Pepey gave false testimony about statements Roman made after his arrest. While Roman said he didn't shoot Witter, Andrea Witter said Roman never said he was at the house. Andrea Witter also said that contrary to Pepey's testimony, she hever walked to Anderson's house at 10 p.m. on the night of the shooting.

"The CIU said her account made sense. First, Witter lived nearly three miles away. It was very cold that night, and Witter had an infant and a 4-year-old child, and she wouldn't have brought them with her or left them home alone.

"Pepey also told investigators that he bought a fake visa for Anderson so he could return to the Unites States from his native Jamaica to testify against Roman.

"Anderson recanted his testimony in 2019. He said Pepey fed him details of the crime and pressured him to testify by threatening to have authorities seize his U.S. residence in Queens, which was owned by his sister.

"The CIU's investigation noted that Anderson never was asked about the discrepancies between his identification of Roman and the early descriptions of the assailants he gave to Detective Loguercio. But it's not clear if this was because the state failed to turn over this report or because Roman's attorney failed to bring it up.* The [DA's] office certified in 2015 that it could not locate its case file."**

[* Even if the state did turn over this report, it doesn't let the authorities (especially the detectives) off the hook for failing to confront Anderson about these very significant discrepancies.]

[** That's convenient -- and highly suspicious.]

"On August 9, 2021, the Queens...[DA] and Henning filed a joint motion asking the court to vacate Roman's convictions. In its affirmation, the [DA's] office said it 'had concluded that three witnesses and the facts undermining the credibility of the key trial witnesses Anderson and Kenyatta could not have been discovered in the context of Roman's trial with the exercise of due diligence and are of such character that they would have probably led to a verdict more favorable to the defendant.'

"In his affirmation, Henning took issue with that characterization. 'Whatever the contents of the lost prosecution file,' he wrote, 'the true character and credibility of Paul Anderson and Jomo Kenyatta could have been readily ascertained with relatively basic investigation and, indeed, should have been known -- at the very least -- to Detective Pepey.'

"On August 9, 2021, Justice Michelle Johnson of Queens...granted the motion and then dismissed the charges against Roman.

"[DA] Melinda Katz said, 'We are not so arrogant to think that the system doesn't make mistakes. When we find miscarriages of justice, we do everything in our power to correct them quickly.'"

"In September 2021, Roman filed a compensation claim in the New York Court of Claims. In November 2022, Roman filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York. The lawsuit was settled in October 2023 for $18 million."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]