William Oakes - False Confession / Perjury / False Accusation

Oakes, William; murder, perjury; NRE: false confession, perjury/false accusation, prosecutor misconduct, police officer misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, misconduct in interrogation of exoneree

Suggestibility issues

[564:931]; 4th Dept. 12/21/90; reversed, because alibi had not been disproven beyond a reasonable doubt

"[Oakes], who is mildly retarded, was convicted of murder...for stabbing Edward Goulding to death in the Town of Cape Vincent sometime between 10:00 p.m. on Friday , February 24, 1984 and 9:10 a.m. the following morning. [Oakes'] estranged wife and their daughter had gone to live with Goulding several months before the incident. The [prosecution's] theory was that [Oakes] killed Goulding because Goulding caused [Oakes'] separation from his wife.

"[W]e conclude that the [prosecution] failed to meet their burden of disproving [Oakes'] alibi defense beyond a reasonable doubt...The proof at trial established that Edward Goulding was stabbed to death in his home...as he lay sleeping. There is no evidence linking [Oakes] to the murder other than his inculpatory admissions and 'confession' to the police.

"[Oakes] presented a number of disinterested [i.e., 'no axe to grind'] alibi witnesses that [his] landlady locked him in his apartment in Watertown from 8:00 p.m. on Friday evening February 24, 1984 until 5:45 a.m. the following morning, that his car was hemmed in between a camper and another car in his driveway, and that he was at a diner in Chaumont between 6:00 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. on Saturday morning and then at 6:50 a.m. went to a Catholic church, where he remained working all day."

858 F.Supp. 330; N.D.N.Y. 7/11/94; civil suit

"[Oakes] alleges that during the course of his [police] custody... Robert Cooke [of the New York State Police] and Edward Simser [of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department] physically abused him until he confessed to the homicide of Mr. Goulding. The alleged physical abuse consisted of banging [Oakes'] head against the inside of a police vehicle, beating him and discharging a service revolver held to his ear.

"[Oakes'] first murder trial, commenced in November 1984, resulted in a hung jury. Upon retrial in September 1985, a jury convicted [him]..."

"Two months after the trial had commenced, the Jefferson County grand jury indicted Oakes for perjury based on testimony that [he] had given during the course of the first trial. In that testimony, Oakes had alleged violations of his civil rights by... Cooke and Simser* ...Deputy Sheriff David Stayer...made a statement alleging that... Cooke and Simser had admitted to lying about beating Oakes when he was in police custody in order to bolster the criminal case against him...Deputy Sheriff Richard Burns...gave a statement similar to the one given by Deputy Stayer. A department hearing was held and deputies Stayer and Burns were found guilty of failing to report knowledge of crimes committed by fellow officers."**

[* It is extremely rare for a criminal defendant to be indicted for perjury stemming from testimony he provided in his own defense. As it is now apparent that Oakes was, in fact, telling the truth about Robert Cooke and Edward Simser physically abusing him, charging Oakes with perjury can only be seen as part of an effort to get him to 'shut up' about what these 'law enforcement' officers did.]

[** Deputies David Stayer and Richard Burns are, in truth, heroes in this otherwise sad and tawdry affair. Although it does appear that they delayed coming forward with the truth about their fellow officers' misconduct -- likely due to the legendary 'blue wall of silence,' violators of which are often subjected to extreme forms of retaliation -- they did, eventually, do the right thing. That, not failing to inform on fellow officers earlier, was what really caused them to face departmental disciplinary proceedings. It would appear that, at least back in the 1980s, Jefferson County -- in northern New York -- was a rather backward cesspool of criminal injustice. (See Police section of this site.)]

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"[D]etectives Robert Cooke and Edward Simser ...interrogated Oakes...for more than 15 hours before finally allowing him to leave the station at 3 a.m. on February 26 after he allegedly consented to a search of his room and his car. Nothing linking him to Goulding's death was found, but nonetheless Oakes was arrested again that afternoon.

"Following another lengthy interrogation, Cooke and Simser said Oakes confessed to stabbing Goulding because he was angry at him for allowing Oakes' wife and daughter to move in with him.

"There was no physical or forensic evidence linking Oakes to the crime."

"In his statement, [Dep. Edward] Steyer* said under oath that Simser told him about 'a night of terror' when he and Cooke 'scared the hell out of Oakes.' According to Steyer, Simser said they fired a gun three times near Oakes' ear, pointed it at him and threatened to pull the trigger, and they beat Oakes. Steyer said Cooke gave a similar account of the shooting and beating in a separate conversation."

[* The above federal decision spells his name Stayer.]

"In 1986, when Steyer learned that acting Sheriff Franklyn Gowing was considering promoting Simser to the position of undersheriff, Steyer told Gowing about the statements of Simser and Cooke. Gowing notified the [DA] and Burns executed a sworn statement saying that Simser and Cooke had admitted to the shooting and beating.

"In May 1986, Gowing filed disciplinary charges against Steyer and Burns accusing them of failing to report crimes by fellow officers. Both ultimately were fired from the sheriff's department.

"After Gowing began disciplinary proceedings against Steyer and Burns, Oakes' defense attorneys asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor. In June 1986, Governor Mario Cuomo asked state Attorney General Robert Abrams to investigate the claims that the officers lied at Oakes' trial to cover up their mistreatment of him and the coercion of a false confession.

"Oakes waived immunity and testified before the grand jury that was empaneled to investigate the statements by Steyer and Burns. Ultimately, the grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict Cooke and Simser for their conduct in the Oakes interrogation,* and instead indicted Oakes, Steyer and Burns on charges of perjury."

[* Likely because the prosecutor running this grand jury didn't want the officers indicted, and thus, presented evidence in such a way as to secure that result. (After all, in over 98% of cases, grand juries do indict.)]

"In May 1987, a jury convicted Oakes of six counts of perjury. Steyer and Burns were acquitted in a separate trial."

"On December 21, 1990, the...Apellate Division reversed and vacated Oakes' conviction and dismissed the indictment...That same day, the Appellate Division reversed Oakes' perjury conviction. The panel of judges...held that the trial judge had erred by refusing to allow Oakes' defense lawyer to call a psychiatrist to testify that Oakes had a low IQ and was susceptible to being led by authority figures. Oakes' lawyer had contended that the testimony was relevant to whether Oakes possessed the requisite specific intent to knowingly and willfully give false testimony."

"[I]n January 1991, Oakes was released on bond pending a retrial on the perjury charges. The [DA] dismissed the charges in January 1991."*

[* Thus, the DA left Oakes 'hanging' for a year -- before finally doing the right thing.]

"Oakes later filed a federal civil rights lawuit that was settled for an undisclosed amount. He also filed a claim with the New York Court of Claims, but it was denied."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]