Ezequiel Apolo-Albino - Perjury - Overwhelming Evidence
Apolo-Albino, Ezequiel; WA; NRE: perjury/false accusation, no crime, inadequate legal defense; "OVERWHELMING"
2011 WL 3055385; Ct. of Apps. of WA 7/25/11; affirmed
"The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) removed seven-year-old B.G. and nine-year-old D.G. from their biological mother's home due to neglect. B.G. was placed with foster parent Sarah Anderson and D.G. was placed with foster mother Sharon Cormier.
"Their biological father, Apolo, received visitation rights. Visitations initially occurred at Cormier's home but were later moved to a local school where Cormier taught Taekwondo classes. Apolo did not have a driver's license, so his daughter, Maria Juarez, took him to each visitation.
"D.G. and B.G. separately disclosed to Anderson and Cormier that Apolo molested them, and Cormier notified child protective services. The State charged Apolo with two counts of first degree child molestation.
"At trial, the State presented evidence that Apolo molested both girls during the Taekwondo visitations."
[Apolo's lawyer did not cross-examine the complainants at all. Nevertheless, the appellate court 'found' that he provided meaningful representation.]
[And yet, the NRE lists 'inadequate legal defense' as contributing to this wrongful conviction.]
"The evidence is overwhelming in support of these convictions."
"Al Kitchings, Apolo's counsel in his termination of parental rights proceeding, e-mailed Danko [Apolo's criminal lawyer] approximately two weeks before trial was set to begin. In the e-mail, Kitchings explained that 'an older brother and sister of the alleged victims have stated, upon hearing of the allegations underlying your case, that they thought their sisters/alleged victims were "lying"'...Danko did not contact Kitchings for more information. In a declaration supporting the motion for a new trial, Kitchings elaborated:
'[I]t appeared from the discovery I reviewed in the termination of parental rights cases that the timing of the allegations of molestation coincided with the alleged victim's expressed preference to be placed with/adopted by an 'Uncle Jeff,' who the older alleged victim said she 'loved' and who she believed 'loved' her. The timing was particularly suspect because it was also clear from this discovery that those girls felt [Apolo] was too old, too strict and whom they referred to derogatorily [as] "grandpa."'
from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):
"Apolo-Albinio appealed [his conviction] and argued that his defense lawyer, Danko, provided an inadequate legal defense because he failed to call his investigator, Leigh Hearon, as a witness. Hearon had interviewed the girls before trial and was prepared to testify that the girls gave vastly inconsistent statements about what occurred, whether it occurred, and where it occurred." p> "Ultimately, after living with several different foster parents, [D.G.] and her siblings were adopted. In 2013, [D.G.] told her then-foster parents that she had concocted the allegations against her father. Child protective services was notified, but no action was taken.
"In 2015, [D.G.] told a counselor that the allegations were false and that [Sharon] Cormier [her foster mother] had coerced her with threats of physical harm. The counselor reported [D.G.'s] statements to authorities and child protective services began an investigation. In many numerous interviews that followed, [D.G.] insisted that her father never abused her physically or sexually.
"As part of the investigation, [B.G.] was also interviewed and she confirmed that her father had never touched her inappropriately and that Cormier had threatened her as well.
"Bea Munoz, the state investigator assigned to investigate allegations of abuse by Cormier, documented extensive evidence of Cormier's maltreatment of foster children, including [D.G. and B.G.]. Muniz discovered that from 1996 to 2016, Cormier had made 17 separate complaints of sexual and physical abuse of children in her care by their relatives or parents.
"In 2016, Munoz contacted Amy Parker, an attorney in the King County Department of Public Defense, and described the results of her investigation. Parker and her investigators...re-investigated the case and ultimately Parker filed a motion seeking a new trial for Apolo-Albino."
"In response to the motion for a new trial, the prosecution moved to dismiss the charges. On September 29, 2016...Judge John Ruhl vacated Apolo-Albino's convictions, the charges were dismissed and he was released after nearly seven years in prison."
[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]
