Lawrence Fowler - Murder / Mistaken Witness ID

Fowler, Lawrence; murder; NRE: mistaken witness identification, police officer misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant

Suggestibility issues

[708:852]; 1st Dept. 5/9/00; affirmed

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

from Records and Briefs:

[12] "Other than the testimony of these two teenagers, there was no evidence incriminating [Fowler]. There was no forensic proof nor any physical or other evidence that made it more likely than not that [Fowler] was the perpetrator.

[13] "[Ricky] Rivera, the apparent target of the shooting, was close enough to recognize (and name) one of them. Rivera said the shooter and his companion were about eighteen years old. [From FN: [Fowler] was 36 when the shooting took place.] Neither the shooter nor his companion were [Fowler].

[14] "Rivera's description of the two young perpetrators was confirmed by Agnes Santiago, who looked out her window immediately after she heard gunfire. A young man with [the two witnesses who 'identified' Fowler as the gunman] also contradicted their testimony.

"The original police broadcast was that the shooting was done by three youths on bicycles.

"It is noteworthy that both [witnesses who identified Fowler as the gunman] were friends of the deceased. [One of them], about 12 years old, was weeping when he was questioned by the police. When they were taken to the showup, they were told an arrest had been made of someone fitting the description they provided. They viewed the suspect, [Fowler], together. ['Show-ups' are already extremely suggestive; add to that the fact that two young men were together when this occurred makes it all the moreso.]

"Neither of the [prosecution's] eyewitnesses saw the perpetrator face-on, but rather, only saw the shooter's profile. One of them did not observe glasses of any sort, nor facial hair, and one said the shooter wore black pants (as did each of [Fowler's] eyewitnesses). [Fowler] was viewed only face-on, and not in profile, at the showup. His pants matched the sweatshirt he wore, which was not black. There was considerable discussion throughout the trial as to whether [Fowler] wore purple or maroon or burgundy clothes, but he unquestionably was not wearing black pants."

[15] "Whatever and whomever they saw, [the two who ID'd Fowler] made their observations from down the block and across the street, as much as one-half city block away. Rivera was right there, knew one of the perpetrators, and was unequivocal that [Fowler] was not one of them."

"[Fowler] presented four alibi witnesses. One of them...was a New York City Police Officer. The alibi was not impugned in any measure."

"[T]he prosecutor...had challenged each and every [a total of six] African-American [potential jurors] except for one. (The sole exception...was a police officer.)"

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"On July 25, 1996, two youths on bicycles rode up to a building in the Bronx...One opened fire with a handgun and both rode off. [A twelve-year-old boy with the last name of Jones] was struck and killed.

"Police were called, and after witnesses said the attackers were on bicycles, they began searching the neighborhood. The following day, police spotted 37-year-old Lawrence Fowler, who worked as a bicycle messenger, riding his bicycle near the area of the shooting."

[It is not at all clear why police stopped this particular person who was riding a bike: there's nothing here about him resembling the suspect, or the bike being the same color, etc. as the one used in the shooting.]

"Detectives brought Fowler to a detective's car nearby and, shortly thereafter, a police patrol car drove by carrying two witnesses. Both witnesses told police that Fowler was the gunman."

[This is what is known as a 'show-up' procedure, which is suggestive in the extreme. ] "Fowler was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and illegal use of a firearm."

"Fowler went on trial in Bronx County...in April 1998. The two witnesses told the jury that Fowler was the gunman.

"Fowler called 11 witnesses, some of whom testified that Fowler was elsewhere at the time of the crime and some of whom were at the scene of the shooting and said Fowler was not the gunman."

[ That is what's called (at the very least) 'reasonable doubt.' The fact that this jury convicted anyway is evidence of its gullibility and/or assumption that the police would not have arrested Fowler if he wasn't guilty.]

"Among the witnessses who were at the scene of the shooting was Ricky Rivera, a gang member who testified that he was standing next to Jones when Jones was shot. Rivera testified that he believed he was the intended target and that the gunman was a rival gang member named 'Cliff,' with whom he was feuding over the sale of drugs in the neighborhood.

"Despite Rivera's estimony, the jury convicted Fowler..."

"In 2000, after Fowler had lost his appeals, his attorney received information that a man was telling people that Fowler was not the gunman. But when the attorney tried to interview the man, he refused to talk about the case.

"In 2006, Bronx [ADA] Daniel McCarthy notified Fowler's attorney that during a federal investigation of street gangs, new evidence of Fowler's innocence had been discovered. Investigators for the U.S. Attorney's Office said they had interviewed a gang member turned informant who said that on the day of the shooting, he was a lookout for the gunman. The informant said that Fowler was not the gunman, according to McCarthy.

"Based on that information, Fowler's lawyer filed a motion to vacate Fowler's conviction on August 1, 2006. The prosecution joined in the motion and on August 2, 2006, Bronx County...Judge Ed Davidowitz granted the motion and vacated the conviction. The prosecution immediately dismissed the charges and Fowler was released.

"Fowler later filed a claim for compensation in the New York Court of Claims and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York. The lawsuit was dismissed. The compensation claim was settled for $1,437,000."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]