Michael White - Perjury / False Accusation

White, Michael; sexual assault; NRE: perjury/false accusation, no crime

Bench trial

[842:661]; 4th Dept. 9/28/07; affirmed

"[T]he verdict is not against the weight of the evidence...[a]lthough the victim's testimony [did] contain [] inconsistencies...As County Court [ Sheila A. DiTullio ] noted in rendering its verdict, this was a 'case of credibility,' and the court's determination in this bench trial to credit the [supposed] victim's testimony is entitled to great deference..."

[Apparently, it's 'entitled to virtually unlimited deference.' The judge was proven -- by DNA evidence -- to be 100% wrong here. (But at least she said something to explain her verdict; in Nickel's case, Judge paul Czajka did not. )]

3 N.Y.S.3d 528; 4th Dept. 2/6/15; Cty.Ct. vacating of conviction affirmed

"[W]hen the complainant was examined at the hospital shortly after she was allegedly raped, a quantity of semen was found in her vagina. Although it could not be determined at the time whether [White] was the source of the semen, the prosecutor argued during her summation that the presence of semen corroborated the complainant's testimony that [White] raped her."

"In April 2013, after [White] was released from prison, more sophisticated DNA testing showed that the semen from the complainant's vagina did not come from [White]; instead, it came from the complainant's then-boyfriend.

"The only evidence against [White] at the trial was the testimony of the complainant and a lab report showing that semen was foud in her body shortly after she reported the alleged rape. The complainant's sister and mother both testified for the defense, and there was evidence that [White] was not physically capable of [committing] the crime of rape."

[One wonders how -- even with the evidence available at the time -- Judge Sheila A. DiTullio could have convicted White of this crime beyond a reasonable doubt. (But then again, the same could be said of Judge Paul Czajka re: Nickel's bench trial.)]

NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"On August 30, 2004, a 22-year-old woman reported to police in Gowanda...that 35-year-old Michael White raped her at her apartment.

"Police interviewed White and he denied rapng the woman. White said he was with his girlfriend, the complainant's sister, on the night of the alleged attack.

"White also said he had been impotent for years because of injuries sustained in a traffic accident and he asked that DNA testing be performed on semen that was recovered from the complainant. The New York State crime laboratory reported that the results were inconclusive because there was too little semen to develop a DNA profile.

"On October 20, 2004, White was charged with rape and sexual abuse. He remained free on bond and went to trial in February 2006 in Erie County...He chose to be tried by a judge without a jury. The complainant testified that White attacked her in her bed at 5:30 a.m.

"White's girlfriend -- the complainant's sister -- testified that she and White had moved out of the apartment where the rape allegedly occurred and that she was with White that night in their new residence. She also testified that White had been impotent for several years. The complainant's mother testified that the complainant was at the mother's residence rather than at the complainant's home at the time of the alleged assault.

"On February 17, 2006, the judge [ Sheila A. DiTullio ] convicted White of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse. He was sentenced to five years in prison."*

[* Five years is a very low sentence for rape. Perhaps this 'judge' harbored some doubts about his guilt.(But if so, she should -- of course --have acquitted him.)]

"White's conviction was upheld on appeal and he had served his sentence and was released. Following his release he retained attorney attorney Brian Shiffrin, who filed a motion for new DNA testing on the ground that DNA identification technology had become more sophisiticated and discerning since tests were performed in 2004.

"A second round of DNA testing was conducted, and a male DNA profile was obtained from the evidence. The profile excluded White and matched the DNA of the complainant's boyfriend. Nonetheless, the Erie County [DA] declined to dismiss the charges based on the DNA test results.

"Attorney Shiffrin filed a motion for a new trial. The prosecution opposed the motion, arguing that White might have worn a condom or might not have ejaculated.

"However, Shiffrin noted that at White's trial, the prosecutor argued to the jury that 'the presence of semen corroborated the complainant's testimony that (White) raped her.'*

[* And so, the prosecution wishes to have its cake and eat it too.]

"In March 2014, Erie County... Judge Sheila DiTullio granted the motion for a new trial and vacated White's convictions. The prosecution appealed and in February 2015, the...Appellate Division upheld DiTullio's ruling.

"The appeals court cited the prosecution's argument that the presence of semen corroborated the complainant's testimony and wrote, 'We now know, based on the more sophisticated DNA testing not previously available, that the presence of semen. . .does not in fact corroborate her testimony.'

"On May 7, 2015, with the consent of the Erie County [DA's] Office, Judge DiTullio dismissed the charges.

"In August 2016, White filed a claim in the New York Court of Claims. The claim was settled for $2 million in January 2020."

[The 22-year-old woman who made this false allegaton wasn't simply mistaken; she was lying, perhaps because she was jealous that White was dating her sister. It's not clear if she was charged with the crime of filing a false report, but she damn well should have been.]

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]

 

Perversion of Justice

Is deliberately finding someone guilty of things he did not do ever justified? If we convict people for acts of child sexual abuse that never happened, does that somehow 'make up' for all the past abuse that went completely unpunished? Is it okay to pervert justice in order to punish people wrongly perceived as perverts?

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