Patrick Johnson - Perjury / False Accusation

Johnson, Patrick; murder; NRE: perjury/false accusation, inadequate legal defense, police misconduct, prosecutor misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant

Suggestibility issues

[575:143]; 2nd Dept. 10/15/91; affirmed, but one dissenter

"[Johnson] was arrested after being identified in a lineup by the complainant Lee Anderson as being one of the two gunmen who entered a Brooklyn carpet store and fired shots at Anderson and a second man, killing the second man...Anderson testified at trial that he knew [Johnson] from the neighborhood and recognized him when he entered the carpet store.

"[W]e are satisified that the verdict of guilt is not against the weight of the evidence..."

[from dissent (Justice Lawrence):] "The only evidence connecting [Johnson] to the crimes in question was Anderson's testimony that he recognized [Johnson] as one of the perpetrators involved in the shooting inside the carpet store. This testimony was seriously put into question by his admission that he had only viewed the perpetrators' faces for 'about half a second' before he covered his face and ran out of the store through the rear door. Anderson further admitted that in his prior sworn testimony given at the suppression hearing he had stated that he had 'not really recognized' any...of the perpetrators, despite testifying at that time that he had seen them for two or three seconds. In addition, Anderson's direct testimony that prior to the incident, he had known [Johnson] for 'months' from 'around the neighborhood' was also seriously put into doubt by his testimony on cross-examination that his knowledge of [Johnson] was based solely on the viewings of [him], one 'perhaps for a second,' and the other equally as fleeting. On both occasions, Anderson was driving his motor vehicle, and [Johnson], who was not doing anything to draw attention to himself, was either standing or talking to another man on the street. In addition, Anderson admitted that in his prior sworn testimony at the suppression hearing, he had stated that at the time of the incident he had not seen the face of anyone that he had previously known."

[587:278]; Court of Appeals 6/9/92; reversed, due to weight of evidence and evidentiary errors

"The eyewitness, the sole witness who inculpated [Johnson] in the commission of these crimes, gave testimony which was internally contradictory and inconsistent in nature. Significantly, the trial prosecutor pointedly relied on the erroneously admitted lineup evidence in the [prosecutor's] opening statement and summation, thus exacerbating the prejudicial impact."

[If it were not for Justice Lawrence's dissent in the 2nd Dept. (see above), it is extremely unlikely that the Court of Appeals would have even agreed to hear Johnson's appeal, much less grant him a reversal.]

from Records and Briefs:

[6] "[Johnson's] first trial ended with a hung jury. At his second trial, the eyewitness gave testimony that was inconsistent with much of his testimony at the [pre-trial] hearing and the first trial, asserted that he had been lying at those proceedings but was telling the truth now, and claimed, for the first time, that he had recognized [Johnson] on the basis of two prior, fleeting viewings while driving down crowded city streets. Nonetheless, the jury found [Johnson] guilty on all counts. Anderson subsequently recanted his identification of Johnson."

[Detective Anthony Cordero of the 71st Precinct assigned to case, as well as Detective Richard Gordon. Prior to the trial at least, ADAs involved were Robert Lesser and Johh Tasolides. ]

[Romeo Stultz was Johnson's co-defendant, but he died prior to second trial.]

[12] "According to Anderson, Cordero ...gave him [a mughot book], and asked him to look for the other two perpetrators [besides Stultz]...Half an hour later, Anderson remarked that a photo of [Johnson] 'looked like' one of them...Cordero denied that Anderson ever viewed a photograph of [Johnson]..."

"Shortly afterward, an officer escorted [Johnson] in handcuffs past Anderson,* about 17 feet away...Anderson saw Johnson for approximately 30 seconds, and recognized him as the man in the photograph he had just viewed."

[* This is called a 'show-up,' which is extremely suggestive.]

[This source gives Anderson's first name as Leo (as opposed to Lee, cited in first case above).]

[26] [Jackson is then convicted and sentenced.]

"[Johnson] moved for a new trial...on the basis of newly discivered evidence. On November 5, 1984, at a hearing held pursuant to the motion, Anderson recanted his identification of [Johnson] as one of the perpetrators, admitting that he had [27] identified [him] as one of the gunmen out of 'respect' for Danny, his boss, who had 'put him in the position of testifying against an innocent man,' and that the [DA] had threatened to charge him with perjury if he did not testify against [Johnson] at the second trial..." [Motion denied.]

[34] "[I]t is ludicrous to imagine that Anderson, while driving a car, could possibly have singled out and remembered a stranger on the street, among countless anonymous pedestrians, when he had never had anything to do with him and had no reason to recall him."

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"On March 24, 1982, two gunmen entered a carpet store in Brooklyn...and fatally shot Philip Taylor, a reputed drug dealer. Police believed the store was a front for a drug sales operation because there was only one roll of carpet in stock.

"Shortly after the shooting, an informant told police that the store's owner, Lee Anderson, who had previous arrests and convictions for drug crimes, was present at the time of the shooting. Police located Anderson and took him to the 71st Precinct...Before Anderson was questioned, however, he asked to use the bathroom and then slipped out of the station. Detectives found him again and brought him back, but again he managed to escape from the station."*

[* It's funny how the above court decision affirming Johnson's conviction neglected to mention this.]

"Detectives found Anderson a third time on March 26 -- two days after the murder -- and this time, they handcuffed him to a chair in the precinct. When Anderson was finally questioned, he gave the first of what would be five different versions of what happened. Because police believed he was running a drug operation and not a carpet business, they suspected Anderson knew who the gunmen were. Anderson said that he didn't look at the gunmen. He said that he was afraid and he hid.

"A detective later testified that he heard from an informant that one of the gunmen was named Patrick and learned that 22-year-old Patrick Johnson was being questioned about an unrelated crime in the 77th Precinct, several blocks away.

"At 4 a.m. on March 27, 1982, Anderson was shown a lineup containing Johnson. Just before the lineup, detectives escorted Johnson in handcuffs past Anderson. Although Johnson was 22, the other four men in the lineup ranged in age from 37 to 46. Anderson said Johnson 'looked like' one of the gunmen. Johnson was charged with the second-degree murder of Anderson, and criminal possession of a firearm.

"Another man, Romeo Stultz, also was charged with the murder based on an identification by Anderson.

"Johnson and Stultz went on trial in Kings County...in January 1983. The state's case relied almost entirely on the identifications made by Anderson. Johnsons lawyer called several alibi witnesses as well as documentary records showing that Johnson had been paying a utility bill at the time of the crime and making purchases for his wife, who was home ill. Johnson, who managed a grocery store, testified that he was off on the day of the crime and spent the entire day running errands for his family, and spent the night in his home, more than 10 miles from the scene of the murder.

"No physical or forensic evidence linked either defendant to the crime. A mistrial was declared when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

"Johnson went on trial a second time in December 1983 by himself, because Stultz attempted to rob a store in Brooklyn and was killed by the store owner. Johnson's attorney at the trial did not call any alibi witnesses, telling Johnson that he was convinced that Anderson was so incredible as an eyewitness that the jury would acquit him.* During cross-examination, Anderson admitted he had lied to detectives on numerous occasions, saying he didn't want to get involved in the case."

[* Well, the first jury didn't acquit him. Moreover, it is extremely reckless to just blithely dispense with alibi witnesses like that.]

"Nonetheless, on December 20, 1983, the jury convicted Johnson of second-degree murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

"In November 1984, Anderson, who was in prison, contacted Johnson, saying he had converted to Islam. Anderson signed a sworn affidavit saying that Johnson was not involved in the shooting and that he had only identified him because he saw him being led into the lineup in handcuffs.

"Anderson said he lied 'because (the police) came and picked me up and brought me down there and I guess if I didn't do it, they just keep coming to pick me up again sometime. . .I wanted to get them off my back, get them to leave me alone.'

"A motion to vacate Johnson's convictions was filed, but the motion was denied in 1985 by the trial judge, Sybil Kooper, even though at sentencing in January 1984, Kooper had said there were 'hundreds' of inconsistencies in Anderson's testimony and she thought he was 'a terrible witness.'

"Johnson's convictions were upheld on appeal. In June 1988, Johnson filed a motion to vacate his convictions on the ground that his trial attorney had provided a constitutionally defective defense by failing to call the alibi witnesses. That motion was denied, but in June 1992, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the convictions and ordered a new trial, finding that the lineup identifications should have been suppressed because of Anderson's 'internally contradictory and inconsistent' testimony.

"On April 5, 1993, the Kings County [DA's] Office dismissed the charges and Johnson was released.

"In 1995, Johnson filed a claim for restitution with the New York Court of Claims, but the claim was dismissed."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]