Peter Dombrowski - Mistaken ID
Dombrowski, Peter; robbery; NRE: mistaken witness identification, inadequate legal defense, prosecutor misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence
[558:401]; 4th Dept. 7/13/90; reversed, due to prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel
"[Dombrowski] was denied the effective assistance of counsel and denied a fair trial because of prosecutorial misconduct."
"[T]he proof against [Dombrowski] was far from overwhelming. Although two restaurant employees...identified [him] as the robber, a customer who had been seated next to the robber testified that [Dombrowski] was not the robber. [Dombrowski] presented the alibi testimony of the woman with whom he lived...and there was evidence from another defense witness that [Dombrowski's] appearance on the date of the incident varied from the description given by the victims.
"Defense counsel...failed to move for dismissal of the indictment on the ground that [Dombrowski's] waiver of immunity was defective...and such motion would have been successful...Although the issue of identity was critical, counsel made...no move to suppress the identification evidence. Counsel also failed to move for discovery or for Brady material. At trial, defense counsel failed to elicit the significant exculpatory fact that a fingerprint lifted from a beer bottle held by the robber was not that of [Dombrowski]. Finally, counsel failed to object to numerous instances of prosecutorial misconduct that subjected critical defense witnesses to impermissible attacks on their credibility, that impermissibly attacked the credibility of the nontestifying [Dombrowski], and shifted the burden of proof. It is apparent from the record that counsel had not familiarized himself with the case and had not adequately prepared for trial."
[As is virtually always the case where a conviction has been reversed due to prosecutorial misconduct, the offending prosecutor is not actually named here.]
from Records and Briefs:[6] "Mr. Demopoulos [one of the two restaurant employees to 'ID' Dombrowski], who was myopic enough to wear corrective lenses at all times, admitted that he did not have his eyeglasses on throughout the entire incident because the robber pulled Mr. Demopoulos's glasses off his face..."
from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):
"At about 1:30 a.m. on June 18, 1984, as employees at Dimos Restaurant in Buffalo...were closing the bar, a man wearing a trench coat and baseball cap emerged from the darkened banquet room with a pistol in his hand. The robber forced the night manager to hand over money from the cash register and the safe, then forced him into a walk-in cooler and drove off in the night manager's car.
"Later that day, the car was found four blocks from the residence of 37-year-old Peter Dombrowski, who the investigating detective knew because they had grown up together in Buffalo and because Dombrowski had been convicted of robberies on two prior occasions.
"On June 19, the police put a photograph of Dombrowski into a photographic lineup and the night manager as well as a female bartender both identified Dombrowski as the robber. Dombrowski was arrested that day and charged with armed robbery, criminal use of a firearm and auto theft.
"Dombrowski went on trial in Erie County...in May 1985. The night manager and the bartender both identified Dombrowski as the robber. They said he was shabbily dressed, unshaven and his hair was long and unkempt. Both said that Dombrowski came into the tavern earlier in the evening and drank some beers. They said they had not seen him before that night.
"Dombrowski's common-law wife and mother of their daughter, testified that June 17, 1984 was Father's Day. She and Dombrowski spent the holiday by going out for a Father's Day dinner and visiting friends and were home by 9:30 p.m. She said they went to bed around 11:45 p.m.
"[She], as well as some of the friends the couple visited that day, testified that Dombrowski was clean-shaven except for his customary mustache. All agreed that most days, Dombrowski was not clean-shaven and was generally unkempt because he worked for a vehicle leasing business six days a week repairing motors, changing tires and doing other automative work.
"On May 16, 1985, a jury convicted Dombrowski on all counts. He was sentenced to 9 to 18 years in prison.
"In July 1990...the Appellate Division...reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. The court held that Dombrowski's attorney had provided an inadequate legal defense by failing to request that the prosecution turn over evidence favorable to Dombrowski. As a result, the defense did not know that police had dusted police bottles that the robber had been served, and that some fingerprints were obtained, but none belonged to Dombrowski. The court also held that the prosecution had engaged in improper questioning and argument that prejudiced the jury.
"On September 30, 1990, Dombrowski was released from prison and on October 22, 1990, a judge dismissed the charges. Dombrowski filed a claim for damages in the New York Court of Claims. Before the claim was denied, Dombrowski was killed in November 1991 by a hit and run driver. The claim was later denied."
[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]
