Reginald Cameron & Armond McCloud - Police Misconduct

Cameron, Reginald AND McCloud, Armond, Jr. ; murder; NRE: plea (Cameron only), police officer misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant, misconduct in interrogation of exoneree

Suggestibility issues

[633:447] [both]; Queens Cty. Ct. 10/2/95; motions granted + denied [Judge Steven W. Fisher]

"Four days [after the crime], detectives investigating the homicide were informed that an individual, arrested on an unrelated robbery, claimed to have information about the crime.

"The individual told detectives that he overheard a conversation in a local candy store indicating that a person named Junior, who drove a light-colored Oldsmobile with the words 'Head Crack' or 'Headcrackers' on the front window, was responsible for the homicide. The informant added that Junior had two good friends named Reggie and Kendo.

"Apparenty recognizing the names, the detectives secured photographs of Reginald Cameron and Kendo McDonald, who were suspected in prior robberies in the building where the homicide occurred. Both were believed to be wanted on pending robbery complaints and, in fact, a wanted poster for Cameron was on dislay in the Security office at Lefrak City [Development, where the crime took place]."

[Detectives Joseph Croce, Mary Ann Herbert, Ruben Martinez, and Carlos Gonzalez, with the latter being in charge of case. ADA Kim Marcus.]

[959:9] [McCloud]; Queens Cty. Ct. 8/10/12; motion to vacate denied [Judge Robert C. Kohm]

"Late in the evening of August 4, 1994, an exchange student from Japan, named Kei Sunada, was returning from work to his residence in the Lefrak City Housing Development. He would never safely reach the refuge of his apartment, as he would be fatally shot in the head by [McCloud] [???] during a botched robbery on the 4th floor stairwell of his building. Upon entering his building, he was followed into the elevator* by [McCloud] and an individual named Reginald Cameron, while a third individual, Kendo MacDonald, waited in the lobby. During the ensuing robbery attempt that commenced after Mr. Sunada exited from the elevator, a physical altercation developed between the victim and the perpetrators, culminating with [McCloud] discharging his weapon at Mr. Sunada."

[* That's very unlikely. As we shall see below, Sunada routinely used the stairs. ] "For his part, [McCloud] alleged that the shooting was accidental. In a written statement given to the police, [McCloud] wrote: 'Me and Reggie and Kendo when (sic) up in the building and we seen a Chinese man and we all got. . .off and he ran out the elevator and started to fight back and the gun went off by mistake. . .' During the course of the next 18 years, [McCloud] would claim that this statement, as well as a subsequent statement memorialized on videotape, were untrue, and were illegally obtained by the police because they 'tricked' him into confessing. In fact, he would later claim that he was not present at the time of the shooting, but was instead with his girlfriend driving back to the Bronx.

"[McCloud] proceeded to a jury trial before the Hon. Robert J. Hanophy and was convicted...[McCloud's] judgment of conviction was affirmed by the Appellate Division..." [Federal writ also denied.]

[Subsequent DNA testing was inconclusive. McCloud sought further testing, but court, medical examiner said was not technically possible.]

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"Police found [the victim's] knapsack, with a black shirt hanging out, less than a foot from where Sunada was found. A discharged shell casing was found on the landing. A deformed bullet was recovered from the fifth-floor landing. A bullet impression was noted on the wall near the stairs leading up to the fifth floor.

"At the time, Sunada was working at a Japanese restaurant, saving money to enroll in a Formula-One race car driving school in California. He was known to use the stairs instead of the elevator to reach his apartment* because it was good exercise to go along with his kick-boxing workouts."

[* Recall that, above, the (false) confession that McCloud was apparently 'tricked' into making stated that Sunada "was followed into the elevator" by McCloud and Cameron. But when the police put those words into McCloud's mouth, they didn't know that Sunada didn't use the elevator.]

"Four days after Sunada was shot, on August 8, 1994, 20-year-old Armond McCloud, Jr. and 19-year-old Reginald Cameron became suspects based on a statement from a 16-year-old boy... who was arrested for an unrelated robbery. Police said [he] signed a statement saying he was at a candy store the day after the shooting when he overheard people saying that the gunman was known as 'Headcrack.' [He] knew Headcrack, who he said drove an older model Lincoln* with the word 'Headcrack' across the top of the windshield, and was also known as Junior. The term 'headcrack' referred to a winning throw in the dice game called Cee-Lo."

[* Recall that the above (1995) county court decision stated that Junior/Headcrack drove an Oldsmobile. ]

"[The 16-year-old] said the gunman hung around with someone he knew as Reggie. Police showed him a photograph of McCloud and [he] identified him as Headcrack. [He] identified a photograph of Cameron as Reggie. He also identified a photo of Kendo McDonald as someone who associated with Cameron and McCloud. In November 1993, nearly a year earlier, McDonald and Cameron had been arrested for robbing a man at gunpoint in the development. The charge against Cameron had been dismissed; McDonald was convicted and was on probation.

"At about 7 p.m. on August 8, 1994, police found McCloud, Cameron, and McDonald and brought them in for questioning. Placed in separate rooms, none of them made any admissions during the first four hours with six to eight different detectives going in and out of the interrogation rooms.

"At about 1:45 a.m., McDonald signed a statement saying that he was in the lobby with McCloud and Cameron when they saw Sunada at the elevator. He said McCloud and Cameron 'told me to chill.' He said that Sunada got into the elevator* and 'they got on the elevator with him. I waited downstairs at the back entrance smoking a cigarette.'"

[* Again, that's highly doubtful, given that Sunada routinely used the stairs for exercise.]

"McDonald said that Cameron and McCloud ran down the stairs. He said he saw McCloud put a gun in his waistband. McDonald said he ran with them away from the building. Cameron threw away a wallet as they ran, he said. The following day, according to McDonald, Cameron said that Sunada was fighting McCloud as McCloud was trying to search him. McDonald was subsequently released."*

[* Let's remember a couple of things here: Both Cameron and McDonald had been arrested for an earlier gun-involved robbery at the LeFrak development. Charges against Cameron were later dropped, but McDonald was convicted, and was on probation. Due to the latter, McDonald had every incentive to make sure not only that he wouldn't have to go to jail for his previous conviction, but also, for the current, far more serious robbery and murder charges. But also, detectives may resent that Cameron 'skated' on the earlier charges.]

"Detective Carlos Gonzalez and Detective Marianne Herbert were the last detectives to interrogate Cameron. Herbert later testified that Cameron eventually gave a statement saying that he and McCloud had gotten into the elevator with Sunada. As the elevator rose, Sunada sensed he was about to be robbed, panicked, and pushed the button for the fourth floor. When the door opened, Sunada got out, followed by McCloud and Cameron. A struggle occurred and Sunada was shot.

"Detective Gonzalez would later testify that he then went over the statement with Cameron twice and then, at 3:33 a.m., Cameron signed a written statement. The statement said that Cameron was talking to a girlfriend when McCloud called him into the elevator. Sunada was there. When the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, 'Junior [McCloud] then approached the man for his money. The man started moving and Junior went for his pockets. That's when the man got louder and louder. Then, all of a sudden, I saw two flashes,' the statement said.

"'I heard no noise,* but the man fell down,' the statement said. 'I then tried to close the elevator door because I knew nothing about [McCloud] having a gun or his intentions of robbing the man.' The statement said McCloud got back in the elevator and they fled. 'I'm sorry that the events went the way they did, but I had no knowledge [that] any of this was going to happen.'"

[* The only way that could be true is if the gun had a silencer, which is extremely unlikely.]

"Shortly after 5 a.m., McCloud signed a statement saying that he and Cameron and McDonald all got into the elevator. The statement said that when Sunada got off, he 'started to fight back and the gun went off by mistake.'

"At 8:10 a.m., McCloud gave a videotaped statement to a prosecutor. In this interview, McCloud said that Cameron gave him a gun as McCloud got out of the elevator. He said he was pointing it toward the floor when Sunada had made a defensive karate kick, which 'nicked' McCloud's hand, causing the gun to accidentally discharge. He said at first that Sunada was not carrying anything, but then said -- incorrectly -- that Sunada was carrying a grocery bag. The interview ended at 8:41 a.m., about 13 hours after McCloud was first arrested.

"Cameron also agreed to videotape the statement with an [ADA], which took place shortly after 9 a.m. Cameron gave an uninterrupted narrative that tracked the written ststement, including seeing two muzzle flashes. However, when questioned by the prosecutor, Cameron's answers were vague, inaccurate or unverifiable. He could not, for example, say what time the crime occurred, saying 'just started to get late.' He could not provide a description of the victim, except to say -- incorrectly -- that 'I think I remember him having a plastic bag with him.'"*

[* Remember: Cameron and McCloud had been separated. And yet, both somehow stated -- incorrectly -- that Sunada was carrying a plastic bag. Guess who that idea came from.]

"Defense attorneys for McCloud and Cameron filed motions to suppress the confessions. Testimony was taken...in December 1994. Cameron testified that he asked for a lawyer when he was first brought to the station, but detectives ignored him. He said that detectives showed him a wallet in a plastic bag, and said his fingerprints were on it. Cameron also testified: 'They said to me that I should implicate Armond McCloud because a third-party, Kendo McDonald, was implicating me and if I had any smarts that I would implicate Armond. . .they told me all I had to say I was present and I witnessed Armond shoot the deceased.'

"He said that eventually he told the detectives what they wanted to hear. His first attempt was insufficient 'because I wasn't able to tell them how many shots were fired and if the deceased had a bag or not.' He said he signed his Miranda warning card just before giving the videotaped statement and not before he gave his oral and written statements.

"Several detectives, including Herbert and Gonzalez, denied that Cameron asked for a lawyer and denied that he was not given his Miranda warnings until just before the videotaped statement.

"In March 1996, the motions to suppress the confessions were denied.* The men were tried separately. On March 11, after a jury was selected, McCloud's trial opened in Queens...Witnesses included Detective Gonzalez, who testified about McCloud's confession. A medical examiner testified that Sunada was shot once in the face and the bullet exited the back of his head."

[* Almost certainly by the presiding trial judge, Robert J. Hanophy. This was over a year after the pre-trial hearings were held, which is a very long time for a court to take in making a suppression ruling.]

"The defense called Evelyn English, the mother of McCloud's girlfriend. She testified that her daughter gave birth on August 1, 1994, and came home with the baby on August 3. The boy was her first grandchild, English said. She told the jury that McCloud came over on August 4. English told the jury that McCloud and her daughter went out during the evening and that they returned about 11:15 p.m., accompanied by McCloud's friend whom she only knew as 'Reggie.' She said McCloud left about 11:20 p.m. from their home in the Bronx -- 13 miles from Lefrak City where Sunada was shot at about the same time."*

[* Recall the beginning of this synopsis, which notes that the shooting occurred 'shortly before midnight.' Because that's even less of a precise time than English's 'about 11:20 p.m.,' we cannot say exactly how much time McCloud would have had to get from this Bronx apartment to LeFrak City in Queens. But, something on the order of 20 minutes seems unlikely. The two locations were separated by 13 miles -- presumably, 'as the crow flies.' But we're talking about New York City here. Traveling by car (as noted above), it seems very unlikely he could make it to a whole different borough in so short a time. (And if Ms. English were -- let us say -- less than accurate about all this, why wouldn't she come up with a tighter alibi for McCloud?)]

"McCloud's defense attorney Reginald Towe argued during closing argument that the confession was false. He noted that Sunada's body was found in the stairwell where the spent bullet and expended shell casing was found. He also said that a lack of blood in the hallway showed the shooting was not there as McCloud's confession stated.

"'That's the problem with this case from the very beginning,' Towe declared. 'They want to make the facts they know fit the statement that they finally extracted from my client.'

"Towe urged the jury to 'send a message' to Detective Gonzalez. 'Let him know that on the next case, make sure that the statement has something to do with the facts in the case,' Towe said.

"The prosecution conceded that the shooting occurred in the stairwell, but conceded that was not evidence that the confession was false -- that McCloud's statement was his attempt to minimize what happened; claiming the gun discharged accidentally when Sunada karate-kicked his hand."*

[* That makes no sense. Why couldn't Sunada have just as easily 'karate-kicked' him in the stairwell as the hallway? How does saying this happened in the hallway 'miminize what happened'?]

"On March 19, 1996, the jury convicted McCloud of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. He was acquitted of robbery. On April 15, 1996, at sentencing, McCloud maintained he was innocent and that his confession was false. He said he confessed falsely after the detectives told him that Sunada's father was a powerful and wealthy man in Japan who would have arranged for McCloud's murder if he were to be released without being charged. McCloud was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

"On May 13, 1996, a jury was selected in Cameron's trial in Queens...The following day, realizing the severity of McCloud's sentence, Cameron agreed to plead guilty to first-degree robbery. The murder charge was dimissed, and he was sentenced to three years and nine months to 11 years in prison.*"

[* So, Cameron's plea sentence was some 7 times longer than McCloud's trial sentence.]

"In February 1998, the...Second Department...upheld McCloud's conviction and sentence.

"In 2001, McCloud wrote to Queens [DA] Richard Brown, saying that he had confessed falsely because of the police threats that Sunada's family would kill him. 'I sat there dumbfounded,' McCloud wrote. 'But I thought. And thought. And thought. If I say I did it, I'll go to Rikers Island but eventually the truth will surface about my innocence in a court of law. Most importantly, I will be safe from whoever this powerful person is [who] is already convinced that I killed his son.'"*

[* Much like Martin Tankleff, McCloud could not conceive of a member of 'law enforcement' lying so brazenly about something so significant.]

"Nothing came of the letter.

"On September 3, 2003, Cameron was released from prison on parole.

"McCloud made several attempts to overturn his convictions, filing post-conviction petitions in the state court as well as a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus. All were denied.

"A request to conduct DNA testing on scrapings from Sunada's fingernails produced no evidence. The samples had been collected at autopsy after Sunada had been at the hospital where his hands undoubtedly had been washed."*

[* Why would that have happened? Any competent professional performing an autopsy on a murder victim would surely know that (among other things) fingernail scrapings should be collected before any part of the body is cleaned. Or, perhaps this was simply an issue of bad faith.]

"In 2019, at a parole hearing, McCloud, in a bid to obtain release, disavowed his claim of innocence at sentencing, apologized to the Sunada family and said, 'I accept full responsibility for the crime.' But his admissions, like his confession, did not match the crime -- McCloud told the parole hearing that he accidentally shot Sunada believing he was the 'pizza guy.' Parole was denied.

"In 2021, McCloud appeared again at a parole hearing. He was represented by Rutgers University Law School Professor Laura Cohen, as well as Laura Nirider and Steven Drizer from Northwestern University's Pritzger Law School's Center on Wrongful Convictions. The parole board was presented evidence that the confession was false and was based on erroneous police reports that Gonzalez had relied upon when he got involved in the case four days after the shooting.

"McCloud retracted his earlier admission, saying, 'I was desperate and it was out of fear of dying in prison for something that I did not do.' He noted that for 27 years, 'I screamed at the highest mountain top, fought to the highest court that I did not commit this crime and one of the most frustrating things in my life is screaming that I did not commit this crime and people are hearing me but they were not listening.'

"McCloud was finally released on parole on January 31, 2023."*

[* Thus, the above 2021 parole board -- despite three law professors coming and presenting evidence of McCloud's innocence -- denied him parole after he'd already served 27 years.]

"By that time, the Queens County [DA's] Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) was more than two years into a re-investigation of the case at the urging of the lawyers for McCloud. Lawyers for the Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit came into the reinvestigation subsequently and joined in the request to vacate these convictions.

"On August 24, 2023, Bruce Benjet, CIU head, filed a report of its review of the case and concluded that McCloud's and Cameron's convictions should be vacated.

"In the motion to vacate the convictions, Benjet noted that the initial police investigation made significant errors that ultimately resulted in detectives -- specifically Gonzalez -- obtaining false confessions from Cameron and McCloud.

"The motion noted that in 1989, five years before Sunada was killed, Gonzalez had obtained false confessions from Antron McCray and Kevin Richardson, two of the six youths who were wrongly convicted of sexual assault and the savage beating of a woman in what became known as the Central Park Jogger case."

"In the motion, Benjet said the decision to agree to vacate the convictions was the result of 'the confluence of three factors seriously undermining the reliability' of the confessions.

"These factors included the discovery that Detective Gonzalez had 'elicited multiple false statements' in the cases of McCray and Richardson; the presences of the false facts in the confessions of McCloud and Cameron that were 'traceable to Gonzalez's misunderstanding of the facts of the crime as represented in erroneous police reports;' and the use of techniques to obtain the confessions that Detective Gonzalez used in other false confession cases.

"The CIU reported that a crime expert, Kevin Parmelee of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, reviewed the evidence. He created a three-dimensional representation of the scene and trajectory of the bullet. Parmelee confirmed that the decription of the crime in the confessions was 'impossible.'

"During an interview with the CIU, McCloud said that Detective Gonzalez had instructed him to just say it was an accident. He said he was thirsty, exhausted, scared and believed his innocence would be revealed in court.

"The CIU interviewed English's daughter, Daidralyn, who was not called as a witness at trial. She corroborated her mother's account of seeing McCloud and Cameron at their townhouse in the Bronx at about the same time as Sunada was killed miles away.

"The CIU also reported that in a September 2021 interview, [the 16-year-old boy who supposedly led detectives to McCloud and Cameron] said that the statement attributed to him by police was not true. He said police had told him what to say, had described the victim as 'the Chinese guy,' and that he had signed the statement without reading it. [He] said he was under pressure from police and wanted to go home. He also said the detectives appeared to know who they were looking for, and that he had been promised he could go home if he signed the statement. After he signed it, [he] said, he had been released on a bond secured by his signature. The robbery charge had been dismissed in 1995 when he pled guilty to an unrelated marijuana charge.

"The CIU noted that in addition to the false confessions of McCray and Richardson in the Central Park Jogger case, Detective Gonzalez had obtained a false confession from Johnny Hincapie in 1990 in the stabbing of a tourist in the subway."

"'Evidence that Detective Gonzalez had elicited multiple false confessions in the past 'would have dramatically tipped the balance of the evidence in McCloud's trial,' Benjet declared in the motion. 'It is probable that a jury confronted with Gonzalez's history of obtaining multiple false confessions. . .would have disbelieved McCloud's confession, credited his alibi, and voted to acquit.

"On August 24, 2023, Queens...Justice Michelle Johnson granted the motions. The charges for both men were then dismissed."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]