Roman Carlton - Withheld Evidence
Roman, Carlton; murder; [not on NRE list:] perjury/false accusation, withheld exculpatory evidence, knowingly permitting perjury
G35 "G'Bye to 'Hell': 'Full Story' Springs [Queens] Man After 32 Years in Jail," Noah Goldberg, Leonard Greene, and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 8/20/21, pg. 5
"Carlton Roman was an innocent man sent to jail on a lie.
"There, he languished for 32 years...until the right prosecutors came along and concluded the man convicted in Queens of a cold-blooded murder...didn't do the crime."
"Roman's freedom fight started after he was arrested and charged with [Lloyd] Witter's murder and for the attempted murder of Jomo Kenyatta, who survived the shooting, but has since had to use a wheelchair.
"A third man in the house, Paul Anderson, was found bound with telephone wire and handcuffed.
"The two survivors fingered Roman -- a friend of the murdered man -- as a ringleader and shooter..."
"But there was no hard evidence linking Roman -- a recent college graduate who had no criminal record* -- to the killlng. He was charged based on the eyewitnesses, despite the fact that his girlfriend confirmed his alibi."
[* Nickel also had no prior criminal record.]
"Roman submitted his case to be reinvestigated by the Queens DA's office in 2013 and 2018, but prosecutors made no moves to dismiss the charges. In April 2020, however, [Melinda] Katz, the new [DA], opened an investigation into the case.
"The case review found that Anderson recanted his story in 2019, saying that he falsely accused Roman of the killing.
"Anderson said Roman was not among the shooters and that he didn't even see him on the day of the crime, March 16, 1989.
"The Queens DA's office also found that Anderson, starting during the initial investigation and up to the present, has given six different versions of the events of the shooting and 'most are inconsistent with each other and the facts of the crime.'
"A new witness interviewed by the DA's office says Anderson and Kenyatta were involved in drug trafficking and that Kenyatta was a violent druglord.
"Despite that, Kenyatta testified at trial that he did not have a substantial criminal history, prosecutors said."
"The Queens DA's conviction integrity unit has overturned eight convictions since Katz became [DA]."
"Roman shared words of encouragement for those who have suffered his fate.
"'Stand strong,' he said, 'and never give up.'"
[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]
