Terry Chalmers - mistake Witness ID
Chalmers, Terry; sexual assault, robbery, larceny; NRE: mistaken witness identification, false confession, police officer misconduct, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, witness tampering or misconduct interrogating co-defendant
Suggestibility issues
N4 [95] "In 1997, [Chalmers] was twice convicted of rape, sodomy, and grand larceny arising from two separate incidents based upon self-incriminating statements and inconclusive forensic testing. [96] More sophisticated DNA testing was unavailable at the time of trial, which later conclusively established that [Chalmers] had not committed the rapes."
from NRE synopsis:
"On August 18, 1986, a woman was approached and pushed into her car, which was parked at the train station in Mount Vernon...While the assailant drove, the victim was forced to remove her clothes and perform sexual acts with the man. They arrived at Wilson Woods Park, where the assailant threw her on the ground and raped her. He then left, taking her jewelry, handbag, and car.
"The victim was unable to positively identify the perpetrator from six photographs the next day. She finally made a positive identification of Terry Chalmers after viewing a second line-up forty-six days after the crime,* and Chalmers's picture was the only one that was used in previous photo lineups.** No other evidence was introduced other than the victim's in-court identification, and on June 9, 1987, Chalmers was convicted of rape, sodomy, robbery, and two counts of grand larceny. He was sentenced to twelve to twenty-four years in prison."
[* That's a large span of time for the victim to still be able to accurately recall what her rapist looked like.]
[** This time grossly unprofessional suggestiveness virtually guaranteed that Chalmers would be convicted. Look at it from the victim's point of view: The first time, she was unable to identify the rapist. Over a month later, she sees another lineup, in which Chalmers' photo is the only one that appears again. Now, Chalmers really does look familiar to her. She thinks that must be because he was the rapist. Anyway, she wants and needs a resolution to this. Either she says it's him, or maybe, they'll never 'get the guy.']
"Chalmers filed an appeal, claiming that the police did not properly conduct the photo lineups and were suggestive in the identification process. On July 18, 1990, [County Court] affirmed the conviction, ruling that even if the lineup was not properly conducted, the in-court identification was enough to convict Chalmers.* He later discovered that the Westchester Department of Laboratories and Research had retained the rape kit and items of clothing which were used as evidence at trial and he petitioned for DNA testing with the help of the Innocence Project."
[* That's absurd, and flies in the face of decades of case law stressing the importance of non-suggestive lineup procedures. The victim's memory had already been irreparably contaminated. (The case referenced does not appear to be in Westlaw.)]
"Forensic Science Associates performed PCR-based DNA testing on the vaginal and cervical swabs from the rape kit. In a report dated July 8, 1994, it was determined that the victim could not be the source of DNA in the sperm fraction from the swabs. A second report on July 26, 1994, determined that Chalmers could be eliminated as the source of the spermatozoa from the vaginal and cervical swabs.
"The conviction was subsequently vacated and charges were dismissed on January 31, 1995. Chalmers had spent seven-and-a-half years in prison. In 2000, Chalmers received $875,000 in compensation from the New York Court of Claims."
[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]
