Tyrone Groce - Mistaken Witness Identifcation

Groce, Tyrone; robbery; NRE: mistaken witness identification

[624:863]; 2nd Dept. 3/1/95; reversed, due to weight of evidence

"[T]he judgment is reversed, on the facts, [and] the indictment is dismissed..."

"[W]e find that the verdict of guilt is against the weight of the evidence..."

from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"At 5:45 a.m. on December 10, 1991, Sean Bristol went to a police station in Brooklyn...and said two men had just robbed him at gunpoint.

"Bristol said his car broke down and the robbers approached and asked if they could help him fix the vehicle. After tinkering under the hood, however, the two men robbed him. Bristol said one robber, who was unarmed, was 5 feet 8 inches tall, 145 pounds, and had a beard and a mustache. He said the other robber, who had a pistol, was about 22 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 140 pounds and had no facial hair.

"The following day, Bristol saw a man he believed was the unarmed robber in a gas station near the scene of the robbery. He called police and they arrested Charles Wigfall, who was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 145 pounds and had a beard and mustache.

"During the next several weeks, Bristol drove through the neighborhood at various times looking for the other robber. On January 6, 1992, at about 5 p.m. -- when it was dark -- Bristol stopped his car in a crosswalk.

"A man crossing the street cursed at Bristol for blocking his path and kept walking. Bristol called police because he believed the man was the gunman.* Minutes later, police arrested 28-year-old Tyrone Groce. Bristol identified him as the gunman even though Groce was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 163 pounds, had a beard and mustache and had a prominent gold tooth -- none of which matched Bristol's original description."

[* Based on what? For one thing, it's dark out. Then we have the fact that Groce is 6 years older, 4 inches taller, and 18 pounds heavier, and had 100% less facial hair than the initial description he gave of the armed robber. Oh, and then there's the gold tooth Bristol said nothing about, despite the fact that he had a far better look at the robbers than he did this poor sap in the crosswalk. The very next day following the robbery, Bristol happens to run into one of the (real) robbers at a gas station. Following this stroke of luck, over the next several weeks, just bound and determined to find the second robber, Bristol cruises the streets. Stopped at a cross-walk, his attention is drawn by a guy cursing at him for blocking his way. For no rational reason whatsoever, something 'clicks' in his brain: 'That's the second robber!'

The probability that Bristol would subsequently run into just one of the robbers was small; and yet, it did happen. But the chances of him later encountering the other one as well were extremely slim. (And that did not happen.)]

"Groce and Wigfall were charged with armed robbery. Wigfall pled guilty and was sent to prison. Groce went on trial in Kings County...in February 1992. Bristol testified that his car stalled and Wigfall appoached him and offered to help get the car started. Bristol said he got out and raised the hood and that Wigfall tinkered briefly and determined there was a problem with the carburetor.

"Bristol said he got back in the car and in minutes, Wigfall had fixed the car and Bristol was able to start the engine. As Wigfall approached the driver's side window, the gunman -- whom Bristol said was Groce -- suddenly appeared and demanded his valuables.

"The prosecution had brought Wigfall in from prison to testify, but they did not call him as a witness after he told them that Groce was not his partner in the robbery.

"The defense, however, called Wigfall as a witness because Groce told his lawyer that he was talking to another prisoner about his case when he serendipitously bumped into Wigfall in the courthouse lockup* prior to trial. Wigfall approached and asked him if he was charged with robbing Bristol. When Groce said that he was, Wigfall told him that he committed the crime with another man."

[* Thus, it seems clear that, but for the 'happy accident' of Wigfall and Groce striking up a conversation in the holding cell, the latter's defense attorney would never have known that the prosecution had Wigfall brought in, but declined to actually have him testify because he would have said Groce was innocent. This sounds a lot like withholding exculpatory evidence. (However, because the NRE had not actually made this designation, we have not so labeled it here.)] "Wigfall testified for the defense that he saw Bristol's car stall and he approached Bristol with the hope of hustling Bristol out of some money for getting his car started.

"Wigfall said the gunman was a man he only knew as 'Blue' with whom he smoked crack and that he was shorter and not as heavy as Groce. Wigfall also testified that 'Blue' was clean-shaven.

"The prosecution cross-examined Wigfall extensively about his drug use and prior criminal convictions and suggested that Wigfall and Groce had concocted a false story of meeting unexpectedly in the lockup in an attempt to win Groce's acquittal.

"Groce testified in his own defense and denied any involvement in the crime. His attorney offered a photograph of Groce taken at a family gathering several years prior to the crime showing his gold tooth, as proof that he had the gold tooth on the date of the incident. The judge refused to allow the photograph into evidence.

"Groce's lawyer argued to the jury that since Bristol was about 5 feet 4 inches tall and both the robbers were taller, he was likely accurate in his initial descriptions of the height of the robbers, particularly when he said the unarmed robber was taller than the gunman. The lawyer argued that Groce could not be the gunman because he was taller than Wigfall.

"On February 9, 1993, the jury convicted Groce of armed robbery. Prior to sentencing, the defense filed a motion for a new trial. The defense presented a sworn affidavit from a jail guard who said that he saw and heard the conversation between Wigfall and Groce. The defense said that it attempted to bring the guard to the trial to testify, but that the guard was on vacation and efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.

"The guard said that if had been called to testify at the trial he would have told the jury that based on his observations and the nature of the conversation, Wigfall and Groce had never before met and that Groce was astonished to learn that Wigfall was one of the two real robbers. The guard said that he heard Wigfall tell Groce that another man was involved in the crime.

"The motion for a new trial was denied,* however, and Groce was sentenced to 12 years in prison."

[* Likely by the same pro-prosecution judge who would not allow into evidence that 'gold-tooth' photo.] "Groce appealed his conviction as well as the denial of the motion for new trial. In March 1995, the...Appellate Division reversed Groce's conviction on thr ground that it was against the weight of the evidence and ordered the [indictment] dismissed. Groce was released from prison.

"Groce later filed a compensation claim with the New York Court of Claims, but his claim was denied."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]