Willy Gene and Sammy Thomas - Withheld Evidence

Gene, Willy AND Thomas, Sammy; murder; [not on NRE list:] perjury/false accusation, withheld exculpatory evidence

K21 [404] "On July 24, 1975, in Auburn...George Sedor was sitting in his car in the parking lot of the restaurant that he owned when two unknown gunmen opened fire on him. He was shot six times and killed. His brother, who witnessed the shooting, told police that he saw two white men running from the scene. Prosecutors kept the statement hidden from defense attorneys along with other statements taken from witnesses when they arrested Sammy Thomas and Willy Gene, both black, and charged them with Sedor's murder. Prosecutors secured convictions based on the testimony of Steven Wejko, a witness who police believed supplied the guns used in Sedor's murder; they obtained Wejko's [405] testimony in exchange for a reduced sentence. Thomas and Gene's convictions were later overturned after the exculpatory witness statements were discovered; the charges against Thomas were dropped and Gene was acquitted after the defense entered the statements during his retrial. The man who originally prosecuted them, Peter Corning, went on to become a judge."

R31 [827] "Sammy Thomas was convicted, along with his brother, Willie Gene Thomas, of the second-degree murder of a nightclub owner in Cayuga County in 1978...During the appeal, the [DA] discovered that the original prosecutor had unconstitutionally withheld at least NINETEEN police reports and witness statements concerning the case."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]