Man wrongfully convicted of SF killings to go free
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
(01-11) 17:48 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A man declared wrongfully convicted of a 1989 double-murder in San Francisco was ordered freed Tuesday after prosecutors said they would not seek to retry him.
Caramad Conley, 40, has spent 18 years in prison for the killings of Roshawn Johnson and Charles Hughes after being convicted based largely on the testimony of a now-dead police informant, Clifford Polk.
Superior Court Judge Marla Miller found last month that there was "voluminous" evidence that Polk had lied on the stand when he denied being in a witness protection program. Documents found after the trial showed that Polk had received thousands of dollars from the city and the use of a house at the behest of the San Francisco police homicide investigator in the case, former Chief Earl Sanders.
Sanders said he had informed prosecutors about the payments. Al Giannini, the former assistant district attorney who handled the case, denies he was told about them.
Miller found that Sanders had stood by in court when Polk lied.
On Tuesday, before Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ming-Mei Lee, prosecutors said they had no choice but to drop the case because Polk is dead and other witnesses are unavailable.
Prosecutors told the judge that they had "carefully evaluated" all aspects of the case.
"Based on the current state of the evidence, some 22 years after the fact and the death and the unavailability of key witnesses, we will not be able to sustain our burden at trial," prosecutor Allison Macbeth said. "As a result, we reluctantly move to dismiss the case."
Newly appointed District Attorney George Gascón, the former police chief who was sworn in on Sunday, made the call to drop the charges, a spokesman said.
"It was his decision," said spokesman Seth Steward.
Conley's lawyer, Dan Purcell, said outside court that he was surprised by the announcement. Prosecutors had earlier suggested they might seek a new trial.
"I'm thrilled, to be honest, and the family is thrilled," Purcell said. "In this case, justice wins out. Caramad is looking forward to resuming his life."
Conley had been held until recently at Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County. He is now at the San Francisco County Jail.
Eileen Hirst, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department, said authorities were awaiting clearance from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation before releasing Conley.
Prosecutors argued at Conley's trial that he killed Johnson and Hughes in a gang-related drive-by shooting on Third Street on April 8, 1989, that inured 13 others.
Polk recounted in the 1994 trial that Conley had confessed to him. Polk admitted on the stand that he was a prior police informant who was previously under witness protection because of his testimony in another case. But, when asked on the stand if he was currently under witness protection, he denied it.
The case bore strong similarities to court findings that led to the release of Antoine Goff and John Tennison in another botched murder case that resulted in a record civil settlement in 2009 of $7.5 million for the defendants. They were both freed in 2003 after spending more than 10 years in prison.
In that case, the courts found that prosecutors and police had information that another person might have committed the crime but did not disclose it during the trial.
Both cases involved the same investigators, the late Napoleon Hendrix and Sanders, who retired in 2003.
Chronicle staff writer Demian Bulwa contributed to this report.
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/12/BALB1H7C4O.DTL
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
(01-11) 17:48 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A man declared wrongfully convicted of a 1989 double-murder in San Francisco was ordered freed Tuesday after prosecutors said they would not seek to retry him.
Caramad Conley, 40, has spent 18 years in prison for the killings of Roshawn Johnson and Charles Hughes after being convicted based largely on the testimony of a now-dead police informant, Clifford Polk.
Superior Court Judge Marla Miller found last month that there was "voluminous" evidence that Polk had lied on the stand when he denied being in a witness protection program. Documents found after the trial showed that Polk had received thousands of dollars from the city and the use of a house at the behest of the San Francisco police homicide investigator in the case, former Chief Earl Sanders.
Sanders said he had informed prosecutors about the payments. Al Giannini, the former assistant district attorney who handled the case, denies he was told about them.
Miller found that Sanders had stood by in court when Polk lied.
On Tuesday, before Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ming-Mei Lee, prosecutors said they had no choice but to drop the case because Polk is dead and other witnesses are unavailable.
Prosecutors told the judge that they had "carefully evaluated" all aspects of the case.
"Based on the current state of the evidence, some 22 years after the fact and the death and the unavailability of key witnesses, we will not be able to sustain our burden at trial," prosecutor Allison Macbeth said. "As a result, we reluctantly move to dismiss the case."
Newly appointed District Attorney George Gascón, the former police chief who was sworn in on Sunday, made the call to drop the charges, a spokesman said.
"It was his decision," said spokesman Seth Steward.
Conley's lawyer, Dan Purcell, said outside court that he was surprised by the announcement. Prosecutors had earlier suggested they might seek a new trial.
"I'm thrilled, to be honest, and the family is thrilled," Purcell said. "In this case, justice wins out. Caramad is looking forward to resuming his life."
Conley had been held until recently at Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County. He is now at the San Francisco County Jail.
Eileen Hirst, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department, said authorities were awaiting clearance from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation before releasing Conley.
Prosecutors argued at Conley's trial that he killed Johnson and Hughes in a gang-related drive-by shooting on Third Street on April 8, 1989, that inured 13 others.
Polk recounted in the 1994 trial that Conley had confessed to him. Polk admitted on the stand that he was a prior police informant who was previously under witness protection because of his testimony in another case. But, when asked on the stand if he was currently under witness protection, he denied it.
The case bore strong similarities to court findings that led to the release of Antoine Goff and John Tennison in another botched murder case that resulted in a record civil settlement in 2009 of $7.5 million for the defendants. They were both freed in 2003 after spending more than 10 years in prison.
In that case, the courts found that prosecutors and police had information that another person might have committed the crime but did not disclose it during the trial.
Both cases involved the same investigators, the late Napoleon Hendrix and Sanders, who retired in 2003.
Chronicle staff writer Demian Bulwa contributed to this report.
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/12/BALB1H7C4O.DTL
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
No comments:
Post a Comment