DAVID RANTA, 58, was convicted in 1991 of killing a prominent Hasidic rabbi, Chaskel Werzberger, following the failed robbery of a jewelry courier in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was sentenced to 37 and a half years. He was released last week after prosecutors acknowledged that the evidence against Mr. Ranta had fallen apart over the years. A witness, who as a 13-year-old boy identified Mr. Ranta in a lineup, now said that he had been coached by a detective, Louis Scarcella.
On his second day of freedom after serving 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, David Ranta suffered a serious heart attack Friday night, his lawyer said.
See the entire NY Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/nyregion/man-freed-from-prison-has-a-heart-attack.html
The main causes for wrongful convictions were identified in a Buffalo News article* with the percentage of wrongful convictions that each cause effected:
(a) misidentification by eyewitnesses (75%),
(b) unvalidated forensic evidence (50%),
(c) lying government snitches (16%), and
(d) false confessions by juveniles and mentally challenged suspects (25%)
(a) misidentification by eyewitnesses (75%),
(b) unvalidated forensic evidence (50%),
(c) lying government snitches (16%), and
(d) false confessions by juveniles and mentally challenged suspects (25%)
Read more about wrongful convictions in the article, "I Didn't Do It, Your Honor!"
Repeat of paragraph 1: DAVID RANTA, 58, was convicted in 1991 of killing a prominent Hasidic rabbi, Chaskel Werzberger, following the failed robbery of a jewelry courier in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was sentenced to 37 and a half years. He was released last week after prosecutors acknowledged that the evidence against Mr. Ranta had fallen apart over the years. A witness, who as a 13-year-old boy identified Mr. Ranta in a lineup, now said that he had been coached by a detective, Louis Scarcella.
so when are they locking up Louis Scarcella for this injustice?
ReplyDeleteobscene, the US justice system is corrupt to the core
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting Jon March and Wiseoldsnail. Yes, the U.S. Justice system is quite corrupt and mercenary. It has been estimated that from 5k to 10k innocent people per year are incarcerated, and some have been executed.
ReplyDeleteWrongful convictions happen by accident and by design. Many jobs that were done by "free" workers are now done by prison laborers. As long as Government and private enterprise save substantial revenue and earn same by competing with companies that hire unionized workers, we can contemplate more wrongful convictions in order to continue mass incarceration for Prison Labor Profits.
ReplyDeletePrison Industry Partnership Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUJHaELZQrc