A case is retried after years of investigation by a New York investigator

NEW YORK (Reuters) – During the brutal years when homicides were at their pinnacle in New York City, Detective Louis Scarcella established a reputation for solving cases.

He was a retired investigator who has openly lied to suspects to obtain information. He used to smoke cigars and run marathons. In the 1980s, and 1990s, he received confessions after confession. Prosecutors obtained conviction after conviction after conviction.

Over 20 murder and other convictions were overturned over the past nine years, after Scarcella, who was accused by defendants of scarcella, coerced or forced false confessions. Scarcella also denied that Scarcella forged witness identifications. The majority of those convictions were reversed by the same prosecutor who secured them.

The Brooklyn district attorney supported many of the detective’s cases, despite this. Prosecutors will retry one of the long-ago cases.

“This defendant remains guilty,” Chow Yun Xie, the prosecutor, declared during the retrial for Eliseo deLeon. He claims innocence. DeLeon was convicted of murder after serving 24 years in prison.

The retrial, which is expected to be completed on August 31, exemplifies how difficult the Brooklyn district attorney’s Office has had to walk over a decade of suspicions surrounding the work of a former star investigation.

Scarcella was a homicide investigator when there were more than 2,200 per annum in the city in 1990. In 1990, there were only 500.

After retiring in 1999, he told Dr. Phil that he had done “everything within the law” in order to get confessions and cooperation.

“When evil people murder Ma and Pop they don’t follow the rules,” he said. “I don’t play by rules, but I do follow the moral norms and rules of the Brooklyn arrest.

The Conviction Review Unit was a landmark initiative that the district attorney’s office established many years later. examined hundreds of cases and decided to exonerate over 30 persons Following individual investigations. (A separate investigation by police revealed that 90 drug convictions were overturned due to police corruption charges not connected to Scarcella.

Scarcella has so far seen 17 people exonerated by prosecutors after they disavowed convictions and rejected retrials following the overturning of guilty verdicts by judges.

Two other cases, including DeLeon, were convicted, but they have been overturned. Prosecutors are working to reinstate them. Prosecutors also believe that convictions in many other Scarcella-related criminal cases should be maintained, although some defendants try to convince judges the opposite.

“In all cases involving this ex-detective, CRU thoroughly reviewed every evidence. The decision whether to vacate the conviction or uphold it is based upon the facts of each case, mindful of any previous findings regarding Scarcella’s conduct,” stated DA Eric Gonzalez in a statement to The Associated Press.

Prosecutors say Scarcella’s associate and Scarcella played a small part in DeLeon’s case. Prosecutors further point out that two eyewitnesses — the deceased’s wife and a stranger — came to court 27 years later to identify DeLeon as the murderer of victim Fausto Cordero.

“We were required to produce that material again,” stated the office of the district attorney.

Cordero was killed as he returned from a Catholic confirmation ceremony with his wife and several relatives, including their 7-year old child. Authorities were able to locate DeLeon (18 years old at the time) after receiving a tip. Scarcella, his co-worker, was assigned to the probe by Detective Stephen Chmil.

It is crucial to determine the extent of his involvement in the retrial.

According to case documents, Scarcella accompanied Chmil and Detective Anthony Baker to DeLeon’s arrest. DeLeon claimed that he was away at the time they drove him to the station.

According to documentation Scarcella was at the stationhouse to read DeLeon his rights. There is some disagreement over whether Scarcella participated in the interrogation, which, according to police, produced a brief confession. DeLeon claims that detectives made up everything.

After Baker’s arrest, DeLeon sought counsel to “make sure my situation is correct” and several prosecutors switched on a camera.

“I’m not going be a fool and put my self on camera saying that I did something I didn’t do.” He says, “I’m no dumb,” on tape. Jurors in his first trial weren’t allowed to see it.

Scarcella stated last month that although he did not recall the case, he believed he was absent throughout the interview. Baker claimed that Scarcella was present, but said nothing. Chmil also claimed that Scarcella wasn’t the type of person to remain silent.

According to DeLeon’s lawyers, Scarcella wasn’t a bit player.

Defense attorney Cary London stated that Scarcella, Chmil and others poisoned “everything” in the case. He claimed that the confession was faked as well as that the witness identifications were inaccurate and questionable.

Xie said that the case had “stood to the test of time” and that the focus on Scarcella or Chmil was wrong.

Judge Dena Douglas will decide the case, as she is the only one hearing it.

Scarcella and Chmil are now retired and have spent years defending the investigations they were involved in, while court proceedings, press reports, and other media outlets have exposed them. Their lawyers claim that the investigators used legal and long-lasting tactics and that prosecutors approved all homicide arrests and evaluated all evidence.

Attorneys Joel Cohen and Alan Abramson stated that the detectives had worked hard to capture the right criminal and stood behind their work in a statement to The Associated Press.

Scarcella stated at DeLeon’s retrial, that he doesn’t second-guess himself.

“Did it give you satisfaction to be a good homicide investigator in the 1980s or 1990s?” London asked.

“I still do,” Scarcella confirmed.

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