ALL FOUR MURDER COUNTS DISMISSED
On October 10, 2007, the trial of Lin DeVecchio began in the Court of The Honorable Gustin Reichbach of the New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York. "
On October 31, 2007, after two and one-half weeks of testimony, in the middle of key witness Linda Schiro's cross-examination, the trial abruptly came to a halt. Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins revealed that he and Ganglandnews.com reporter Jerry Capeci possessed interview tapes from 1997 of Schiro—in which she told a far different story from what she said on the stand. On the tapes, Schiro contradicted her sworn testimony in court regarding all four homicides of the indictment.
Upon review of the tapes by the Brooklyn District Attorney and the defense team, the very next day, on November 1, 2007, the District Attorney requested that all charges against Lin be dismissed, the Court dismissed the case, and Lin left the courtroom a free man.
Following the hearing, a press conference was held at the offices of Lin’s lawyers: Thompson Hine LLP. The following are the statements given by Attorney Douglas Grover and Lin.
Douglas E. Grover, Esq.
PRESS STATEMENT
Eighteen months ago we stood before Justice Reichbach following a media frenzy growing out of the D.A.'s illegal grand jury leaks – and I told Justice Reichbach then that the D.A. was in over its head that they didn’t know how to handle these kinds of cases, and that, in particular, they didn’t know how to deal with the kinds of witnesses that they were using to build this case.
The D.A. here did not take the simplest steps to verify what this mercenary and absolutely amoral human being was telling them. This witness's inconsistent statements were not limited to her conversations with Tom Robbins and Jerry Capeci.
She spoke to multiple authors – hoping to make money – and the D.A. didn’t even talk to them.
She spoke to FBI agent handlers – for years – and the D.A. never spoke to one of them.
They didn’t even read the stories and draft proposals she had done.
They didn’t read her affidavit which she submitted on behalf of Scarpa Jr. in 1998 – which she told us Tuesday was false.
They certainly didn’t tell the grand jury. By the way – same drill. A judge told her she needed counsel – and she asserted the Fifth Amendment privilege. Did they know?
The fact is they never told the grand jury that Linda Schiro had made numerous statements – for years – inconsistent with her recent claims about Mr. DeVecchio's guilt – and now they say, "If we had only known about the tapes." Why not investigate first?
They just didn’t care.
Rather – the D.A. relied on a self styled forensic investigator – Angela Clemente – who they lauded as their Rosetta stone in leading them to Linda Schiro and the development of the case. It turned out Angela Clemente had been working for the mob – helping convicted killers revive long dead claims of corruption – to get out of jail.
This investigation and prosecution was a model of what a responsible prosecutor should not do.
Grand Jury leaks.
Grand jury presentations which intentionally excluded critical exculpatory evidence – like a witness saying that it was HE who gave Scarpa the address to kill Lorenzo Lampasi – not Mr. DeVecchio.
Like not letting their witnesses – the same witnesses who testified at trial– testify that Patrick Porco told Greg Scarpa directly that he had been talking to the police – leading to his death – not Lin.
You have to wonder how a responsible prosecutor could pursue these charges – and give press interviews during court recesses. You have to wonder who is minding the store in the county of KINGS. It's pretty obvious what their motives were: Book deals, for the lead prosecutor and for the crime busting investigator –Tommy Dades.
We are of course thankful that Tom Robbins stepped forward.
However, after cross-examination of Linda Schiro, we believe Lin would have been acquitted – just not so quickly and not so dramatically.
Thank you.
R. Lindley DeVecchio
PRESS STATEMENT
After almost two years, this nightmare is over. It has consumed me emotionally, drained me financially, and it has tested my faith in the system I spent 30 years of my life defending.
I did not get here alone. I had the unwavering support of family and friends, including my wife, daughter, and brother, all of whom stood by me, encouraged me, and pushed me forward when it seemed I couldn’t do it alone.
I have to thank the hundreds – no – I am told thousands – of retired agents who came forward to help me with the financial burden of my defense, as well as the many who came to court and contributed their time and expertise in fleshing out the history of facts which led to today’s dismissal.
But I want to single out three of these colleagues – former agents Chris Mattiace, Andy Kurins, and Jim Kossler – guys who jumped in the foxhole with me and made sure I returned safely.
I have the best lawyers money can't buy – Doug Grover, Mark Bederow and Ginnine Fried – from Thompson Hine – and I always felt like they were in that foxhole with me. They kept assuring me – the more evidence that comes out – the better off I will be. And they were right.
Their efforts in uncovering the numerous lies and inconsistent statements of Linda Schiro – subpoenaing the reporters, writers and mob investigators who dealt with Schiro – led to my vindication.
I will never forgive the Brooklyn D.A. for irresponsibly pursuing this case after being warned by others that this one witness was untrustworthy and had told numerous inconsistent stories.
They failed to take the most basic steps to verify their source, preferring to "shoot first, ask questions later." My question is:“Where do I go to get my reputation back?”
My wife Carolyn and I are now looking forward to slowly driving home to Florida, and moving on. I can’t wait to take my Harley out for a long ride – and return to the gym to work off the pounds I accumulated sitting in Court for the last month.
THE TRIAL IS OVER,
ITS EFFECTS REMAIN
While the trial is over and Lin DeVecchio has returned home a free man, Lin now faces the enormous financial burden of the legal costs that were necessarily incurred to fight this baseless case for almost two years. To support Lin in his financial struggle, please consider making a donation to the Friends of Lin DeVecchio Trust, by clicking here. Any amount, regardless of the amount, will go a long way in alleviating the pressure of this tremendous financial burden.
|
