Posted on 06/25/2002 2:13:42 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
Edited on 05/26/2004 5:06:59 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
CIVIL-RIGHTS activists ought to be outraged that a prosecutor willfully withholds possibly exculpatory evidence from the defense, like federal prosecutor Alan Vinegrad did in the trial of former Police Officer Charles Schwarz. Instead, their outrage is over the racial makeup of the jury for Schwarz's third trial, a trial made possible by appellate court actions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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By STEVE DUNLEAVY
IT WAS a rare scene for a courtroom drama: the prosecution helping out the defense.
But then again, they may have predicted that Chuck Schwarz's defense attorney Ron Fischetti was going to twist chief witness Abner Louima into a pretzel.
In opening statements, Assistant Prosecutor Loren Reznick conceded that "not all [our] witnesses are perfect."
"He [Louima] looks like he was not completely truthful."
She was referring to Louima's now-infamous fabrication, quoting an assaulting cop as saying: "This is Giuliani time. It's not Dinkins time."
Not completely truthful?
"It was a damnable lie," Fischetti said.
Louima came out with this story less than a half-hour after Mayor Rudy Giuliani paid him a bedside get-well visit.
He stuck with that story for five months - through investigation after investigation and under oath.
That's perjury.
He admitted that the idea came from a friend of his sister's "to make him and the story look more important."
"The statement rocked the city. Page one everywhere, top of the TV news, marches over the Brooklyn Bridge, demonstrations which fueled a rush to judgment from my client," said Fischetti.
I call it criminal mischief, a dangerous lie, like joking about bombs on an airplane.
Again there were no charges against Louima, who had suffered from the brutal assault.
But when Fischetti had Louima on the stand, he fried him like an egg.
Louima contradicted himself so much, changed his story so much, mostly under oath, prompting Fischetti to comment: "Does your memory change every time you testify?"
Chuck Schwarz's brother, John Schwarz, said: "How many stories does this guy have?"
After the first day of Schwarz's new trial, Louima seemed to have more stories than Hans Christian Andersen.
After Fischetti finished with Louima, the once-victim and now-multimillionaire told so many conflicting stories he looked more confused than a donkey in a mule race.
Chuck Schwarz told me: "I have heard it all before, but this finger-pointing at me and shouting my name in court, I would be less than truthful if I didn't admit that it does have an effect on you. But I have ultimate faith."
Then Chuck took from his pocket a beautiful set of rosary beads given to him by a friend. The small beads are chipped from the rock of a mountain in Yugoslavia.
They were beautiful - but let's pray he doesn't need them.
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