March 17, 2021 • 35 mins
On March 28th, 1998, Nelson Cruz was celebrating his birthday over Chinese food with friends when they heard shots fired down the block. Police were immediately on scene to make an arrest, yet somehow, Nelson became the target of a notorious pair of NYPD detectives.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
East New York is a notoriously tough Brooklyn neighborhood, and
the seventies, eighties, and nineties it had an equally corrupt
local precinct, the seven five or seventy fifth Precinct, home
to many of the wrongful convictions of notorious and YPD
detectives Luis Carcella and Stephen Camill. On March Nelson Cruz
(00:23):
was out in the neighborhood with some friends celebrating his
seventeenth birthday over Chinese food when they heard gunshots close by,
so close, in fact, that they saw the police swoop
in immediately to get the situation under control. A police
officer had seen the actual muscle flash of the gun
in Eduardo Rodriguez's hand. Trevor Vieira, a man in his
(00:46):
mid twenties known for stick ups, was lying dead in
the street. Rodriguez was brought in for questioning, where Scarcella
and Camille turned what should have been an open and
shut case into another horrific wrongful conviction with the false
testimony of a man who didn't even know police were
unseen to arresta. Rodriguez, and in spite of the testimony
(01:08):
of that uniform police officer stating that Nelson Cruz was
definitely not the shooter. Nelson was convicted and sentenced to
twenty five years to life, and if matters couldn't get
any worse, despite a mountain of new exculpatory evidence, the
judge who oversaw his most recent appeal suffers now from
(01:28):
early onset Alzheimer's, which has impaired her ability to follow
the case and set Nelson free. This is Wrongful Conviction
with Jason Flopper. Hello, this is a prepaid collect call
(01:56):
from an inmate at New York State Department of Actions
and Community Supervision. This call is subject to recording and monitoring.
To accept charges, Press one to refuse charges, press too.
Thank you for using Securist. You may start the conversation now.
Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction with Jason flam That's me.
(02:17):
I'm your host. Today. We have a deeply, deeply troubling
situation to talk to you about. Today. We're on the
phone with Nelson Cruz, an innocent man who's been in
prison for a twenty two years now in New York State,
and I'm going to introduce now to you an attorney.
You have a tremendous amount of respect for who I'm
proud to work with on a day to day basis
(02:39):
on various cases, including this one. Justin bonus, Welcome to
Ronful Conviction. Good morning, Jason. How are you. I'm all right. Thanks,
I'm glad to be here with you, and most of all,
I'm glad to be here with the man of the hour,
Nelson Cruz Nelson, I'm sorry you have to be here
under these circumstances, but I'm really glad you're here to
tell your story. So welcome to Ronful Conviction. And um,
(03:00):
which prison are you in? Now? What correction facility? Upstate
New York? Can you take us back to that time?
I was in times of grade at the time. It
was a nice night in March, the day for my birthday.
Me and like three of my friends, we walked around
the corner to the Chinese restaurant to purchase some food
and me and uh my friends were you know, laughing
(03:22):
and joking like we usually do. We stepped outside and
uh shots aside down the block on brafting and picking,
and when I looked, I've seen a police officer car
that pulled up immediately and was getting the area under
control and I've seen that they had a Spanish guy
on the floor, and uh, there was arresting the guy. However,
about four in the morning, Pomicide contacted my mom's told
(03:45):
my mother they wanted to interview me for the murder,
and I was like, how can this be. I don't
have nothing to do with the situation. So my big
weather stuff, We're gonna get an attorney. We're gonna go
down to the priests, and don't go down there by yourself,
because you know the semi fifth Priests is dirtier. I said, fine,
and on April three, went to the priest with attorney
and went to a lineup and I've never seen the
(04:08):
sweeze again. Justin I want to turn to you because
this case is the definition of an open and shut case.
It should have never even been anywhere near Nelson or
his family because they knew from day one exactly who
did it. Can you explain what I'm talking about here?
This murder happens March fifteen at the corner of Bradford
(04:31):
and Picking. Two cops in a patrol car. Officer William
Pietti actually watches the man with the ponytail, who we
later find out is ed Wardo Rodriguez firing the gun,
sees the muzzle flare towards Bradford and Picking, which is
where the deceased Trevor Vieira was found. Pietti actually arrests
at Wardo, Rodriguez tells him to drop the gun, and
(04:52):
Officer Palm Mary chases a black man. I guess who
runs away. These are what the two cops say at
in thirty and one forty five in the morning when
they're interviewed by none other than Detective Louis Scarcella and
Detective Stephen Kimmel. And just to tell you who those
men are, I mean, they're probably some of the most
storied police officers in the country when it comes to
(05:14):
wrongful convictions in relation to homicides. And Louis Scarcella with
Camille shows up at the scene at eleven fifty five.
They are totally involved with this case. Scarcella and Camille
are at the precinct with Rodriguez. Rodriguez at around three
o'clock in the morning or so actually makes a statement.
Another witness, William Johnson, who later testifies that Nelson wasn't
(05:36):
at the scene, he was an eyewitness, arrested at the
scene he was interviewed, does not indicate anything about Nelson Cruz.
So the first person to actually name cruises at Wardo Rodriguez.
And then there was a third witness. His name is
Andre Bellinger, who was interviewed at something around three forty
five in the morning, and he says Nelson as well.
Nelson turns himself in on April three. He's barely seventeen
(05:58):
years old. Mark Brooks runs the line. He is allegedly
the elite investigator out of the seventy because Stephen Camill
is the lead investigator for Brooklyn North. And how you
understand the politics between Brooklyn North and the local precincts
is one detective from Brooklyn North would work with a
precinct detective. So Stephen Camill was the lead partner detective
(06:18):
with Mark Brooks who was the detective from the seventy
five precinct, and Louis Scarcella was Stephen Camill's partner from
Brooklyn North. You know. So what we have happened is
a lineup that's conducted and Andre Bellinger is the only
witness that comes into view the lineup. So little does
Nelson know He's going right into the eye of the storm. Here,
(06:39):
you were living through this a tenth grader. I mean,
can you take us back to what you were thinking
and feeling at that time, starting on the third when
you turn yourself in, yes, Jason. So I go into
the precinct and I'm sitting down, just waiting for the
detective that will look for Ulana. He's on his desk
with a seat picked up, smoking a cigar. Never forget this,
(07:00):
he's smoking the cigar. And he asked me up, you're
not scared to be here. I said, no, I wouldn't
be here if I committed this murder. He shook his head,
said all right. After they got the Feller, we went
into the lineup. I got picked out, of course by
Andre Billinger, and my attorney's explained to me, listen, don't
say nothing to the detective. The only thing that you
sup for the state of the mission, name and address.
(07:21):
So they kept me the bullpen for a little while,
for a couple of hours, and they took me out
the bullpen and then bring me right back into the
lineup room and they cupped me into like a little
rails that start a line of wrong and start. Steller
brings a paper into the room and uh, he's telling me, listen,
we already know what happened. Just sign it and you
would be leaving. So I tell scars seller, I'm not
(07:42):
signing anything. He gets a little frustrated. So you got
your mills trying to play the good cop. He's telling me, listen,
just find it and uh, you'll be walking out. We
already know what happened. So I tell him again, I'm
not signing anything. Start selling, get a little frustrated, crumble
the paper and slaps me in the face with this again.
He's telling me, you know, hostile to sign the paper
you be, And I'm like, I'm not signing anything. That
(08:03):
left me in the room for like a half hour.
They bring me back into the bullpen, and about maybe
like an hour after that, they put me into a van.
They caoving me to U Central book and later on,
when I get my botty disclosure for him, I'll see
that they put a d D five report in the
state and that I made a spontaneous statement. The statement
stace sound to the fact that I got shot in
my leg and I shot the guy and ran and
(08:25):
I'm looking at I'm telling my attorney I never said
any any of this to these detectives. Never never said
any of it. And the statement that he attributes to
Nelson is the same type of language that's in all
of these Scarcella in Commill cases when you have these
quote unquote confessions. And by the way, I have to
say this before I got back to Justin. It sounds
to me like you did everything right. You did what
(08:47):
we always asked people to do on the show, don't talk.
You didn't sign a piece of paper, although it sounded
like a pretty good offer, like to a kid in
tenth grade. So you did everything right and the system
failed anyway, Justin, do you have a theory on how
this Rodriguez character could have possibly convinced the detectives that
I mean, my mind goes to a pretty dark place here.
(09:09):
But why did he finger Nelson? The only theory I
have is Rodriguez knew who Nelson was and he just
pinned it on somebody that maybe looked more like him
than anybody else did. But one other thing about Edward
or Rodriguez, the seventy five was very familiar with him.
He had multiple arrests from the seventy five robbery. I
believe in and then a drug conviction in ninety five.
(09:31):
He was on parole at the time of this murder
for that drug conviction. From they knew him and they
have found him to be useful, and in this case,
they didn't want to put him in jail. I mean,
that's clear, because they could have. They should have. It
was their responsibility to do so, and instead they decided
to pin it on an innocent man named Nelson Cruz,
(09:51):
which was standard operating procedure for them at that time. Anyway,
the seventy, as Nelson said, is notorious. The quote from
Michael Race when he was ahead of that squad from
the early eighties into the early nineties, he was involved
with seven fifty homicide investigations and only one time did
they actually follow the rules. So Rodriguez tells them, I
(10:12):
didn't do it, and they bring Andre Bellinger in. He
gives them the information that they want to hear. And
what we know about Andre Bellinger is in one Andre
Bellinger was charged with murder and he only does a
one and a half to three. At the time of
Nelson's arrest, Andre Bellinger was working with the p a L,
which is the Police Athletic League and he lived only
two blocks away from the seventy precinct. And what we
(10:35):
know from a hearing, what Detective Brooks testifies to was
right before the lineup, Scarcelling Camille there alone with Andre Bellinger.
So now we have to get to the trial. A
New York City police officer testified that they had not
seen Nelson Cruz at the scene. I'm gonna read the
testimony here. Telson, your lawyer walked the officer through what happened.
(10:57):
He said, did you see the muzzle flashes of the gun.
He answers, I saw muzzle flashes, and you jumped out
of the car almost immediately upon hearing the shots. Correct,
and the officer says, correct, your gun drawn. Officer says, yes,
did you ever see Nelson Cruise on the scene. No?
Did you ever see Nelson Cruise with the nine millimeter
handgun in his hand? No, you did see Eduardo Rodriguez
(11:20):
with a nine millivater handgun in his hand. Correct. Yes,
As a matter of fact, you were pointing your nine
millimeter at him. Correct. Officer replies, correct, because he had
a gun in his hand. Correct. Correct, And you were
screaming at the top of your lungs. That dropped the gun.
Dropped the gun? Correct. Officer replies correct. Now, that is
(11:41):
some of the most powerful testimony I have ever heard,
and all of it serves to prove that you could
not did not commit this crime. You know, as you
have read the testimony, I remember this like yesterday, and
I'm still confused, Jason, the only one is against me.
Was not like Rodriguez at my child. They used Billinger.
(12:02):
And when you ask Billinger, the states he was there
from the beginning. Then did you see police on the scene?
He states no. We asked them. Did you see anybody
get arrested on the crowd saying? He states no, so
and my mom is like, what crowds saying? Was this
guy in? How could you be confused as to whether
or not there were police officers? He wasn't confused. He
(12:24):
said there weren't, but there were. This is not a
thing you could mix up, like the color of the
shirt the guy was wearing, you know. Bellinger his story
is that Nelson gets into it with a guy named Shack,
and that Nelson drives his car, comes back around and
then gets into it with vi Era. Bellinger says that
Nelson accused Vieira given Shack a gun that Nelson just
kills Vieira. That's basically Bellinger story. No one else says that,
(12:48):
no one. And what's interesting is Shack actually came to
testify in two thousand nineteen and he said he never
had a fight with Nelson Cruz, so that was a
made up story. And what collaborates what Shack says is
when Andre Bellinger's speaks to the conviction Review Unit in
two thousand fifteen, says he says he can't even remember
the incident with Shack, which is the whole basis of
this altercation. This case is a joke, okay. Bellinger was
(13:12):
also the least credible witness, not just because of his background,
but also because Balinger testified that the police told him
who do identify. And Bellinger also testified that he'd only
been able to identify the murder weapon as a nine
millimeter gun because the police had told him that's what
it was. They didn't know the gun that Rodriguez was
(13:33):
arrested with was the murder weapon until just before Nelson's trial.
And this is a common theme in policing from the
NYPD is they don't do any forensic investigation okay, so
the ballistics from the nine millimeter that Rodriguez is caught
with matched the shell casings that murdered Trevor Vieira. When
the police officer testified, he states that he didn't see
(13:55):
me at all. He didn't see me with no gun.
He stated, who he's seeing with the gun. I'm like,
I I'm gonna home. And at the end when the
term you came back with the guilty burden, just couldn't
believe it and it sence twenty of life. You got
to go with the smoking gun. All five shell cases
match that gun. I still can't believe it. This episode
(14:24):
is brought to you by Stand Together. Stand Together is
a philanthropic community dedicated to helping people improve their lives.
For more than twenty years, Stand Together and its partners
have been on the front lines of criminal justice reform.
By empowering people to take action, supporting nonprofits, and working
with businesses, Stand Together tackles the root causes of problems
(14:44):
in our communities and empowers those closest to the problems
to drive solutions. Solutions like reducing unjust prison sentences through
the First Step Act, empowering community based programs that help
people re enter society and now working to bridge divides
in our communities. To learn how you may get involved,
visit stand Together dot org slash Conviction. This episode is
(15:09):
underwritten by the A i G pro Bono Program. A
I G is a leading global insurance company, and for
over a decade, the A I G pro Bono Program
has provided thousands of hours of free legal services and
other support to nonprofit organizations and individuals most in need.
More recently, the program added criminal and social justice reform
(15:30):
as a key pillar of its mission. Nelson didn't exactly
take this lying down. Instead, you got busy behind bars, right,
I mean, tell us about the actual innocence group. Like
I said, I was sent to the years to life.
(15:51):
I'll come up to state and know anything about the law,
and I'm just a lob are reacting for help and
you reading a lot of the statues and trying to
familiarize myself. So I ran a cause you know a
lot of good guys, and they teached me about the laws.
And at the same time I'm trying to gather up
my evidence to submit my affidavits to the thought of Division.
(16:15):
At the time, my direct compere was Pendent but I
couldn't because you know, my family, we're not rich. We're
not rich, we we don't got money like that to
be hiving. Private investigated. So I had my mother. She was,
you know, going into these dangerous projects, looking for my friends,
looking for people that was at the crime scene that night.
And with the help with my mother, I was getting
phone numbers, and with the phone numbers, I was contacting
(16:36):
people gather from the evidence I had. It got about
maybe two, like two or three affidavits at first, and
then my brother later on. We had hire private investigators
to locate these witnesses and get afi davids from them.
And as I'm submitting these motions to the court, I'm
getting shot down. I'm losing hope, but I'm still fighting
because I said, listen, something one day, something I gotta
give him. I know I ain't committed this from and
(16:58):
to the cause of the years me being is And
I'm hearing of a guy named Bush, which is Derick Hamilton's.
I don't know if he's familiar with him. He's a
jail house lawyer. And I'm like, wow, I got to
meet this guy because I heard he's a beast with
the lord So end up meeting Derrick Hamilton and the
Lord Library and were exchanging information D five and stuff
like that, and I'm explaining to him about my case.
He reviewed my d D five he sees that scar
(17:20):
Seller name is in the bottom. He's like, wow, this
guy's in my case. He loud on me on my
case and he's fighting actually editing the same thing. So
we leave Shawongo, we end up in Allburn. When we
go to Allburn Correction facility again, I mean Lord Loveburn
and I meant saka shabaka. Is there a guy by
the name of Danny Rinkong there also fighting this inocent
(17:42):
and Derek end up a brother. That's when he came
up with the name actually Innocent Team. Hey, our team.
And what we were doing was like one day we
will work on my case, the next day we will
work on derek case. Like that, we will take turns
on each other case and Derek telling me what to dude,
right over here, right over here, do this, do that,
and um. At the same time I see telling me
what to do. I'm learning And basically what I was
(18:04):
doing was lawyer shopping. I'm someming the big package with
all my evidence with my affid Davis MyDD five crime
scene sketches that I drew trying to get some help
from the outside. I wrote every actually innocent project. I
wrote governors, I wrote the President, I wrote everywhere, Jason,
every anyway you can think of, I wrote, and at
this time Derek end up going home in two thousand
of lessons. So Derek always told me, listen, I'm not
(18:27):
gonna forget about you. Once I'm making home. I'm near.
I got you, I'm not gonna forget. And I don't
heard that so many times Jason being in here that
you know, guys tell you listen, they're gonna go home
do this, and guys just go home and live their life.
So I'm like, wow, no, I hope dered don't do
this to me, you know. And Derry went home and
kept this word of Jason. He put justin on my
(18:47):
case and from there we gathered more evidence and I'm well,
I'm not today Derek has been on the show, Danny
rinkon Tobacco Shakore. I mean, all these people are people
I know well, and I've talked often about the awesome
power that you guys collectively manifested all of whom had
been through the same experience at the hands of the
(19:08):
same people, and setting up basically a law firm inside
the laws of the prison. You know, call it whatever
you want. Shakoura, Cruz, Hamilton, and ring Kohn. I could
see it on a letterhead, and hopefully someday you guys
will actually form a law firm on the outside, because
I think you guys would be incredible together. Derek, when
he was on wrongful conviction, I was like, oh my god,
this is like interviewing a yeah law professor. I mean,
(19:30):
this guy is on fire, so knowledgeable. That is my mentor.
By the way, Derek, we call him Google Legal, give
him effect and he'll give you a case. And Nelson,
you should know it's Derek. What is not just Derek?
I mean all of us are just super committed to
seeing you get home and get on with your life.
(19:51):
So Nelson litigated his case. He filed the emotion of aking,
he filed an appeal, and got shot down at every
every turn over the past twenty years. And so the
hearing that we were finally granted in two thousand nineteen,
and the evidence that we presented was it was quite astounding.
I mean, obviously, we called Officer Pietti and again who
(20:12):
said that he did not see Nelson Cruz at the
scene before, after, or during the crime. We called William Harden,
who was across the street watched the ponytailed man kill
his friend. He knew Trevor Vieia and did not see
Nelson Cruise there. He saw the police pull up at
the scene. And then we called William Johnson, who was
the other man that was arrested at the scene, and
he testified that he knew Nelson Cruz and he did
(20:33):
not see Nelson Cruise at the scene. I mean, those
are three eye witnesses. We called two alibi witnesses, Ralph Johnson,
and the only questions that the d A had for
Ralph Johnson was did he eat his Chinese food or
not that night? That's how solid Ralph Johnson was on
the witness stand. Another alibi witness, Bonnie Cooper, who was
at the time Andre Bellinger's mistress, testified that Andre Bellinger
(20:57):
admitted to her he never saw the crime. Christopher Cooper,
Bonnie Cooper's son, who was playing basketball with Andre Bellinger
that night. Chris Cooper, testified that Bellinger couldn't have seen
it because the shooting had already happened by the time
they get there. We also called jsal Peter, who was
a private investigator who interviewed Andre Bellinger, and he asked
Andre Bellinger, why didn't you mention the police or Edward
(21:19):
or Rodriguez? And Bellinger told jsal Peter that the police
never told him that Rodriguez or the police were at
the scene, I mean, and recalled Jermaine Fraser, the man
Shack who Bellinger said started this whole thing off, and
Shack testified that he never pulled a gun out on Nelson,
that there was never a dispute that night, that that's
(21:41):
all false. Of course, we called Scarcella and Camille, and
you know, Scarcella has amnesia. He can remember what he
was wearing in nineteen seventy three, but when you ask
him about the case that you're talking about now, he
can't remember anything. But Mark Brooks puts him in Camille
right with Andre Bellinger before the lineup. I mean, this
was such a bad blowout that April twelve, two thousand nineteen,
(22:03):
I made an oral argument and also on paper to
release Nelson on bail, which is astounding in the middle
of a post conviction hearing. It was going that bad
that I said, in the interests of justice that this
court should release him. And Judge Simpson on that day
said that Louis Scarcella was totally involved with this case.
Andre Bellinger was unreliable, and that Chris and Bonnie Cooper
(22:24):
she found to be reliable witnesses. That was April. By
August she was in another in another place. You know,
God bless Shawanda. Well what happened. But I knew something
strange was going on. While she was deciding over my hearing, Jason,
she was, you know, moving funny, you know, she she
would be given credit to certain amount witnesses testimony and
(22:45):
then laid on when Justin highlights it to her, It's
like she's lost. Jason's like she don't know, like what
happened a couple of days ago. And at the end
when I worked for decision in August twenty nine, when
she's and not my motion, Jason, I was like Lois,
but we found out that you know, she was mentally
ill with al Thomas. Has she been in her right
state of mind, I would have been home already. You know,
(23:06):
there's no question. You know, Nelson is referring to a
very prospected judge from the Brooklyn Supreme Court who was
known for her willingness to vacate wrongful convictions. Her name
which is Shandiah Simpson, and she had ordered do trials
previously for other men who had been also framed by
Luis Scarcella. Listen to this quote. In the case of
(23:27):
someone named Hargrove, Judge Simpson had this to say specifically
about Scarcella. The pattern and practice of Scarcella's conduct, which
manifests a disregard for rules, law and the truth, undermines
our judicial system and gives cause for a new review
of the evidence. I mean, she just called it out
(23:47):
like it was, and here it is again right in
front of her. But the craziest twist of fate was
that this poor woman, who's not an old lady, right,
she was in her young fifties, she had early onset Alheimer's,
and she just literally lost the plot. When I was
listening to her decision on August, the first decision she
(24:09):
read off, I argued orally, she left the bench totally abruptly.
A court officer came out and told us to come
back after launch, and when she came back out after lunch,
she read off another decision, which I was left wondering
what hearing that she sat through. Her decision is based
on an erroneous understanding of what we put forward. I mean,
(24:30):
it's that we presented Edward Rodriguez as our witness for
a self defense claim, which we never took that position.
We always took the position at Edward Rodriguez was the killer.
The prosecutor put Edward Rodriguez on the witness stand, so
she mistated that. I mean, there's video of it. The
president hearing at this decision falls on the following Rodriguez testified,
(24:53):
and his hearing that the victim fired the first shot
at Cruise and then Cruise shot back is our defense.
Defense claims both that Rodriguez is unreliable and at the
same time, act of the Court find his testimony supports
the claim of self defense and that this constitutes new evidence.
For this reason, the emotion must be denied. He never
(25:17):
claimed that Rodriguez was newly discovered evidence. Claimed that Rodriguez
was unreliable from day one. They put him off. That's
the revenuence they put Evans on that contradicted the only
evidence that was at trial, which is Andre Bones are right.
One witness who says the police told him who did it?
Who says the police told him what weapon was used,
(25:38):
Who even testifies that the police told him that Cruz
was in the lineup. How reliable is that witness? And
then we hear from a witness, the witness that is
the first person who points the Nelson Cruz. He has
a more at bard Rodriguez has a motive to lie,
(25:59):
and then fifteen years later says it's self defense. We
don't take his position that's happen. It's a day point
to four or fourth. We're gonna believe that on the
day at his birthday he kills somebody. Unfortunately, in cases
like this, the lord doesn't really protect a seventeen year old.
(26:22):
I make my point that Rodriguez was on our witness,
and she pulls everybody up to the bench, schedules a reargument.
She never provides a written decision and tells us to
come back in December of Dove sixteen, be back on twels.
That's a Monday. I've shared this video with the district
(26:42):
attorney myself. I like Eric personally. I do have a
lot of respect for him. I'm completely confused as to
why this case has been ignored. When I came back
from court last year, you know, I pulled down my
tight right and I started right, and numerous a lettists
to everything a list two people under him, and never
(27:03):
receiver responded. There's a very powerful quote where you said
in a letter to rik on Zalie, I know deep
in my heart something went wrong at my hearing. I
know me reaching out to you may not be the
proper way to go about it, but I truly need
help in this matter and feel that you have the
power to step in and conduct an investigation. And of course,
a year after the hearing, in early August, it was
(27:24):
confirmed that Judge Simpson had early on said Alzheimer's and
she retired. You know, they should be ashamed of what
they're doing with me. Something went wrong or Rene proceeded,
something's wrong with the judge, and you got the power
to empazine. You got to see all you you would do,
which you know, I think ever since Kenneth Thompson died,
(27:45):
they're not following what Kenneth Thompson was doing. Suggin. The
(28:06):
reargument was granted It's tragic. What happened to poor Judge
Sandiah Simpson. What the funk happens now? So, in a
normal course, the judge will issue a written decision, the
court will enter the decision. She granted the motion to reargue,
which is very, very very rare. She never issues a
written decision. The court doesn't even enter this decision, which
(28:29):
is what has to be done. So almost a year
goes by and in August of we find out that
Judge Simpson has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. So then Judge Demick,
the administrative judge, assigns Raymond L. Rodriguez to the case.
So we filed the reargument, and Judge Rodriguez told us
(28:50):
that he wouldn't hear any of these filings, that the
only thing that was in front of him was Judge
Simpson's competency during the hearing and when she rendered her decision. Right,
but which decision, the initial denial of the motion of
vacate or the decision to grant a reargument. You bring
up a phenomenal point. This is a very confusing procedural history.
(29:12):
He tells us in January of one that the motion
to reargue was taken off the calendar. He was not
going to hear it. The only thing he ruled on
is her oral decision denying the motion to vacate the
conviction and the motion to vacate her decision based upon
her competency. He basically says that I'm not going to
(29:34):
deal with the fact that she granted reargument, which I
don't know how he does that be she already granted it.
And then on March one, Judge Raymond Rodriguez determined that
she was competent and upheld her oral decision to deny
Nelson Cruz's motion to vacate. And it's very interesting because
in our motion to vacate Judge Simpson's decision that we
(29:56):
filed back on August, we had an affidavid from an
investigator that spoke to her husband. We also had a
pro public article where the husband spoke and said that
he had noticed that Judge Simpson's mental health had been
slipping as far back as the summer of two thousand
and eighteen, which is almost a year before Nelson Cruz's
actual hearing, let alone the decision. So Judge Rodriguez said
(30:19):
that all of that information was speculative and said, I
see how she could come to her decision. There's a
reasonable basis for her decision. I don't know how he
comes to that decision because he's not a doctor, and
to be frank, I mean, he's not a mind reader.
So Judge Rodriguez decision. Were filing leave to appeal. We're
also filing a motion to compel a written decision from
(30:43):
the Supreme Court because it's our position that Judge Simpson's
oral decision wasn't effectively a decision. It was never filed,
it was never signed off on by her, and how
could she sign off on it. Two days after she
was in court and rendered that decision, she went on
medically because she was suffering from Alzheimer's. So just in
this case is just sucking outrageous. And I know a
(31:06):
lot of our listeners are going to want to do
something after they hear this. So what kind of action
can I, just a regular person take. We set up
a petition on change dot org. They can sign off
on the petition and prayerfully the Brooklyn d A's office
and the judges in Brooklyn, we'll see people signing off
on this petition. There's gonna be a link in the bio,
(31:27):
you can take an action that will add up to
making a difference and getting the attention to this awful
case that it deserves. And now this is the part
of the show that we call closing arguments, and this
is where I first of all, thank both of you
for being here, Justin Bonus criminal defense attorney and Nelson
Cruz wrongfully convicted from behind bars. Thank you both for
(31:49):
being here. And now I'm going to turn my microphone
off and listen to each of you share your final
thoughts on whatever you want to talk about, and so
let's leave the best for last, of course, that's Nelson Cruz.
And first over to you Justin for closing arguments. I
just want to make it clear to everybody that this
is a disgrace. The mountains of evidence show that this
(32:11):
man is innocent, and the d a's office has the
ability to interview our witnesses. Our witnesses were consistent in
the conviction review process, but their witnesses weren't consistent. And
believe me, they treated our witnesses differently than they treated
their witnesses. And this is just it's disgraceful. Andre Bellinger
(32:32):
came in in two thousand, nineteen, and he said his
trial testimony was truthful. He maintained his trial testimony, which
is that they told him what type of gun was used.
They told him that it was Nelson Cruz. They told
him EDWARDO. Rodriguez wasn't reliable. They told him they needed
him because EDWARDO. Rodriguez wasn't reliable. They told him that
(32:52):
Nelson Cruz was going to be in the lineup. This
is the only piece of evidence that convicted Nelson Cruz.
I don't really know if I have to say anything
more other than you heard what I said about what
was presented at the hearing. And that's without saying that
Scarcella and Stephen Camille were involved in this case. To
top it off, they were involved. If ever, there was
(33:15):
a case that was presented in court where clear and
convincing evidence was presented that a man was actually innocent,
it was Nelson Cruiz's case. Nelson, over to you for
the last word. Thank you, first of all a Jason
for sharing my stories and air and uh, like my
attorney Justin Bonus just said, right now, I'm just hoping
(33:37):
well all the you know, the amount of evidence that
I have shown that I commit this clown and the
next day, next few weeks or the next months coming, um,
I'll be exonerated. I'm just, you know, praying to get
out of here. Enough is enough. You know. I don't
suffer it a lot in there. I don't lost my parents.
Since I've been conserrated, it's been aw for me. It's
(33:58):
been aw for me. You know. Sometimes get frustrated and um,
you know, I lose hope, but I'll fight against it.
I'll move forward. I'll move forward. And you know, once again,
thank you, Jason. I appreciate you, and you know everyone
that's listening. I hope you are my story. Yeah yeah,
I having it for me directly, and that's what's been
(34:21):
going on with me for almost twenty three years. Thank
you for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flam. Please
support your local innocence projects and go to the link
in our bio to see how you can help. I'd
like to thank our production team, Connor Hall, Jeff Clyburne,
(34:44):
and Kevin Wardis. The music on the show, as always,
is by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be
sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction and
on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast. Wrongful Conviction with Jason
Flam is a production of Law Well for Good Podcasts
in association with Signal Company Number one m
East New York is a notoriously tough Brooklyn neighborhood, and
the seventies, eighties, and nineties it had an equally corrupt
local precinct, the seven five or seventy fifth Precinct, home
to many of the wrongful convictions of notorious and YPD
detectives Luis Carcella and Stephen Camill. On March Nelson Cruz
(00:23):
was out in the neighborhood with some friends celebrating his
seventeenth birthday over Chinese food when they heard gunshots close by,
so close, in fact, that they saw the police swoop
in immediately to get the situation under control. A police
officer had seen the actual muscle flash of the gun
in Eduardo Rodriguez's hand. Trevor Vieira, a man in his
(00:46):
mid twenties known for stick ups, was lying dead in
the street. Rodriguez was brought in for questioning, where Scarcella
and Camille turned what should have been an open and
shut case into another horrific wrongful conviction with the false
testimony of a man who didn't even know police were
unseen to arresta. Rodriguez, and in spite of the testimony
(01:08):
of that uniform police officer stating that Nelson Cruz was
definitely not the shooter. Nelson was convicted and sentenced to
twenty five years to life, and if matters couldn't get
any worse, despite a mountain of new exculpatory evidence, the
judge who oversaw his most recent appeal suffers now from
(01:28):
early onset Alzheimer's, which has impaired her ability to follow
the case and set Nelson free. This is Wrongful Conviction
with Jason Flopper. Hello, this is a prepaid collect call
(01:56):
from an inmate at New York State Department of Actions
and Community Supervision. This call is subject to recording and monitoring.
To accept charges, Press one to refuse charges, press too.
Thank you for using Securist. You may start the conversation now.
Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction with Jason flam That's me.
(02:17):
I'm your host. Today. We have a deeply, deeply troubling
situation to talk to you about. Today. We're on the
phone with Nelson Cruz, an innocent man who's been in
prison for a twenty two years now in New York State,
and I'm going to introduce now to you an attorney.
You have a tremendous amount of respect for who I'm
proud to work with on a day to day basis
(02:39):
on various cases, including this one. Justin bonus, Welcome to
Ronful Conviction. Good morning, Jason. How are you. I'm all right. Thanks,
I'm glad to be here with you, and most of all,
I'm glad to be here with the man of the hour,
Nelson Cruz Nelson, I'm sorry you have to be here
under these circumstances, but I'm really glad you're here to
tell your story. So welcome to Ronful Conviction. And um,
(03:00):
which prison are you in? Now? What correction facility? Upstate
New York? Can you take us back to that time?
I was in times of grade at the time. It
was a nice night in March, the day for my birthday.
Me and like three of my friends, we walked around
the corner to the Chinese restaurant to purchase some food
and me and uh my friends were you know, laughing
(03:22):
and joking like we usually do. We stepped outside and
uh shots aside down the block on brafting and picking,
and when I looked, I've seen a police officer car
that pulled up immediately and was getting the area under
control and I've seen that they had a Spanish guy
on the floor, and uh, there was arresting the guy. However,
about four in the morning, Pomicide contacted my mom's told
(03:45):
my mother they wanted to interview me for the murder,
and I was like, how can this be. I don't
have nothing to do with the situation. So my big
weather stuff, We're gonna get an attorney. We're gonna go
down to the priests, and don't go down there by yourself,
because you know the semi fifth Priests is dirtier. I said, fine,
and on April three, went to the priest with attorney
and went to a lineup and I've never seen the
(04:08):
sweeze again. Justin I want to turn to you because
this case is the definition of an open and shut case.
It should have never even been anywhere near Nelson or
his family because they knew from day one exactly who
did it. Can you explain what I'm talking about here?
This murder happens March fifteen at the corner of Bradford
(04:31):
and Picking. Two cops in a patrol car. Officer William
Pietti actually watches the man with the ponytail, who we
later find out is ed Wardo Rodriguez firing the gun,
sees the muzzle flare towards Bradford and Picking, which is
where the deceased Trevor Vieira was found. Pietti actually arrests
at Wardo, Rodriguez tells him to drop the gun, and
(04:52):
Officer Palm Mary chases a black man. I guess who
runs away. These are what the two cops say at
in thirty and one forty five in the morning when
they're interviewed by none other than Detective Louis Scarcella and
Detective Stephen Kimmel. And just to tell you who those
men are, I mean, they're probably some of the most
storied police officers in the country when it comes to
(05:14):
wrongful convictions in relation to homicides. And Louis Scarcella with
Camille shows up at the scene at eleven fifty five.
They are totally involved with this case. Scarcella and Camille
are at the precinct with Rodriguez. Rodriguez at around three
o'clock in the morning or so actually makes a statement.
Another witness, William Johnson, who later testifies that Nelson wasn't
(05:36):
at the scene, he was an eyewitness, arrested at the
scene he was interviewed, does not indicate anything about Nelson Cruz.
So the first person to actually name cruises at Wardo Rodriguez.
And then there was a third witness. His name is
Andre Bellinger, who was interviewed at something around three forty
five in the morning, and he says Nelson as well.
Nelson turns himself in on April three. He's barely seventeen
(05:58):
years old. Mark Brooks runs the line. He is allegedly
the elite investigator out of the seventy because Stephen Camill
is the lead investigator for Brooklyn North. And how you
understand the politics between Brooklyn North and the local precincts
is one detective from Brooklyn North would work with a
precinct detective. So Stephen Camill was the lead partner detective
(06:18):
with Mark Brooks who was the detective from the seventy
five precinct, and Louis Scarcella was Stephen Camill's partner from
Brooklyn North. You know. So what we have happened is
a lineup that's conducted and Andre Bellinger is the only
witness that comes into view the lineup. So little does
Nelson know He's going right into the eye of the storm. Here,
(06:39):
you were living through this a tenth grader. I mean,
can you take us back to what you were thinking
and feeling at that time, starting on the third when
you turn yourself in, yes, Jason. So I go into
the precinct and I'm sitting down, just waiting for the
detective that will look for Ulana. He's on his desk
with a seat picked up, smoking a cigar. Never forget this,
(07:00):
he's smoking the cigar. And he asked me up, you're
not scared to be here. I said, no, I wouldn't
be here if I committed this murder. He shook his head,
said all right. After they got the Feller, we went
into the lineup. I got picked out, of course by
Andre Billinger, and my attorney's explained to me, listen, don't
say nothing to the detective. The only thing that you
sup for the state of the mission, name and address.
(07:21):
So they kept me the bullpen for a little while,
for a couple of hours, and they took me out
the bullpen and then bring me right back into the
lineup room and they cupped me into like a little
rails that start a line of wrong and start. Steller
brings a paper into the room and uh, he's telling me, listen,
we already know what happened. Just sign it and you
would be leaving. So I tell scars seller, I'm not
(07:42):
signing anything. He gets a little frustrated. So you got
your mills trying to play the good cop. He's telling me, listen,
just find it and uh, you'll be walking out. We
already know what happened. So I tell him again, I'm
not signing anything. Start selling, get a little frustrated, crumble
the paper and slaps me in the face with this again.
He's telling me, you know, hostile to sign the paper
you be, And I'm like, I'm not signing anything. That
(08:03):
left me in the room for like a half hour.
They bring me back into the bullpen, and about maybe
like an hour after that, they put me into a van.
They caoving me to U Central book and later on,
when I get my botty disclosure for him, I'll see
that they put a d D five report in the
state and that I made a spontaneous statement. The statement
stace sound to the fact that I got shot in
my leg and I shot the guy and ran and
(08:25):
I'm looking at I'm telling my attorney I never said
any any of this to these detectives. Never never said
any of it. And the statement that he attributes to
Nelson is the same type of language that's in all
of these Scarcella in Commill cases when you have these
quote unquote confessions. And by the way, I have to
say this before I got back to Justin. It sounds
to me like you did everything right. You did what
(08:47):
we always asked people to do on the show, don't talk.
You didn't sign a piece of paper, although it sounded
like a pretty good offer, like to a kid in
tenth grade. So you did everything right and the system
failed anyway, Justin, do you have a theory on how
this Rodriguez character could have possibly convinced the detectives that
I mean, my mind goes to a pretty dark place here.
(09:09):
But why did he finger Nelson? The only theory I
have is Rodriguez knew who Nelson was and he just
pinned it on somebody that maybe looked more like him
than anybody else did. But one other thing about Edward
or Rodriguez, the seventy five was very familiar with him.
He had multiple arrests from the seventy five robbery. I
believe in and then a drug conviction in ninety five.
(09:31):
He was on parole at the time of this murder
for that drug conviction. From they knew him and they
have found him to be useful, and in this case,
they didn't want to put him in jail. I mean,
that's clear, because they could have. They should have. It
was their responsibility to do so, and instead they decided
to pin it on an innocent man named Nelson Cruz,
(09:51):
which was standard operating procedure for them at that time. Anyway,
the seventy, as Nelson said, is notorious. The quote from
Michael Race when he was ahead of that squad from
the early eighties into the early nineties, he was involved
with seven fifty homicide investigations and only one time did
they actually follow the rules. So Rodriguez tells them, I
(10:12):
didn't do it, and they bring Andre Bellinger in. He
gives them the information that they want to hear. And
what we know about Andre Bellinger is in one Andre
Bellinger was charged with murder and he only does a
one and a half to three. At the time of
Nelson's arrest, Andre Bellinger was working with the p a L,
which is the Police Athletic League and he lived only
two blocks away from the seventy precinct. And what we
(10:35):
know from a hearing, what Detective Brooks testifies to was
right before the lineup, Scarcelling Camille there alone with Andre Bellinger.
So now we have to get to the trial. A
New York City police officer testified that they had not
seen Nelson Cruz at the scene. I'm gonna read the
testimony here. Telson, your lawyer walked the officer through what happened.
(10:57):
He said, did you see the muzzle flashes of the gun.
He answers, I saw muzzle flashes, and you jumped out
of the car almost immediately upon hearing the shots. Correct,
and the officer says, correct, your gun drawn. Officer says, yes,
did you ever see Nelson Cruise on the scene. No?
Did you ever see Nelson Cruise with the nine millimeter
handgun in his hand? No, you did see Eduardo Rodriguez
(11:20):
with a nine millivater handgun in his hand. Correct. Yes,
As a matter of fact, you were pointing your nine
millimeter at him. Correct. Officer replies, correct, because he had
a gun in his hand. Correct. Correct, And you were
screaming at the top of your lungs. That dropped the gun.
Dropped the gun? Correct. Officer replies correct. Now, that is
(11:41):
some of the most powerful testimony I have ever heard,
and all of it serves to prove that you could
not did not commit this crime. You know, as you
have read the testimony, I remember this like yesterday, and
I'm still confused, Jason, the only one is against me.
Was not like Rodriguez at my child. They used Billinger.
(12:02):
And when you ask Billinger, the states he was there
from the beginning. Then did you see police on the scene?
He states no. We asked them. Did you see anybody
get arrested on the crowd saying? He states no, so
and my mom is like, what crowds saying? Was this
guy in? How could you be confused as to whether
or not there were police officers? He wasn't confused. He
(12:24):
said there weren't, but there were. This is not a
thing you could mix up, like the color of the
shirt the guy was wearing, you know. Bellinger his story
is that Nelson gets into it with a guy named Shack,
and that Nelson drives his car, comes back around and
then gets into it with vi Era. Bellinger says that
Nelson accused Vieira given Shack a gun that Nelson just
kills Vieira. That's basically Bellinger story. No one else says that,
(12:48):
no one. And what's interesting is Shack actually came to
testify in two thousand nineteen and he said he never
had a fight with Nelson Cruz, so that was a
made up story. And what collaborates what Shack says is
when Andre Bellinger's speaks to the conviction Review Unit in
two thousand fifteen, says he says he can't even remember
the incident with Shack, which is the whole basis of
this altercation. This case is a joke, okay. Bellinger was
(13:12):
also the least credible witness, not just because of his background,
but also because Balinger testified that the police told him
who do identify. And Bellinger also testified that he'd only
been able to identify the murder weapon as a nine
millimeter gun because the police had told him that's what
it was. They didn't know the gun that Rodriguez was
(13:33):
arrested with was the murder weapon until just before Nelson's trial.
And this is a common theme in policing from the
NYPD is they don't do any forensic investigation okay, so
the ballistics from the nine millimeter that Rodriguez is caught
with matched the shell casings that murdered Trevor Vieira. When
the police officer testified, he states that he didn't see
(13:55):
me at all. He didn't see me with no gun.
He stated, who he's seeing with the gun. I'm like,
I I'm gonna home. And at the end when the
term you came back with the guilty burden, just couldn't
believe it and it sence twenty of life. You got
to go with the smoking gun. All five shell cases
match that gun. I still can't believe it. This episode
(14:24):
is brought to you by Stand Together. Stand Together is
a philanthropic community dedicated to helping people improve their lives.
For more than twenty years, Stand Together and its partners
have been on the front lines of criminal justice reform.
By empowering people to take action, supporting nonprofits, and working
with businesses, Stand Together tackles the root causes of problems
(14:44):
in our communities and empowers those closest to the problems
to drive solutions. Solutions like reducing unjust prison sentences through
the First Step Act, empowering community based programs that help
people re enter society and now working to bridge divides
in our communities. To learn how you may get involved,
visit stand Together dot org slash Conviction. This episode is
(15:09):
underwritten by the A i G pro Bono Program. A
I G is a leading global insurance company, and for
over a decade, the A I G pro Bono Program
has provided thousands of hours of free legal services and
other support to nonprofit organizations and individuals most in need.
More recently, the program added criminal and social justice reform
(15:30):
as a key pillar of its mission. Nelson didn't exactly
take this lying down. Instead, you got busy behind bars, right,
I mean, tell us about the actual innocence group. Like
I said, I was sent to the years to life.
(15:51):
I'll come up to state and know anything about the law,
and I'm just a lob are reacting for help and
you reading a lot of the statues and trying to
familiarize myself. So I ran a cause you know a
lot of good guys, and they teached me about the laws.
And at the same time I'm trying to gather up
my evidence to submit my affidavits to the thought of Division.
(16:15):
At the time, my direct compere was Pendent but I
couldn't because you know, my family, we're not rich. We're
not rich, we we don't got money like that to
be hiving. Private investigated. So I had my mother. She was,
you know, going into these dangerous projects, looking for my friends,
looking for people that was at the crime scene that night.
And with the help with my mother, I was getting
phone numbers, and with the phone numbers, I was contacting
(16:36):
people gather from the evidence I had. It got about
maybe two, like two or three affidavits at first, and
then my brother later on. We had hire private investigators
to locate these witnesses and get afi davids from them.
And as I'm submitting these motions to the court, I'm
getting shot down. I'm losing hope, but I'm still fighting
because I said, listen, something one day, something I gotta
give him. I know I ain't committed this from and
(16:58):
to the cause of the years me being is And
I'm hearing of a guy named Bush, which is Derick Hamilton's.
I don't know if he's familiar with him. He's a
jail house lawyer. And I'm like, wow, I got to
meet this guy because I heard he's a beast with
the lord So end up meeting Derrick Hamilton and the
Lord Library and were exchanging information D five and stuff
like that, and I'm explaining to him about my case.
He reviewed my d D five he sees that scar
(17:20):
Seller name is in the bottom. He's like, wow, this
guy's in my case. He loud on me on my
case and he's fighting actually editing the same thing. So
we leave Shawongo, we end up in Allburn. When we
go to Allburn Correction facility again, I mean Lord Loveburn
and I meant saka shabaka. Is there a guy by
the name of Danny Rinkong there also fighting this inocent
(17:42):
and Derek end up a brother. That's when he came
up with the name actually Innocent Team. Hey, our team.
And what we were doing was like one day we
will work on my case, the next day we will
work on derek case. Like that, we will take turns
on each other case and Derek telling me what to dude,
right over here, right over here, do this, do that,
and um. At the same time I see telling me
what to do. I'm learning And basically what I was
(18:04):
doing was lawyer shopping. I'm someming the big package with
all my evidence with my affid Davis MyDD five crime
scene sketches that I drew trying to get some help
from the outside. I wrote every actually innocent project. I
wrote governors, I wrote the President, I wrote everywhere, Jason,
every anyway you can think of, I wrote, and at
this time Derek end up going home in two thousand
of lessons. So Derek always told me, listen, I'm not
(18:27):
gonna forget about you. Once I'm making home. I'm near.
I got you, I'm not gonna forget. And I don't
heard that so many times Jason being in here that
you know, guys tell you listen, they're gonna go home
do this, and guys just go home and live their life.
So I'm like, wow, no, I hope dered don't do
this to me, you know. And Derry went home and
kept this word of Jason. He put justin on my
(18:47):
case and from there we gathered more evidence and I'm well,
I'm not today Derek has been on the show, Danny
rinkon Tobacco Shakore. I mean, all these people are people
I know well, and I've talked often about the awesome
power that you guys collectively manifested all of whom had
been through the same experience at the hands of the
(19:08):
same people, and setting up basically a law firm inside
the laws of the prison. You know, call it whatever
you want. Shakoura, Cruz, Hamilton, and ring Kohn. I could
see it on a letterhead, and hopefully someday you guys
will actually form a law firm on the outside, because
I think you guys would be incredible together. Derek, when
he was on wrongful conviction, I was like, oh my god,
this is like interviewing a yeah law professor. I mean,
(19:30):
this guy is on fire, so knowledgeable. That is my mentor.
By the way, Derek, we call him Google Legal, give
him effect and he'll give you a case. And Nelson,
you should know it's Derek. What is not just Derek?
I mean all of us are just super committed to
seeing you get home and get on with your life.
(19:51):
So Nelson litigated his case. He filed the emotion of aking,
he filed an appeal, and got shot down at every
every turn over the past twenty years. And so the
hearing that we were finally granted in two thousand nineteen,
and the evidence that we presented was it was quite astounding.
I mean, obviously, we called Officer Pietti and again who
(20:12):
said that he did not see Nelson Cruz at the
scene before, after, or during the crime. We called William Harden,
who was across the street watched the ponytailed man kill
his friend. He knew Trevor Vieia and did not see
Nelson Cruise there. He saw the police pull up at
the scene. And then we called William Johnson, who was
the other man that was arrested at the scene, and
he testified that he knew Nelson Cruz and he did
(20:33):
not see Nelson Cruise at the scene. I mean, those
are three eye witnesses. We called two alibi witnesses, Ralph Johnson,
and the only questions that the d A had for
Ralph Johnson was did he eat his Chinese food or
not that night? That's how solid Ralph Johnson was on
the witness stand. Another alibi witness, Bonnie Cooper, who was
at the time Andre Bellinger's mistress, testified that Andre Bellinger
(20:57):
admitted to her he never saw the crime. Christopher Cooper,
Bonnie Cooper's son, who was playing basketball with Andre Bellinger
that night. Chris Cooper, testified that Bellinger couldn't have seen
it because the shooting had already happened by the time
they get there. We also called jsal Peter, who was
a private investigator who interviewed Andre Bellinger, and he asked
Andre Bellinger, why didn't you mention the police or Edward
(21:19):
or Rodriguez? And Bellinger told jsal Peter that the police
never told him that Rodriguez or the police were at
the scene, I mean, and recalled Jermaine Fraser, the man
Shack who Bellinger said started this whole thing off, and
Shack testified that he never pulled a gun out on Nelson,
that there was never a dispute that night, that that's
(21:41):
all false. Of course, we called Scarcella and Camille, and
you know, Scarcella has amnesia. He can remember what he
was wearing in nineteen seventy three, but when you ask
him about the case that you're talking about now, he
can't remember anything. But Mark Brooks puts him in Camille
right with Andre Bellinger before the lineup. I mean, this
was such a bad blowout that April twelve, two thousand nineteen,
(22:03):
I made an oral argument and also on paper to
release Nelson on bail, which is astounding in the middle
of a post conviction hearing. It was going that bad
that I said, in the interests of justice that this
court should release him. And Judge Simpson on that day
said that Louis Scarcella was totally involved with this case.
Andre Bellinger was unreliable, and that Chris and Bonnie Cooper
(22:24):
she found to be reliable witnesses. That was April. By
August she was in another in another place. You know,
God bless Shawanda. Well what happened. But I knew something
strange was going on. While she was deciding over my hearing, Jason,
she was, you know, moving funny, you know, she she
would be given credit to certain amount witnesses testimony and
(22:45):
then laid on when Justin highlights it to her, It's
like she's lost. Jason's like she don't know, like what
happened a couple of days ago. And at the end
when I worked for decision in August twenty nine, when
she's and not my motion, Jason, I was like Lois,
but we found out that you know, she was mentally
ill with al Thomas. Has she been in her right
state of mind, I would have been home already. You know,
(23:06):
there's no question. You know, Nelson is referring to a
very prospected judge from the Brooklyn Supreme Court who was
known for her willingness to vacate wrongful convictions. Her name
which is Shandiah Simpson, and she had ordered do trials
previously for other men who had been also framed by
Luis Scarcella. Listen to this quote. In the case of
(23:27):
someone named Hargrove, Judge Simpson had this to say specifically
about Scarcella. The pattern and practice of Scarcella's conduct, which
manifests a disregard for rules, law and the truth, undermines
our judicial system and gives cause for a new review
of the evidence. I mean, she just called it out
(23:47):
like it was, and here it is again right in
front of her. But the craziest twist of fate was
that this poor woman, who's not an old lady, right,
she was in her young fifties, she had early onset Alheimer's,
and she just literally lost the plot. When I was
listening to her decision on August, the first decision she
(24:09):
read off, I argued orally, she left the bench totally abruptly.
A court officer came out and told us to come
back after launch, and when she came back out after lunch,
she read off another decision, which I was left wondering
what hearing that she sat through. Her decision is based
on an erroneous understanding of what we put forward. I mean,
(24:30):
it's that we presented Edward Rodriguez as our witness for
a self defense claim, which we never took that position.
We always took the position at Edward Rodriguez was the killer.
The prosecutor put Edward Rodriguez on the witness stand, so
she mistated that. I mean, there's video of it. The
president hearing at this decision falls on the following Rodriguez testified,
(24:53):
and his hearing that the victim fired the first shot
at Cruise and then Cruise shot back is our defense.
Defense claims both that Rodriguez is unreliable and at the
same time, act of the Court find his testimony supports
the claim of self defense and that this constitutes new evidence.
For this reason, the emotion must be denied. He never
(25:17):
claimed that Rodriguez was newly discovered evidence. Claimed that Rodriguez
was unreliable from day one. They put him off. That's
the revenuence they put Evans on that contradicted the only
evidence that was at trial, which is Andre Bones are right.
One witness who says the police told him who did it?
Who says the police told him what weapon was used,
(25:38):
Who even testifies that the police told him that Cruz
was in the lineup. How reliable is that witness? And
then we hear from a witness, the witness that is
the first person who points the Nelson Cruz. He has
a more at bard Rodriguez has a motive to lie,
(25:59):
and then fifteen years later says it's self defense. We
don't take his position that's happen. It's a day point
to four or fourth. We're gonna believe that on the
day at his birthday he kills somebody. Unfortunately, in cases
like this, the lord doesn't really protect a seventeen year old.
(26:22):
I make my point that Rodriguez was on our witness,
and she pulls everybody up to the bench, schedules a reargument.
She never provides a written decision and tells us to
come back in December of Dove sixteen, be back on twels.
That's a Monday. I've shared this video with the district
(26:42):
attorney myself. I like Eric personally. I do have a
lot of respect for him. I'm completely confused as to
why this case has been ignored. When I came back
from court last year, you know, I pulled down my
tight right and I started right, and numerous a lettists
to everything a list two people under him, and never
(27:03):
receiver responded. There's a very powerful quote where you said
in a letter to rik on Zalie, I know deep
in my heart something went wrong at my hearing. I
know me reaching out to you may not be the
proper way to go about it, but I truly need
help in this matter and feel that you have the
power to step in and conduct an investigation. And of course,
a year after the hearing, in early August, it was
(27:24):
confirmed that Judge Simpson had early on said Alzheimer's and
she retired. You know, they should be ashamed of what
they're doing with me. Something went wrong or Rene proceeded,
something's wrong with the judge, and you got the power
to empazine. You got to see all you you would do,
which you know, I think ever since Kenneth Thompson died,
(27:45):
they're not following what Kenneth Thompson was doing. Suggin. The
(28:06):
reargument was granted It's tragic. What happened to poor Judge
Sandiah Simpson. What the funk happens now? So, in a
normal course, the judge will issue a written decision, the
court will enter the decision. She granted the motion to reargue,
which is very, very very rare. She never issues a
written decision. The court doesn't even enter this decision, which
(28:29):
is what has to be done. So almost a year
goes by and in August of we find out that
Judge Simpson has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. So then Judge Demick,
the administrative judge, assigns Raymond L. Rodriguez to the case.
So we filed the reargument, and Judge Rodriguez told us
(28:50):
that he wouldn't hear any of these filings, that the
only thing that was in front of him was Judge
Simpson's competency during the hearing and when she rendered her decision. Right,
but which decision, the initial denial of the motion of
vacate or the decision to grant a reargument. You bring
up a phenomenal point. This is a very confusing procedural history.
(29:12):
He tells us in January of one that the motion
to reargue was taken off the calendar. He was not
going to hear it. The only thing he ruled on
is her oral decision denying the motion to vacate the
conviction and the motion to vacate her decision based upon
her competency. He basically says that I'm not going to
(29:34):
deal with the fact that she granted reargument, which I
don't know how he does that be she already granted it.
And then on March one, Judge Raymond Rodriguez determined that
she was competent and upheld her oral decision to deny
Nelson Cruz's motion to vacate. And it's very interesting because
in our motion to vacate Judge Simpson's decision that we
(29:56):
filed back on August, we had an affidavid from an
investigator that spoke to her husband. We also had a
pro public article where the husband spoke and said that
he had noticed that Judge Simpson's mental health had been
slipping as far back as the summer of two thousand
and eighteen, which is almost a year before Nelson Cruz's
actual hearing, let alone the decision. So Judge Rodriguez said
(30:19):
that all of that information was speculative and said, I
see how she could come to her decision. There's a
reasonable basis for her decision. I don't know how he
comes to that decision because he's not a doctor, and
to be frank, I mean, he's not a mind reader.
So Judge Rodriguez decision. Were filing leave to appeal. We're
also filing a motion to compel a written decision from
(30:43):
the Supreme Court because it's our position that Judge Simpson's
oral decision wasn't effectively a decision. It was never filed,
it was never signed off on by her, and how
could she sign off on it. Two days after she
was in court and rendered that decision, she went on
medically because she was suffering from Alzheimer's. So just in
this case is just sucking outrageous. And I know a
(31:06):
lot of our listeners are going to want to do
something after they hear this. So what kind of action
can I, just a regular person take. We set up
a petition on change dot org. They can sign off
on the petition and prayerfully the Brooklyn d A's office
and the judges in Brooklyn, we'll see people signing off
on this petition. There's gonna be a link in the bio,
(31:27):
you can take an action that will add up to
making a difference and getting the attention to this awful
case that it deserves. And now this is the part
of the show that we call closing arguments, and this
is where I first of all, thank both of you
for being here, Justin Bonus criminal defense attorney and Nelson
Cruz wrongfully convicted from behind bars. Thank you both for
(31:49):
being here. And now I'm going to turn my microphone
off and listen to each of you share your final
thoughts on whatever you want to talk about, and so
let's leave the best for last, of course, that's Nelson Cruz.
And first over to you Justin for closing arguments. I
just want to make it clear to everybody that this
is a disgrace. The mountains of evidence show that this
(32:11):
man is innocent, and the d a's office has the
ability to interview our witnesses. Our witnesses were consistent in
the conviction review process, but their witnesses weren't consistent. And
believe me, they treated our witnesses differently than they treated
their witnesses. And this is just it's disgraceful. Andre Bellinger
(32:32):
came in in two thousand, nineteen, and he said his
trial testimony was truthful. He maintained his trial testimony, which
is that they told him what type of gun was used.
They told him that it was Nelson Cruz. They told
him EDWARDO. Rodriguez wasn't reliable. They told him they needed
him because EDWARDO. Rodriguez wasn't reliable. They told him that
(32:52):
Nelson Cruz was going to be in the lineup. This
is the only piece of evidence that convicted Nelson Cruz.
I don't really know if I have to say anything
more other than you heard what I said about what
was presented at the hearing. And that's without saying that
Scarcella and Stephen Camille were involved in this case. To
top it off, they were involved. If ever, there was
(33:15):
a case that was presented in court where clear and
convincing evidence was presented that a man was actually innocent,
it was Nelson Cruiz's case. Nelson, over to you for
the last word. Thank you, first of all a Jason
for sharing my stories and air and uh, like my
attorney Justin Bonus just said, right now, I'm just hoping
(33:37):
well all the you know, the amount of evidence that
I have shown that I commit this clown and the
next day, next few weeks or the next months coming, um,
I'll be exonerated. I'm just, you know, praying to get
out of here. Enough is enough. You know. I don't
suffer it a lot in there. I don't lost my parents.
Since I've been conserrated, it's been aw for me. It's
(33:58):
been aw for me. You know. Sometimes get frustrated and um,
you know, I lose hope, but I'll fight against it.
I'll move forward. I'll move forward. And you know, once again,
thank you, Jason. I appreciate you, and you know everyone
that's listening. I hope you are my story. Yeah yeah,
I having it for me directly, and that's what's been
(34:21):
going on with me for almost twenty three years. Thank
you for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flam. Please
support your local innocence projects and go to the link
in our bio to see how you can help. I'd
like to thank our production team, Connor Hall, Jeff Clyburne,
(34:44):
and Kevin Wardis. The music on the show, as always,
is by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be
sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction and
on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast. Wrongful Conviction with Jason
Flam is a production of Law Well for Good Podcasts
in association with Signal Company Number one m
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Bright Pacheco
Maggie Freleng
Jason Flom
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