R.R. writing from New York
“I shouldn’t have been convicted nor should I have been forced to suffer behind bars for a deliberately unfair and corrupt criminal process.”
Location
Suffolk County, NY
Crime of Conviction
First degree felony sale of controlled substance; first degree felony possession of a controlled substance.
Year of Conviction
1994; 1995
In 1994, R.R. plead to a first charge of felony sale of a controlled substance, despite what he believed to be insufficient evidence to support the charge, based on his counsel's advice and his inability to pay for additional representation. R.R.'s indictment was based on an alleged interaction with an undercover detective, that R.R. denies occurred. A year later, the was indicted on a first degree felony possession charge, based on the same conduct underlying his previous indictment. This second indictment went to trial. R.R. was convicted by a jury and sentenced to twenty-five years to life. R.R. alleges that he was mislead by fraduluent evidence into pleading guilty to the first crime, which was then used against him to convict him in the subsequent trial.
Procedural issues
Actual innocence, Brady violation, insufficient evidence, ineffective assistance of trial counsel, failure to give limiting instruction.
Counsel
No