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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Second Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
15 years to life imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
18 |
Year Crime: |
1995 |
Year Convicted: |
1997 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Kings |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Sundhe Moses was wrongly convicted in April 1997 of second-degree murder and other charges in the drive-by shooting death of 4-year-old Shamone Johnson and the wounding of four other people on August 27, 1995 in Brooklyn, New York. Moses was 19 and the father of an 8-month-old son when he confessed to committing the crimes to NYPD Homicide Detective Louis Scarcella. Moses recanted his confession as coerced by Scarcella, saying that Scarcella pulled him out of bed while executing a search warrant of his residence, and then took him to the 90th Precinct stationhouse when he was threatened, beaten and choked by Scarcella into falsely confessing. During Moses' trial Scarcella testified that Moses voluntarily confessed and he wasn't coerced. The jury believed Scarcella. After his conviction by a jury Moses was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Moses was released on parole in 2013 after spending about 18 years in custody from the time of his arrest. Scarcella's credibility was brought into doubt by allegations he coerced a number of defendant's into confessing, and a number of Kings County convictions were overturned based on those allegations. Moses filed a post-conviction petition for a new trial based on the new evidence bringing into doubt Scarcella's reliability as a prosecution witness. On January 11, 2018 Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo granted Moses petition and ordered a new trial based on the evidence that he may have been coerced into confessing. On February 16, 2018 Justice Riviezzo granted the motion by the Kings County District Attorney's Office to dismiss Moses' indictment. As of February 16, 2018 Scarcella's questionable police tactics have been cited in 13 New Yorkers’ overturned convictions since 2013. Those freed include Derrick Hamilton, Shabaka Shakur, Vanessa Gathers, John Bunn, David Ranta, and Jabbar Washington. On February 12, 2018 Moses filed a petition requesting that a judge discharge his unpaid back child support payments of $39,724.82 that accrued while he was imprisoned. In the four years since his release Moses had paid $7,247." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False confession coerced by NYPD Homicide Detective Louis Scarcella. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On January 11, 2018 Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo granted Moses petition and ordered a new trial based on the evidence that he may have been coerced into confessing. On February 16, 2018 Justice Riviezzo granted the motion by the Kings County District Attorney's Office to dismiss Moses' indictment." |
Defendant Aided By: |
New York lawyer Ron Kuby. |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
19 |
Age When Released: |
37 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Sundhe Moses finally free as prosecutors announce he won’t face retrial in 1997 murder case, By Christina Carrega, New York Daily News, February 16, 2018" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/sundhe-moses-finally-free-won-face-retrial-1997-murder-case-article-1.3825116 |
Information Source 2: |
"Sundhe Moses, coerced into 1995 drive-by shooting confession, sees conviction overturned, By Christina Carrega, New York Daily News, January 11, 2018" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/sundhe-moses-sees-murder-conviction-overturned-95-drive-by-article-1.3751475 |
Information Source 3: |
"Framed Brooklyn man wants judge to vacate $40G child support bill he couldn’t pay while locked up, By Christina Carrega, New York Daily News, February 12, 2018" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/framed-brooklyn-man-judge-vacate-40g-child-support-bill-article-1.3815073 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org