Samuel J. Russotti

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	25 years to life imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	1.25
Year Crime:	1973
Year Convicted:	1976
Year Cleared:	1978
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Monroe
City of Crime:	Rochester
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Rene Piccarreto, Samuel J. Russotti, Richard J. Marino and Thomas E. Marotta, Salvatore Gingello, and Eugene DeFrancesco were codefendants convicted on November 11, 1976 in Monroe County, New York of the murder of Vincent J. Massaro in Rochester on November 23, 1973. In January 1977 all six defendants were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. After their convictions it was discovered the Monroe County Sheriff's office fabricated evidence against the four defendants by faking surveillance notes and heating them in an oven to make them look old, and that officers committed perjury in their testimony during their trial. Based on the new exculpatory evidence of police evidence fabrication and perjury that the prosecution failed to disclose prior to trial the convictions of the six defendants were vacated without opposition by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office and they were released on January 31, 1978. On November 15, 1988 the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division affirmed New York State's Court of Claims denial of compensation to Russotti and Piccarreto for wrongful imprisonment. The Court ruled that the men dismissal of the defendant's conviction that was based on perjured testimony did not mean that they "are likely to succeed at trial in proving that they did not commit the acts charged in the accusatory instrument." (Piccarreto v. State, 144 A.D.2d 920, 534 N.Y.S.2d 31, 32 (4th Dep't 1988); Russotti v. State, 144 A.D.2d 921, 535 N.Y.S.2d 571 (4th Dep't 1988))"
Conviction Caused By:	Police fabrication of evidence and perjury during the defendant's trial.
Innocence Proved By:	"Based on the new exculpatory evidence of police evidence fabrication and perjury that the prosecution failed to disclose prior to trial the convictions of the six defendant's were vacated without opposition by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office and they were released from prison on January 31, 1978."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Rochester, New York, By Mario Machi, Allan May, Charlie Molino and Greg Q., AmericanMafia.com"
Information Location 1:	http://americanmafia.com/Cities/Rochester.html
Information Source 2:	"United States v. Russotti, 717 F. 2d 27 (2nd Cir. Ct of Appeals, 1983)"
Information Location 2:	http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9073998875233863270&q=Thomas+Marotta+1978&hl=en&as_sdt=1ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffe000000000000001f000001ffffffecfff87fe3fffffff00108000020000000004
Information Source 3:	"United States v. Russotti, et al., 555 F. Supp. 1236 (USDC, WD New York 1983)"
Information Location 3:	"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17959955662245207063&q=Samuel+RUSSOTTI+1973&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"
Information Source 4:	"Piccarreto v. State, 144 A.D.2d 920, 534 N.Y.S.2d 31, 32 (4th Dep't 1988) (Dismissing civil suit for compensation for unjust conviction and imprisonment); Russotti v. State, 144 A.D.2d 921, 535 N.Y.S.2d 571 (4th Dep't 1988) (Dismissing civil suit for compensation for unjust conviction and imprisonment)."
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:	"Inevitable Error: Wrongful New York State Homicide Convictions, 1965-1988, by Marty I. Rosenbaum, 18 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 807, 826-827"
Information Location 5:	http://deskovic.org/research/article/id/Inevitable-Error-Wrongful-New-York-State-Homicide-Convictions
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Samuel J. Russotti

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

25 years to life imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

1.25

Year Crime:

1973

Year Convicted:

1976

Year Cleared:

1978

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Monroe

City of Crime:

Rochester

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Police fabrication of evidence and perjury during the defendant's trial.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Rochester, New York, By Mario Machi, Allan May, Charlie Molino and Greg Q., AmericanMafia.com"

Information Location 1:

http://americanmafia.com/Cities/Rochester.html

Information Source 2:

"United States v. Russotti, 717 F. 2d 27 (2nd Cir. Ct of Appeals, 1983)"

Information Location 2:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9073998875233863270&q=Thomas+Marotta+1978&hl=en&as_sdt=1ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffe000000000000001f000001ffffffecfff87fe3fffffff00108000020000000004

Information Source 3:

"United States v. Russotti, et al., 555 F. Supp. 1236 (USDC, WD New York 1983)"

Information Location 3:

"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17959955662245207063&q=Samuel+RUSSOTTI+1973&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48"

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

"Inevitable Error: Wrongful New York State Homicide Convictions, 1965-1988, by Marty I. Rosenbaum, 18 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 807, 826-827"

Information Location 5:

http://deskovic.org/research/article/id/Inevitable-Error-Wrongful-New-York-State-Homicide-Convictions

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