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Cheating Prosecutors, Lying Cops, and Wrongful Convictions

by TChris

A dishonest cop. A dishonest prosecutor. A judge who doesn't seem to care. And a potentially innocent man who faces three life sentences.

The cop, Det. Joseph Godoy, investigated a robbery and triple homicide in Tucson, but found no leads until anonymous sources identified some men who may have been involved. After Godoy had that information, he interviewed Keith Woods, a repeat drug offender facing 25 years, who supposedly identified three men he claimed were involved in the crime.

Godoy interviewed Woods, but didn't record the first 45 minutes. "No plausible explanation" was offered why some of the interview was untaped, the Arizona Supreme Court found.

During the trial of two of the men, Godoy testified (falsely) that he first learned of the defendants during the interview with Woods. He didn't mention the anonymous calls. The inference is that Godoy fed the names he received from the anonymous callers to Woods during the unrecorded portion of the interview, then let Woods parrot back the information during the recorded portion. In exchange for his help, Woods got a break in his own case.

The prosecutor, Kenneth Peasley, twice named Arizona Prosecutor of the Year, knew that Godoy intended to commit perjury, but he elicited the false testimony at trial. Having concealed evidence that could have discredited Woods, he argued to the jury that Woods' testimony should cause the jury to convict the two men. The jury did as he asked and the men were convicted.

The third man, Martin Soto Fong, was convicted in a separate trial. His fingerprints were found at the scene, but he says Godoy planted them there.

Such a claim might be dismissed as outlandish if it weren't for the pattern of misconduct already demonstrated, [Arizona State Bar Attorney Karen] Clark said.

Soto is hoping for a new trial, but this is the kind of judge he's up against:

Godoy has retired from the police force. Three separate grand juries considered perjury charges. Two issued indictments, which were dismissed by a judge, who found the grand jury was presented irrelevant prejudicial information and was manipulated in the proceeding.

The same judge, Lina Rodriguez of Pima County Superior Court, had volunteered previously to be a character witness for Peasley in his bar discipline proceedings, Clark said.

Peasley was disbarred, one of the few instances in which a prosecutor who suborned perjury received significant disipline for his betrayal of the public trust. Compare his case to Terry McEachern's, the prosecutor who failed to tell the defense that his star witness, Tom Coleman, was a crook, leading to the wrongful convictions of dozens of defendants in Tulia, Texas. McEachern keeps his license, but must be on probation for two years--less than a slap on the wrist.

Karen Clark, who pursued the disciplinary case against Peasley, worries that Soto may be innocent.

Clark points to an additional problem with the Soto case: Two police reports covering the same anonymous tip were filed - and they named different suspects. One identified the market murderers as a "black man named McKinney" and "Cha Chi." The other said "McKinney" and "Martin Soto" were involved.

A major part of Soto's defense was that he was a victim of mistaken identity. Soto, a Mexican citizen whose mother was Chinese, was not "Cha Chi," he argued. Another Martin in the neighborhood used that nickname.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Re: Cheating Prosecutors, Lying Cops, and Wrongful (none / 0) (#1)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:27 PM EST
    Godoy said he lied because he knew he couldn't talk about confidential informants - the anonymous callers - without violating the defendants' constitutional right to confront their accusers.
    Does this make any sense to lawyers on this site? Besides, "Godoy said he lied because ..." It doesn't matter what he said after that, he admitted to perjury. If you perjure yourself during a trial you should get the same sentence the defendant would have.
    "The mistakes they say were intentional were never intentional," he said in an interview.
    Well that's a lie, Godoy admitted intentional perjury.
    Godoy has retired from the police force. Three separate grand juries considered perjury charges. Two issued indictments, which were dismissed by a judge, who found the grand jury was presented irrelevant prejudicial information and was manipulated in the proceeding.
    Judges can do that!? Besides, Godoy admitted to perjury. Sheesh!
    The same judge, Lina Rodriguez of Pima County Superior Court, had volunteered previously to be a character witness for Peasley in his bar discipline proceedings, Clark said.
    The same judge previously testified for the DA who suborned admitted perjury. Can you say conflict of interest? Why isn't the judge being investigated?

    Here in Arizona, I attended a defense seminar some years back which had as one of its topics "combating prosecutorial misconduct." This a@#hole Peasley was practically the sole topic of discussion. Improper arguments, witholding exculpatory evidence, villifying defense lawyers, you name it, this guy apparently did it. Of course, until he got caught, he was one of the most highly regarded prosecutors around. Go figure.

    Just a minor correction, TChris:
    Compare his case to Terry McEachern's, the prosecutor who failed to tell the defense that his star witness, Tom Coleman, was a crook, leading to the wrongful convictions of dozens of defendants in Tulia, Mississippi. McEachern keeps his license, but must be on probation for two years--less than a slap on the wrist.
    Tom Coleman's misdeeds took place in Tulia, Texas, not in Mississippi.

    Re: Cheating Prosecutors, Lying Cops, and Wrongful (none / 0) (#4)
    by TChris on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    My bad; correction made. Thanks for the catch.