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Twenty eight years on death row


PilotsError

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All because of prosecutor misconduct.  Walked free yesterday.

 

Gloria Figueroa, whose brother Jorge was murdered in a North Philadelphia basement in 1982, stepped sobbing in the front of a Philadelphia courtroom on Thursday morning. Then, she urged Judge J. Scott O’Keefe to release one of the men convicted of killing him — and swiftly end what she sees as a decades-long injustice compounding the tragedy of her brother’s death.

That man, Orlando Maisonet, 60, spent 28 years on death row for the murder, but always contended that two heavily armed drug dealers, Simon and Heriberto Pirela, killed Figueroa and forced Maisonet to help dispose of the body.

“I believe he had nothing to do with it, your honor," Figueroa said. "In my heart, I feel that. And I believe everyone deserves a second chance at life.”

O’Keefe agreed, and imposed the sentence negotiated by Maisonet’s lawyer, Daniel Silverman, and Assistant District Attorney Paul George: 14 to 28 years in prison plus two years’ probation for the charges of third-degree murder, conspiracy, and possession of an instrument of crime, making Maisonet eligible to be released immediately.

He’ll serve the probation in Puerto Rico, helping his 84-year-old mother rebuild her home from damage sustained in Hurricane Maria, according to Silverman.

“I think [she] is waiting to make me a mama’s boy again,” said Maisonet, a stout man with a bald head, glasses, and a salt-and-pepper goatee. “All I can say is, ‘Yes, ma’am.’”

George referred questions to a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner. The spokesperson, Benjamin Waxman, declined comment except to say, “Our office felt that today’s outcome was a just resolution of this case.”

Maisonet’s release brings to a close a nearly three-decade-long quest to shed light on what he argued — and the judge agreed — was ineffective defense, along with clear misconduct by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and Roger King, the prosecutor who handled the case.

Maisonet was initially convicted of two murders involving the Pirelas, who are both serving life sentences in state prison. (Simon Pirela had been sentenced to death, but that sentence was vacated in 2004 pursuant to a Supreme Court ruling that individuals with intellectual disabilities may not be executed.)

But his first conviction — for killing pizza shop owner Ignacio Slafman — was later overturned and Maisonet was acquitted at a retrial in 2005.

The second conviction, for the murder of Figueroa, who had been a witness to Slafman’s death, was vacated 14 years later, in February.

In that case, Maisonet and his lawyers claimed that King had falsified evidence, withheld information from the defense, and failed to notify the court of possible perjured testimony. The District Attorney’s Office supported vacating the conviction, though it did not concede misconduct. Instead, the district attorney agreed that Maisonet had received inadequate legal representation, and that it had been prejudicial when King showed the jury a clip from America’s Most Wanted that included a dramatization of the crime. King died in 2016.

Maisonet agreed to a plea rather than take this case to trial.

“Since he has spent the last 28 years in a 7-by-10 box, facing imminent execution, he made the difficult decision" to take a deal," Silverman said. To him, Maisonet’s journey reflects a fundamental problem with the justice system: “It was way too easy for the state to unfairly convict Mr. Maisonet 28 years ago, and far too difficult for Mr. Maisonet to finally receive the justice he was always due.”

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2 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Did I miss the part in the surly terms of use where we swore to uphold the law?

People swear shit all the time - love, honor, obey, 'til death do us part, blah, blah blah...Words. It's why we have word warlocks, aka lawyers to parse this shit out for us. I'm sure there's a very good legal reason behind the DA's position then and now.

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53 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Krasner is one of the new generation DAs that isn't a tough on crime simpleton.

We need more like him. From what I understand Houston's DA is supposed to be another one of these new DA's that are trying to enact criminal justice reform.

 

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DA's are the scum of the earth.

I remember being in court here in Travis Co when I worked at the rehab.  I used to take those cats over there for their hearings all the time.

There was this one red headed prosecutor who was a real dick over some guy who got caught driving with weed in his car.  I mean, the dude just wouldn't let up on the guy.

Couple days later I'm looking at the local news and see this dude's picture right up on my screen.  Yep, you guessed it, DWI.

Karma

But, hey, at least he took it to the pothead!!!

edit:  Here ya go...  https://www.statesman.com/article/20130813/NEWS/308139700

And here's the real cherry on top - "District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg issued a written statement through a spokesman Tuesday saying that her office doesn’t usually fire employees for a first-time DWI offense and that she will wait until “all the facts are known” before making any final decisions."

 

AR-308139700.jpg

Edited by Cajun
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One reason a DA might not stipulate to misconduct is to avoid exposing the state to liability. That doesn't really sound like Krasner, though.  And neither does making a deal for time served for pretty serious crimes if the convictions for those crimes aren't sound. 

This guy seems to be a bit less of an angel than your average exoneree. 

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The problem, as I see it, is two fold.  It is fairly easy for a trial lawyer to reduce their job to more or less a win-loss record.  I think that's especially true in the criminal arena.  So it all becomes a game, to win.  The other thing is that law enforcement generally begins to see themselves as doing God's work. 

It takes a remarkably secure, intelligent, and compassionate person, and group of people. to put aside their competitive self-righteousness and look at the bigger picture of what is "right" in a broader sense. 

Civil lawyers can get the same way, but it tends to be easier to see a bigger picture.

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