Made him so happy he had a heart attack?
"Man to be freed in 1990 rabbi killing" ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 21, 2013
NEW YORK — A man imprisoned for the 1990 killing of a Brooklyn rabbi was on the verge of freedom Wednesday after prosecutors told a judge they support tossing out his conviction.
David Ranta was to appear Thursday in state court, where a judge will rule on a defense motion to vacate his second-degree murder conviction.
Based on its own re-investigation of the case, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office filed papers Wednesday supporting the motion. They also told the judge they want the murder indictment dismissed, since they ‘‘no longer have sufficient evidence to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.’’
How rare is that, huh? The authorities going back in to find the truth, especially considering the victim in this case.
If the judge agrees, the 58-year-old Ranta could walk out the courtroom Thursday afternoon as a free man.
I'm always for justice and freedom, folks. It's just sad that we rarely ever see or get it these days.
His dramatic reversal of fortune was first reported on Wednesday by The New York Times.
‘‘I’d lie there in the cell at night and I think: I’m the only one in the world who knows I’m innocent,’’ Ranta told the Times from a Buffalo prison. ‘‘I came in here as a 30-something with kids, a mother who was alive. This case killed my whole life.’’
Imagine being a administrative detainee at Gitmo or some other black hole site around the world wondering the same thing after a day's torture.
The case dates to Feb. 8, 1990, when Rabbi Chaskel , a Holocaust survivor and a leader of the tight-knit Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg, was shot in the head by a man fleeing a botched robbery.
I'm always amazed at the soft-selling of Jewish exclusion and separatism in my Zionist-controlled entity.
Thousands attended the rabbi’s funeral, and Mayor David Dinkins offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Do they do that in every murder case?
Ranta, a drug-addicted, unemployed printer, was convicted in May 1991 and sentenced to 37½ years in prison.
Yeah, he kinda deserved to be in prison anyway even if he didn't commit murder.
But the Times, citing investigators and legal documents, said that the detectives who arrested him broke numerous rules. They kept few written records, coached a witness, and took Ranta’s confession under what a judge described as highly dubious circumstances. They allowed two dangerous criminals, an investigator said, to leave jail, smoke crack cocaine, and visit with prostitutes in exchange for incriminating Ranta.
No physical evidence connected Ranta to the murder.
Why did the word framed just leap into my mind?
‘‘Now you people do what you got to do, because I feel this is all a total frame setup,’’ Ranta said at his sentencing. ‘‘When I come down on my appeal, I hope to God he brings out the truth because a lot of people are going to be ashamed of themselves.’’
He did, your prayers have been answered, and he was right: this was a total frame-up, and unfortunately it happens a hell of a lot more than anyone wants to admit (it's a confluence of factors, one might even call it a conspiracy).
The lead detective, Louis Scarcella, defended his work. ‘‘I never framed anyone in my life,’’ he told the newspaper.
When the self-delusional cop just flat-out lies where are we?
--more--"
To the point where we get a printed photograph and no web story:
"A FREE MAN -- David Ranta (right), with his attorney Pierre Sussman in court Thursday, was ordered released by a New York City judge after a reinvestigation cast serious doubt on evidence used to convict him in the Feb. 8, 1990, shooting of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger. Ranta, 58, had spent more than two decades behind bars (Boston Globe March 22 2013)."
Yeah, he is smiling in the photograph.
"Man freed from jail suffers heart attack" Associated Press, March 24, 2013
NEW YORK — A New York City man whose murder conviction was overturned after 23 years in prison suffered a heart attack on his second day of freedom. David Ranta’s lawyer told The New York Times that the former inmate had a serious heart attack Friday. Ranta left jail Thursday after a judge threw out his conviction in the 1990 killing of a Brooklyn rabbi. Prosecutors had recently concluded Ranta’s prosecution in the death of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger was flawed."
What a strange coincidence, and what could have caused a heart attack?
"Ranta told reporters Thursday that his new freedom was emotionally overwhelming."
Happiness causes heart attacks?
And as sinister as it is, the thought just occurred to me as I was putting this post up: if he dies the compensation the state would have to pay for false imprisonment.
