WEBVTT - #444 Jason Flom with Rafael Martinez 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:07.200 In November nineteen eighty seven, Rafael Martinez was lucky to 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.040 survive a gunshot wound to the head, but it changed 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.840 the course of his life. A police report said that 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:17.360 the shooter's nickname was Chino, and according to some, Rafael 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:22.000 lay in wait for three years before exacting his revenge. Meanwhile, 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:26.000 the crack epidemic was raging, and in response, Congress decided 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.680 to subsidize the misguided policy failure known as the War 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.600 on Drugs in New York. This meant increased funding to 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.880 support investigations like the one that honed in on drug 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.320 activity in Raphael's old apartment building in Upper Manhattan, even 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:43.560 though he had moved to Queens. According to the street 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.680 level dealers, Rafael controlled the local drug market, so the 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:51.200 police relied on these smaller fish to catch someone who 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.960 was allegedly a bigger one, tying in a few violent 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.240 offenses to boot, including the murder of a man nicknamed Chino. 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:12.440 But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has always given 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.760 voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're expanding that 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.520 voice to you. Call us at eight three three, two 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.720 oh seven, four six sixty six and leave us a message. 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:26.280 Tell us how these powerful, often tragic stories make you 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:31.520 feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know. We may 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.520 even include your story in a future episode. Call us 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:37.600 A three three, two oh seven, four six sixty six. 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.200 Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. Today's case. I was tempted 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.160 to call it the dead guy is still alive. I 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:59.639 know that sounds crazy, but the murder victim is alive 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:04.040 and well. Our guest today Raphael Martinez. He was charged 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.600 in connection to three violent incidents as well as a 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:11.119 drug trafficking conspiracy, and so many people testified to support 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:16.639 this narrative that made Raphael into a murderous drug kingpin, 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.920 like something out of a movie that you would have 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:21.880 thought there must have been something to it. But when 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.920 you take a closer look at who is testifying and 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:31.080 why the case falls apart, and how they went about 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.200 constructing the case against him, that's one of the crimes 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:38.200 we're covering. So we're going to go over that first 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:43.240 before we get to all of the other absolutely insane details. 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.359 And to help us do that, let's welcome back Raphael's attorney, 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:49.400 the one and only Justin Bonus. 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.720 Thank you for having me again. 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.800 And calling in from Green Haven Penitentiary in New York State. 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:59.400 Is the man himself, Raphael Martinez. Raphael, welcome to the show. 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:00.760 Thank you sir. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.760 Yeah, now, Raffie, are you from the Dominican republicly from 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:04.200 New York. 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.360 I was born in Manhattan in Harley. Then I grew 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.080 up in the Dominican Republic. Then when I was eighteen, 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:13.679 I told my parents listen, I would like to go 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.080 back to the United States and finish my education in 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:21.080 electric engineering. They sent me back to New York in 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:25.400 nineteen eighty five, had a job in a factory. I 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.240 came to live with my cousin in Washington High one 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:33.400 hundred and fifty seventh Street. That is a big Dominican community. 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.600 Everybody knew we show the We used to hang out 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:40.680 in from the building. That was my social life right there. 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.760 But there was a lot of publicy and the drug 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:48.760 was a major problem. That was the track okay epidemic, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.640 and everybody was affected one when you or not directly 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:53.640 or indirectly. 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.360 When Raphael was laid off of a factory job and 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.760 struggling to get by, he too got involved, earning five 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.080 for running an errand once it landed him on five 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.960 years probation, and during that stretch of time, the crack 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.360 epidemic had taken hold of at least one segment of 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.920 most American cities in New York that was primarily Upper 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.720 Manhattan and the Bronx, where, if you remember from the 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.600 stories of Pablo Fernandez and Danny Rincone, both of which 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.800 are going to be linked in the episode description, the 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.000 largest and most feared drug organization at that time was 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.400 led by Lenny and Nelson Sepulveda. They called themselves the 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:28.760 Red Top Crew, but they were known in the media 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.280 as the Wild Cowboys. 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.839 You had the Wild Cowboys that were out there. Everybody, 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.560 at least on the Eastern Seaboard was coming to Washington 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.560 Heights and the Bronx for cocaine. The amount of money 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.159 that was being made and violence, I mean, I believe 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.039 in the thirtieth Precinct, which is only like a square mile, 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:47.960 I think at one point they had seventy homicides a 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:51.839 year in a square mile. I mean, that's just outrageous. 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.719 And Raphael was in fact a random victim of violence. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.520 One night in November nineteen eighty. 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.480 Seven, I was asleep in my apartment in one fifty 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.240 seven hang a straight bullet. He came through the window 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:05.920 throuck me in the top on my hand. The fire 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.080 depart I mean had to break the waging, so the 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.520 police and Paramerico came take me to the hospital. I 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.120 lost battle of the brain and the battled the school 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:15.800 right off the. 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.840 Top and RAFFI has a significant limp. He has trouble 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:22.599 moving the right side of his body. Police reports said 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.960 that a guy named Chino did shoot him in the head. However, 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.799 Chino was one of the most common Dominican nicknames. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.880 Which left police with little to go on. Meanwhile, Raphael 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.479 stayed in the hospital until January nineteen eighty eight. He 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:38.400 had no job, no savings. He lost his apartment on 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.599 West one hundred and fifty seventh Street, so he ended 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.839 up on public assistance while he continued to pursue his degree. 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.600 When I got out of the hospital in nineteen eighty eight, 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.839 I went to leave for my girlfriend and then I 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.320 moved to Wings around nineteen ninety. 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:54.440 Now, during this time, he and his girlfriend Merlin, got married. 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:56.719 He worked as a mechanic and started a family, but 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.680 he still kept in touch with the community on West 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:02.200 one hundred and fifty seventh Street. Meanwhile, the crack epidemic 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.320 continued to rage on, and a response, Congress passed the 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.880 Anti Drug Abuse Act in nineteen eighty eight, which funded 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.920 high intensity Drug Trafficking Area task Forces throughout the country. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.240 Now in New York that meant funding for a coordinated 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.640 effort among detectives and das from all five boroughs on 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:24.000 drug related cases, and in Washington Heights, NYPD detective James 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:27.159 Gilmour was empowered to lead a two year investigation starting 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:30.760 in nineteen eighty nine, specifically focusing on drug activity at 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.919 two of Raffi's old apartment buildings, five point fifty and 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.359 six fourteen West one hundred and fifty seven Street. 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:41.960 They took forty two hours of video surveillance. I only 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:46.640 appeal in Juang videos. In that video, I'm not doing 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.440 anything in Lilio nothing. 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:53.279 They also took a ton of photos, also nothing. However, 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.719 Gilmour ran several sting operations between July twenty ninth and 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.919 October twelfth, nineteen ninety one, in which some of the 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.120 people from one hundred and fifty seventh Street who turned 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:06.320 into cooperators in this case, sold cocaine and firearms to 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.880 undercover agents In the last operation, they arrested a young 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.800 woman from that area named Ira Venus, who was about 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.720 to hop on a flight to Switzerland with several kilos 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:19.640 of cocaine. Needless to say, she was also ready to cooperate, 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.120 as were those who were scooped up in a mass 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.360 arrest on October twenty second, nineteen ninety one, including two 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.679 of Raffi's brothers, Danny and Julian. 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:33.160 Raffi has like four brothers, some of them were selling drugs. 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:37.440 The amount of drugs that they were selling was highly debatable. 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:41.480 They also picked up Raffi's uncle, Isidoro Medina de Leon, 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:45.480 whose involvement was even more debatable. But what was different 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.560 about this wholesale arrest was that they made another arrest 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:50.120 in a different jurisdiction. 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:54.000 I was arrested getting out of my Blaso residents that 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:59.000 was in Queens. That was me, Cisel Martine and Lorenzo Martinez. 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:04.280 They were not droll, whipm money, anything illegal on the call. 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.440 Involvement with anything illegal can make you vulnerable to police coercion, 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.440 which made Raffi's brothers, Danny and Julian, as well as 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:13.720 others from West one hundred and fifty seventh Street well, 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:19.040 very vulnerable, including Edwin Mottos, Jordan Pratt, Daniel Cologne, Iravenas, 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:23.480 Pedro Santiago, Andre Gomez, Roberto Medina, and Manuel Picoon. 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:28.960 They will have west this withdrawers, we whipons. After they 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.840 gave some of those guys to grow up with a 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:37.080 with sing they came up with this conspiracy indidates for everybody. 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:39.920 Gilmore and his team had devised a narrative for any 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.199 willing cooperator to support that. While on five years probation, 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.960 partially disabled, raising a family and living on public assistance 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:51.400 in Queens, Raphael somehow built a multimillion dollar crack empire 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.200 on West one hundred and fifty seventh Street, rivaling the 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.679 Red Top Crew, and they were called the Jerry Curl Gang. 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.360 Now you might be asking why Rafi, and we'll get 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:03.840 to that, but first we'll finish covering how. 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:07.080 There was a lot of surveillance. Okay, with regard to 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:11.280 the drugs, there's plenty of evidence against the cooperators, but 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:15.760 there's not so much evidence against Raffi and Lorenzo. With Raffi, 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.840 there's actually a lack of evidence. Even with regard to. 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:24.360 The drugs, James testifying cold Dah he never saw me 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.599 sending draw or engaging byline. 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:31.160 And they did not call themselves the Jerry Curl gang. 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.160 That's something that the media came up with before. 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:38.559 Into the Minigam community has vijity guild at that time 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:42.800 b when they arrested every divided, they said everybody had 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:47.800 the same kill style, all that vigitikill game, and they 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.160 admitted in Gold that they made that up. 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.400 The Jerry Curl moniker began and ended with law enforcement, 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.720 and it was used to connect three seemingly unrelated violent 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:59.200 incidents to drug activity on West one hundred and fifty 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:03.320 seventh Street, and it's alleged overseers Raphael and his co 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:07.559 defendants Lorenzo and Caesar Martinez. His uncle Isidora Medina de Leon, 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.800 as well as a man named Roberto Gonzalez. The first 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.360 incident was the August twenty ninth, nineteen ninety attempted murder 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.400 of Rafael Espinal on Park Terrace and two hundred and 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:18.040 fifteenth Street. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.520 With regard to the attempted murder of Raphael Espinal, there 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:25.240 was barely any investigation. He named someone else, Espinol. He 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.320 tells the police Rafael Molina is the one that shot me. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.480 Yet co operators Edwin Mottos and Pedro Santiago alleged that 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:37.280 Raphael Martinez had ordered his uncle Isidoro to kill Espinal 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.800 for robbing his brother Dandy. Then Matos, Santiago and Raffei's 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.000 brother Julian also testified about a car that got shot 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.760 up on October twenty ninth, nineteen ninety in the Bronx 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.400 at East one hundred and sixty seven Street in College Avenue. 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.560 The deceased was identified as Jose Jimenez, whose nickname was 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.800 thought to be Chino. The surviving victim was Juan Urena 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.880 said the shooter was a man named Franklin. They can 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.000 the area, documented the crime scene, but the case went 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:07.360 cold for about six months. Decades later, an undisclosed police 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.320 report surface in which a confidential informant appears to have 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:15.520 been key in shifting Gilmore's investigation to focus on Rafael Martinez. 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:21.679 The confidential informant pulled the homicide investigator in April nineteen 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:28.080 ninety one, allegedly, Joseji Mine was the one who shot 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.440 me and therefore I used to have a debute with 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:32.960 Jose Jimenez As. 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:36.280 A result, it appears that Raphael's nineteen eighty seven stray 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.640 ball it became the catalyst, placing him at the center 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:41.359 of Gilmore's drug investigation. 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.720 So the theme here is retribution. That Raffi waits on 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.480 Jose Amnez for close to three years, somehow gets information 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.920 that Jose Amenez is in the Bronx somewhere and Raffi 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.400 Lorenzo and is a door of Medina pull up next 0:11:56.400 --> 0:12:00.600 to Jose, Jimenez and Juan Durana in a car and Raffi, 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.720 who's in the passenger seat, and Lorenzo, who was in 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:08.480 the back passenger seat, fire into the car and Jose 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:10.120 and Juan Yaurina got shot. 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.720 Investigators initially tried to get Raffie's brother Danny to testify 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:15.079 to this version of events. 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:20.200 People secus wanted him to testify down he went, weaws, 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:24.679 you say no, and he got bout only for conspiracy. 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.720 To so Danny took his lumps rather than passing the buck. 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.360 Caesar Martinez also faced a similar challenge and chose to 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:33.560 take his chances at trial as a co defendant. But 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.680 Ralphie's brother Julian became the source of this version of 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:40.360 events that is simply not supported by the undisputed backs 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.840 of the crime. At least one of the fatal shots 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.040 had a downward trajectory. Now, how would that be possible 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.199 with a seated shooter in a car next to the victims. 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.680 Forensically, that's not possible. The shell casings were found in 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.600 the front of the car. There is medical evidence that 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.839 the shooting was conducted by somebody who was standing, not s. 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.320 There's at least one eye witness account that basically describes 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.200 a man named Franklin Quavis walked in front of the 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.560 car and fired into the car. There's a DD five 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:14.000 where wandering actually says Franklin from one hundred and seventy 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.160 second in Autobond, which is where Franklin Quavis was from 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.640 in Washington Heights, is the one that fired into the car. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.840 Yet the police ignored the forensics, ballistics, and again the 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.760 surviving victim for their team of cooperators and their theory. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.880 And it appears this pattern continued with the murder of 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:35.200 Jose Reis the building super at six fourteen West one 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.199 hundred and fifty seventh Street. According to testimony from Julian Martinez, 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.600 Raphael believed Rees was an informant and put a thirty 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.560 five hundred dollars bounty on his head. Then, around two 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.559 thirty pm on May twenty third, nineteen ninety one, near 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.760 Broadway on one hundred and fifty ninth Street, Jose Reis 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.160 was shot in the back of the head with a 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.960 forty five Then Pedro Santiago showed up for the third 0:13:58.000 --> 0:13:59.600 time with alleged information. 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:04.000 The interesting thing about Pedro Santiago, who was definitely selling 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:07.120 a lot of drugs, This individual is caught up in 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.480 a whole different case where he specifically says in that 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.920 other case that he barely knew the Martinez brothers. Then 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.360 he comes in in Raffi and Lorenzo's case and he 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:20.200 says that by September of nineteen eighty nine, he began 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.760 to work daily with Raffi and Lorenzo and he became 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.200 a lieutenant in their crew. In the other case, he 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.600 said he didn't meet him until midway through nineteen ninety one. 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:32.320 So which one was it was? Santiago, a lieutenant in 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:36.320 an alleged drug organization, privuted information about the three separate 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.120 murders between August nineteen ninety and May of ninety one, 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:43.280 or did he only meet the Martinez brothers after these 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:44.760 incidents had already taken place. 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.200 This is what I'm saying. I don't know what's true 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.240 in this case. With regard to the witnesses that the 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:49.960 state puts on. 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.000 Santiago claimed to have seen Lorenzo Martinez meet with his 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:58.120 co defendant Roberto Gonzalez, then heard the gunshots from about 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:59.320 a quarter of a mile away. 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.200 I think Pedro Santiago gets a one to three and 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:03.320 he's cut loose right. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.120 Away, just like all the other cooperators in this case, 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:10.000 including David Cologne, who also testified about the rays murder. 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:14.640 Like Santiago, Cologne claimed that he heard the gunshots, then 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:19.200 later saw Gonzalez with a gun. Then Cologne claimed that 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.960 he later borrowed a forty five from Gonzalez, then lost 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:27.160 it when he led it to an unidentified person. How convenient. Then, 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.960 Cologne alleged to Gonzalez wasn't angry since it rid him 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:35.280 of an alleged murder weapon. Another unverifiable account. The only 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.760 thing we know for sure about the Ray's murder was 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:41.560 the date, time, place, and caliber of bullet. Because the 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:46.400 witnesses are so totally unreliable, which is true across this 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:47.680 entire prosecution. 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:53.000 Essentially, the cooperators get arrested based upon the investigation into 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.480 the drug dealing, and then all of a sudden, Raffi 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:01.040 becomes this boss and the murders and the attempted murders 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:04.680 are what was used to make him look like this animal. 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.960 You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:21.720 and all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.120 and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:31.120 on Apple Podcasts. Freedom Agenda is a proud sponsor of 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.520 this episode of Wrongful Conviction. Freedom Agenda is led by 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:38.400 people directly impacted by incarceration, and they're organizing to get 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.320 Mayor Eric Adams to follow the law and shut down 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.960 Rikers Island. Right now, thousands of people are awaiting trial 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:49.000 there in life threatening conditions. Freedom Agenda is committed to 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.560 creating a safer and more just city by winning investments 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.920 in long neglected communities, protecting the rights of people involved 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.680 in the criminal legal system, and ending the cycle of 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.920 violence that Rikers prepare situates. To learn more about the 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.240 campaign to close Rikers and to sign up for Freedom 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:07.960 agenda's mailing list, go to campaign to close rikers dot org, 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.680 slash get involved or follow that Freedom Agenda and why 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:12.959 on social media. 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:22.680 There is no physical evident connecting me to anything, but 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:28.080 by the testimony, win is it? They say, Oh, whatever 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:32.520 I got arrested with was because Rafael Martine told me 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:36.600 to do it. Whatever they saw to an Ondacola, they 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:42.080 charged me to constructing, selling and constructing assessing that growth. 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.840 They only had to connect my mind. They only had 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:50.600 to say, oh, Raffia was the boss that says that 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.000 was more than enough for them to find me busy. 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.560 Raphael always charged with conspiracy along with various drug and 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:00.639 fire arm possession and sales charges, as well as the 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.680 attempted murder of Raphael Espinal and the murders of Jose 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.480 Reis and Jose Jimenez. An assistant Da Fernando Camacho tried 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.760 Raphael and his four co defendants for over four months 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:15.680 in front of the notorious hanging judge Leslie Krockersnider. 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.480 The thing about Leslie Krockersnider just taking it back historically. 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.960 Sometime in the mid eighties, the Manhattan Die's Office created 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:26.480 this homicide Investigative Unit and a lot of times from 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.560 what I've gathered is they actually would do search warrants 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.359 and feed those search warrants to Leslie Crocker Snider. She 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.320 was somebody who they knew that they could trust in 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.760 handling high profile cases inappropriately. 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.120 By the way, to that point, Richard Giampa, Raphael's attorney, 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.960 found and raised the DD five containing Juan Urina's identification 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.440 of Franklin from one hundred and seventy second Street in 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.640 Audubon as his and Jose Jimenez's shooter. 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:56.720 But that piece of evidence was suppressed by Leslie Krocker Snyder. 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:59.639 She told the defense attorneys at trial that, well, if 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.840 they don't know Franklin's last name, then it's not credible 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:04.960 evidence that Franklin committed this shooting. 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.440 Then it appears she was aware of hidden deals for cooperators. 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:12.399 The main witnesses all testified that they received certain deals 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.000 free to life, and the second that they testified, they 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.560 were immediately let loose. We have transcripts which shows that 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.600 Leslie Krockersnyder knew what was going on and they were 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.720 given time served, which is vastly different than a three 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:26.560 to life sentence. 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:30.160 According to an affidavit from Raphael's ex wife, Marilyn Martinez. 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.560 She recorded Julian Martinez over the phone. When she asked 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.720 why he was lying about his own brother. Julian described 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:41.160 the coercion and threats being used against him and other cooperators. 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.399 She then described how she sat in court while Judge 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:47.879 Crocker Snyder and Ada Camacho heard the recording, at the 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:50.840 end of which Krockersnyder threatened to charge whoever had made 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.160 this illegal recording. Never mind the fact that New York 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.240 is a one party consent state, so that sure seems 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:58.440 like selective outrage. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.199 And then you have the fact that Julia Martinez has 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.320 said that the prosecutor actually would bring him into the 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:08.280 District Attorney's office, that he was baited with food, drugs, 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:10.720 and he was allowed to have sex with women and 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:11.880 including his girlfriend. 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.560 It also comes to light many years later that Camacho 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.399 had also promised many of the cooperators safety from deportation. 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.640 A lot of these witnesses weren't here legally. Nobody knew 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.520 that they received benefits which entailed keeping them in the country. 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.440 This is just one thing after another. 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.800 So it appears that all of the cooperators were receiving 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:33.639 the carrot and the stick importantly out of view from 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:34.119 the jury. 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:38.919 Even Rafael Espinol and Juan Urina had convictions that they 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.280 were looking at I mean Janurina, who's in the car 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.520 with him and is so he'd be an eyewitness. He 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:48.119 does not identify Rafael Lorenzo or isidor Medina. By the way, however, 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.280 he testifies with the benefit of a lawyer because he's 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.520 worried about his drug arrest in Connecticut that he ends 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:58.760 up getting probation for Espinol testified with a lawyer and 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:00.040 he had charges. 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.920 Pay And as we mentioned, that's been all initially named 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.199 Raphael Marina as the shooter, but at trial they somehow 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.920 got him to morph Marina into Martinez. So the deck 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:13.760 was clearly stat starting with Camacho's opening statement that laid 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:18.080 out totally unfounded theory of Raphael's nineteen eighty seven gunshot wound. 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.560 Camacho, he said it Josehi Ma name used to be 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:24.040 one on my local. He used to be one of 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:28.080 my friends, and he went to be apartment and he 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:30.840 shocked me in the back of my head and a 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:35.720 store from me fifty thousand dollars and three kilo cocaine. Remember, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.680 at that time, in nineteen eighty seven, I was only 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:42.399 twenty years old. My apartment was payed by Wlfarere, and 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:45.400 I had never been shocked in the back of my head. 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:49.000 The play bullet thrucked me in the top on my head. 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:52.240 When they were investigating the murder of Jose Jimenez and 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:56.080 investigated whether he was the one that shot Raffi, the 0:21:56.359 --> 0:22:00.119 NYPD found that there was no substance to that claim. 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.639 But that wasn't discovered for decades, long after Camacho had 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:05.480 said these things in front of the jury, and that 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:09.359 really is the original sin of this entire case, this 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:15.040 unfounded motive. But nevertheless, they continued pursuing Raphael with a 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:20.160 team of cooperating witnesses who in reality hadn't actually seen anything. 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:25.080 Pratt, Venus, and Santiago all testified that they heard Rafi 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:29.480 admit that he killed Jose Jimenez. Julian, though specifically describes 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:32.560 how the murder happens. They pull up next to Jose 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:35.280 Jimenez and they opened fire on the side of the car. 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.560 As was mentioned, the shell casings were found in front 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:40.760 of the car, and one of the fail shots had 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:44.720 a downward trajectory, suggesting a standing mobile shooter, but none 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:46.879 of this was pointed out to the jury. In addition, 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:51.159 the state's medical examiner, doctor Joseph Vereses, gave testimony that 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:54.840 in part corroborated this erroneous version of events by saying 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:57.640 that stippling may have been on the victim's face, which 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:00.680 is a typical accompanying injury when whenever there's a close 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:01.840 range gunshot. 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:05.000 If the cars line up with each other and Raffi 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:09.280 allegedly reaches across, blows the window out, and shoots the 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:12.280 span point blank in the head, then there would be 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:16.000 stippling all over the person's face. The medical examiner testified 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:19.680