Marty Tankleff Blog

Charges officially dropped

Today State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle dismissed all charges against Marty Tankleff in the murder of his parents, Arlene and Seymour Tankleff.

Read more in Newsday.

Marty Tankleff's Testimony - Watch on YouTube

On July 2nd, Marty Tankleff testified before a New York State Senate Democratic Task Force on “Preventing Wrongful Convictions in New York State: Systematic Reforms to Convict the Guilty and Protect the Innocent.”

You can watch Marty's 3.5 minute testimony on YouTube here.

NY Times: Perseverance and Chance Led to Reversal in ’88 Murders

Don't miss Bruce Lambert's look back at the remarkable series of events over the years that led to Marty's freedom.

A Message from Judge Stuart Namm (Ret)

"Thank you for your very kind comments. It was a no-brainer to do a documentary about Marty's case, because I had always believed in his innocence, having sat in on some of his trial, and knowing the cast of characters involved, even as I was serving against my will as an"acting" Supreme Court Justice in a civil part.

"I've now been away from Suffolk County and the law for more than 15 years, and whatever bitterness I may have had in 1992 from the way I was treated has long since diminished. At almost age 75, I have long ago learned that life, although we may like it to, does not continue in a straight line. There are many curves along the way, some not as steep as others. It was very difficult not to be bitter though, after I, in 1985, had asked Gov. Cuomo to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the prosecution of homicides in Suffolk County, which the State Investigations Commissions characterized as "the wild West!"

"I knew that I was seen as a villain by the Republican Party, the ruling power in the county, but I felt that I should have been seen as a hero by my own party, especially since my law partner of 10 years had been the New York State Democratic Chairman, and was the senior County Chairman in the State of New York. How wrong I was in my assessment! Unable to elect judges on the Democratic line, he simply bowed to the powerful majority party, and elected not to renominate me, the thorn in their side, and accepted four cross-endorsed judgeships, including my County Court seat, in exchange. His last words to me were: "Stuart, this was just not your year!" How callous, and how shameful! Yet it was the people of Suffolk County who would pay the price.

"Three weeks after moving to North Carolina, my now deceased wife, Lenore, and I were brought back for a weekend in New York City, where in one night, I was the recipient of three very distinguished awards: the Justice Thurgood Marshall award from the New York State Association of Defense Attorneys-only the first recipient after Justice Marshall himself; the David S. Michaels award from the Criminal Justice Section of the New York State Bar Association; and a special award from the NAACP for standing "...up for what was right at great personal sacrifice. 'Principal was ahead of expediency.' A man who practiced and lived what everyone else preached." I'm not sure that I've entirely lived up to those beautiful words, but it sure feels good seeing it on my wall every day.

"Still, it didn't end there. My wife and I were invited out to Hollywood by a reknowned movie producer, where they were going to do a movie about my life as a judge, and for months I worked with the creator of Kojak, himself a previous recipient of an Academy Award and an Emmy for "Judgement and Nuremberg" and the series "Kojak." I was billed in the Hollywood Reporter as "the Serpico of Judges." Needless to say, this has not yet happened, but the project remains viable.

"Subsequently, I was recruited by a production company from the United Kingdom to act as both a  consultant and interviwer for a 13 part series which appeared all over the world, including TLC, entitled "The Serial Killers." My interviews of "the lethal lovers" can still occasionally be seen on MSNBC.

"With the very same crew, my second wife and I (my first wife, who had been a Suffolk County probation officer, and very healthy, had suddenly passed in 1996) decided to finance a project called "A Question of Guilt?," and Marty's story was to be the pilot project, since I was still firmly convinced of his innocence. It was the very first media presentation of Marty's case, and the first to feature lengthy interviews of each of the main players, including Marty, in prison, McCready, Shari Rother, Bob Gottlieb, and many others. Whenever and wherever the DVD is seen, it receives uniform acclaim.

"Although I was born in the tenements of Brooklyn, and had never heard Appalachian mountain music, I completed two documentaries about the mountain musicians of North Carolina and their great music. Not long ago, I completed a 3 1/2 hour documentary about the Korean War, having traveled all over the United States to conduct 48 interviews of the aging veterans of "the forgotten war." It was a project which took two years to complete, and working without a crew, I did it all myself from videography to final edit. It is the story of the Infantry unit that I served in as a Lieutenant immediately after the Korean War, the 17th Infantry Regiment, the only American unit to reach the Yalu River, which is the Manchurian or Chinese southern border. It is their story from the amphibious landing in 1950 at Inchon to the bloody battles of Pork Chop Hill, and it is the most important work I have ever done. You can see much of my work on our website at: www.legaleagleproductions.com

"So you see, there is no longer any reason for bitterness, as I have been free to explore the world, having visited every continent save Antarctica, and all of the great reefs of the world. I have engaged in new and interesting ventures, but occasionally it does hurt, especially knowing that I was kept from achieving twenty years as a judge. Recently I saw a report of the pension of a Democratic judge who was elected with me in 1975, after Watergate, and who moved up to the County Court with me in 1982, but who, fortunately for him, was a beneficiary of the 1992 deal to send me into an early retirement at age 59. His is a pension which is almost four times mine.

"Nevertheless, I have no complaints, because I sleep well at night, and can look myself in the mirror every morning with pride in what I tried to do. I often wonder whether those judges who may still be on the bench, and those who have since retired, can do so without flinching, in the knowledge that they stood by in silence as I walked the plank for true justice alone.

"Thanks again for your kind words about me and my work, and all that you have done for Marty.

Judge Stuart Namm (Ret)
A Very Happy Man and Grandfather of ten!"

Watch Video of a False Confession

Today in the New York Times, Jennifer 8. Lee blogs on yesterday's testimony before the New York State Senate Democratic Task Force on Criminal Justice reform. Her piece begins, "There have been at least 56 wrongful convictions in New York State including those of Martin H. Tankleff and Jeffrey Mark Deskovic."

Accompanying the article is streaming video of a false confession given by a teenager named Frank Esposito. In his "confession," Esposito describes in detail how he was smoking by a barn and lit some hay on fire. He could see it glowing. He cries and apologies for burning down the barn and killing the horses inside. But none of it ever happened, as he was later acquitted when cellphone records proved he was nowhere near the stable when the fire took place. What wasn't captured on tape was the interrogation that led to the confession.

Be sure to check out the great comments on the bottom of the page.

___________________

Read how false confessions happen.

Judge Stuart Namm and "A Question of Guilt?"

We were happy to receive retired Suffolk County Judge Stuart Namm's comment on the latest news in the Marty Tankleff case:

"Congratulations to Marty and all of his family. It was more than a long time coming and more than justified, but it is sad that this was only half a victory. Too bad that the Attorney General's office didn't have the guts or the inclination to finish the story. Unfortunately, I have seen this happen before. They'd been handed the true perpetrators on a silver platter through great investigative work by Marty's team, and for reasons known only to them, chose not to proceed any further against those who conspired to cause Seymour and Arlene Tankleff their untimely deaths!"

Judge Namm, AKA "The Serpico of Judges," of course was the man responsible for exposing the corruption in Suffolk County law enforcement around the time of the Tankleff murders. It was Judge Namm's letter to then-Governor Mario Cuomo that led the governor to order the State Investigation Commission (SIC) to begin its probe, which led to a scathing report. And one of the things that motivated Judge Namm to write the letter was the behavior of Suffolk County homicide detectives, including one James McCready. The SIC found that McCready had committed perjury in the Diaz case, over which Judge Namm presided. A couple of years later, McCready would take Marty's "confession."

For his fearless respect for the rule of law, Judge Namm was essentially forced into retirement by the powers that (still) be. But he didn't stop working, instead beginning a new career as a documentary filmmaker. Having become obsessed with the Marty Tankleff case, he started there, with excellent results.

Judge Namm markets and sells the DVD himself, and now, in honor of Marty's freedom, he has cut the price in half. It's available for $14.99, plus $3.00 for shipping by sending a check or money
order to Stuart Namm at 101 Marshview Road, Hampstead, NC 28443. You can also order it or download it at www.filmbaby.com under "A Question of Guilt?"

It's well worth it for the great interviews with McCready, Marty's half-sister Shari Rother, and Marty's original lawyer Bob Gottlieb.

"No Justice in the Slayings of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff"

In an editorial entitled "Murders Most Foul," the New York Daily News writes, "In the end, there is no justice in the slayings of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff, who were beaten and stabbed to death in 1988 in their Long Island home." The paper calls for the case to remain open so that the real murderers can be brought to justice.

"Meantime," the paper writes, "the State Investigation Commission must call to account the criminal justice officials who botched the case. The panel reportedly is probing what went wrong. Given the sorry history that began the night someone killed the Tankleffs, its report will, by all rights, be long, damning and infuriating."

Marty Tankleff Testifies, Senator and Assemblyman Apologize

People sometimes ask us, despite the nightmare Marty went through, isn't the fact that Marty is free proof that the system, however imperfect, works? To which we say, sure it works, as long as you have 20 years, some of the best lawyers in America, a great private detective, the New York Times, "48 Hours," a website, a blog and worldwide support.

A few elected officials in New York State have long recognized that the system is in need of repair, and have held up the Marty Tankleff case as Exhibit A. They include Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris and Sen. Eric Schneiderman, the chairman of the New York State Senate Democratic Task Force on Criminal Justice reform, before which Marty testified yesterday.

To their great credit, Sen. Schneiderman and Assemblyman Gianaris apologized to Marty yesterday for his ordeal. "I cannot say enough how much all of us in public service and in government are really embarrassed and upset by what happened to you," said Sen. Schneiderman. "I'm sorry it took so long."

For his part, Marty called himself one of the "fortunate" ones: "I wrote over 50,000 letters. I was able to recruit the support of many, many lawyers and major law firms. There's too many men in prison who didn't get that luck."

One of the reforms the task force is pushing is for the videotaping of all custodial interrogations. "Had my interrogation been recorded, I would not have served 6,338 days in prison," Marty said, adding, "There's no downside to recording. The truth gets exposed. ... Does 17 years of my life cost as much as it does to record interrogations? How many other men have to serve time in prison because somebody says it costs too much? I can record this entire event on my cell phone. It's ridiculous."

Also testifying were Alan Newton, who was exonerated after 21 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, and Barry Kamins, chair of the New York State Bar Association's recently formulated task force that will examine over 50 wrongful convictions in New York State.

Read the coverage in Newsday.

Previously "Unnoticed" Bloody Knife Imprint

Almost lost in the Attorney General's motion was mention on page five of a previously unnoticed bloody knife imprint found on the sheet of the bed where Arlene Tankleff was murdered. The imprint does not match the "watermelon knife" police accused Marty of using.

"Short of someone else's DNA under Arlene [Tankleff's] fingernails, it's hard to picture any more significant evidence," Marty's lawyer Bruce Barket told Newsday. "I don't know how you don't say that's the ball over the fence....Marty didn't commit this crime."

The AG's motion was the first Marty's defense team heard of this evidence that has been sitting around for 20 years.

Marty Tankleff to testify at New York State Senate Democratic Task Force on Wrongful Convictions

Marty Tankleff is scheduled to testify tomorrow at a New York State Senate Democratic Task Force on Preventing Wrongful Convictions in New York State.

Sen. Eric Schneiderman will preside over the second of a series of forums to be held around New York State by the Senate Democratic Taskforce on Criminal Justice Reform, called “Preventing Wrongful Convictions in New York State: Systematic Reforms to Convict the Guilty and Protect the Innocent.”

Sen. Schneiderman's office sent out the following background and schedule: 

At each forum, legislators and the public hear testimony from experts and exonerees on four reform measures—mandatory electronic recording of police interrogations, preservation of DNA evidence, eyewitness identification reforms, and the creation of an Innocence Commission—that have been proposed in the New York State Legislature to help prevent wrongful convictions.

Our first public forum examined proposals to record custodial interrogations in felony cases as a tool in preventing wrongful convictions. Wednesday's forum will focus on the possible benefits of creating an independent Innocence Commission to review all DNA exoneration cases in New York State and determine necessary policy changes to prevent wrongful convictions. The forum will also examine recent efforts by the New York State Bar Association to create such a commission.  We will be hearing from the Innocence Project, the President and members of the New York State Bar Association, individuals who were convicted of crimes of which they were later exonerated, and the defense community.  Notably, we will also be hearing testimony by Long Island’s Marty Tankleff, whose indictment is expected to be lifted today after a special investigation by the Attorney General’s office.

WHO: State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Chair and other state legislators

Testimony:

9:30 AM   
Alan Newton, Exoneree

10:15 AM  
Bernice Leber, President of the New York State Bar Association, and Barry Kamins, Chair of the NYS Bar Association’s Innocence Commission and Immediate Past President of NYC Bar Association

11:00 AM  
Martin Tankleff, Exoneree

12:00 PM  
Steve Saloom, Public Policy at Cardozo Law School’s Innocence Project

12:45PM   
Jonathan Gradess, Executive Director of the New York State Defenders Association

WHAT:      
Public Forum on Preventing Wrongful Convictions in New York State: Systematic Reforms to Convict the Guilty and Protect the Innocent

WHEN:      
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE:    
Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz
Memorial & Educational Center
3940 Broadway (at 165th Street)
New York City

(A, C, or 1 trains to 168th Street, facility and subway stop are wheelchair accessible)

Testimony will be by invitation only, but this event is open to the public.