Marty Tankleff Blog

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.

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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.

Attorney General Won't Retry Marty Tankleff

Today Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office announced it would not retry Marty, citing insufficient evidence to prove his guilt.

For Marty, it's all over but the paperwork, as Suffolk County Judge Robert Doyle still has to sign off on the AG's motion to dismiss the charges. That should be done by the end of July.

The mood is collective relief, with Marty celebrating at home with family, friends and supporters.

Hopefully this is the end of Marty's ordeal, but it's not the end of the story, and we'll be following it all here, on MartyTankleff.org and on the message board.

Today Marty profusely thanked his family, friends and supporters, and that includes every one of you who took the time to witness what was going on in this case. Without public opinion and support, he doesn't make it this far.

Congratulations, Team Tankleff!

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Read the attorney general's motion here. Plenty to comment on, but we'll save that for another day.

Read the coverage:

New York Times: Freed After 17 Years in Prison, L.I. Man Will Not Face New Trial

Newsday: Tankleff Supporters Celebrate Decision - Mostly

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to announce findings of Tankleff Investigation

On Monday, June 30th, at 2:00 p.m., Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce the results of his investigation into the murders of Arlene and Seymour Tankleff, including whether he will retry Marty Tankleff.

Marty's conviction was vacated in a unanimous appellate court ruling in December, but he remains under indictment.

In January, the governor appointed as special prosecutor in the case Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who declared, "We will follow the evidence wherever it leads us."

The previous month, the New York State Investigation Commission announced it was in the midst of its own investigation into the conduct of Suffolk County law enforcement in Marty Tankleff's conviction. Their report is still to come.

WHAT:    Decision by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in Marty Tankleff case
WHO:      Marty Tankleff, family members, supporters, investigator, attorneys
WHEN:    Monday, June 30, 2008 – 2:00 p.m.
WHERE:  Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex
               210 Center Drive
               Riverhead, NY 11901

Statement from the Attorney General's Office on the Marty Tankleff Case

Statement by Alex Detrick, Press Secretary for New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo:

"There will be a two-week continuance in the appearance date for the Tankleff case. The parties jointly requested this continuance due to lab results newly available to both parties, as well as the State's desire to speak with additional witnesses not previously available. The parties will appear in Court on June 30, 2008, 2:00pm, and it is expected that there will be no further delays."

Hearing Rescheduled for June 30th

The Marty Tankleff hearing scheduled for today has been rescheduled for June 30th at 2:00 p.m. in Riverhead, NY. At that time, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce the results of his investigation, including whether he will drop the charges against Marty, as well as whether he will pursue charges against others, including Jerry Steuerman, Joey "Guns" Creedon and Peter Kent.