If there had been cameras in the courtroom during the Tankleff hearings, Marty would have been free months ago and would have been home toasting the new year with family and friends last night. Cameras would have quickly exposed the moral bankruptcy, vicious cynicism and unethical tactics of the DA's opposition, as some 20 witnesses cast doubt on Marty's guilt and a half dozen swore Joey "Guns" Creedon told them of his involvement in the murders.
The best argument for cameras in the courtroom is the recent testimony of Joseph Guarascio. Every objective observer in the courtroom was thoroughly impressed with Guarascio's credibility, which inspired a Newsday editorial calling the testimony "vividly exculpatory" and going on to say, "In cross-examination, prosecutor Leonard Lato failed to shake Guarascio." In fact, if anyone, it was Lato who looked shaken as Guarascio stuck to his simple story, simple because it was nothing but the truth. Lato's cross-examination of the teenager ended in flop-sweat, as the ADA threw his papers down on his desk in frustration and muttered the non sequitor that the judge would instantly strike from the record before Marty's two attorneys could leap from their seats in outrage: "You learned Tankleff was buying, and you decided to sell."
We're willing to overlook an intemperate remark in the heat of litigation, especially if it's stricken from the record. But the DA's bizarre letter summarizing their view of Guarascio's testimony shows the remark to be consistent with a strategic shift. Back when there was only Glenn Harris and a couple of other witnesses to worry about, the DA could perhaps hope to apply their "misfit" strategy to question witness' testimony raising doubt about Marty's conviction; the somewhat nihilistic idea, basically, is that you can't believe anybody (except Marty at the time he "confessed") therefore he should remain in jail. But now that there is a parade of 20 witnesses, and more coming, most of whom by themselves cast sufficient doubt on Marty's conviction to grant him a new trial, the DA has concocted a conspiracy theory out of thin air, based on zero evidence, that Marty Tankleff conspired with private investigator Jay Salpeter to bribe witnesses. "But Tankleff and Salpeter are resilient, and, in Guarascio, created what was arguably the biggest liar at the hearings," the DA writes, rather scandalously if you happen to be Jay Salpeter, Joseph Guarascio or Marty Tankleff.
What defies credibility is that Salpeter and Guarascio's mother, Theresa Covais, would put the boy up to perjure himself, especially since Covais had already testified and could have done the dirty work herself. Except there was no dirty work beyond the DA's dirty insinuations, and Covais herself came off as honest and quite credible. Recall that Covais was contacted in the first place by the defense team because she appeared in Karlene Kovacs' affidavit in the early 90s, and it bears repeating that Marty would have been a free man then if the DA had cared to investigate Kovacs' claims seriously.
If there were cameras in the courtroom, the world would have seen what Newsday saw and understood why they wrote, "Whatever the judge thinks of earlier witnesses, if he rejects Lato's dark hint and decides that Guarascio, 17, is motivated only by a desire to do the right thing, to tell the truth about events that shook Tankleff's life when he was also only 17, Braslow will have a fairly easy decision after all."
There were no cameras in the courtroom, but here's the next best thing. You can judge Joseph Guarascio, and his credibility, for yourself, this Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m., or shortly thereafter, when Erin Moriarty's interview with Guarascio airs on the CBS Early Show.
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