Two men were freed Wednesday after their convictions were overturned in a 2009 double murder that was investigated by a disgraced white Kansas City, Kansas police detective.
Forty-year-old Dominic Moore said he was “grateful and blessed” after his release from the state prison in El Dorado. And a crowd of relatives greeted Cedric Warren, 34, as he walked out of the county jail, where he was convicted nearly 15 years ago in a drug house shooting that killed Charles Ford and Larry LeDoux. Went.
The men were facing life sentences with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
Warren did not speak to the media, but family members expressed relief and joy to CBS affiliate KCTV informed,
“I really want to cry, but I can't. I'm so overwhelmed,” Warren's father Cedric Toney said after a vehicle carrying his son left the prison. Warren himself was too nervous to speak to the crowd of reporters awaiting his release.
Tony accused of abuse Roger Golubski, Who died last week in an apparent suicide just before his criminal trial was to begin on charges of sexually assaulting black women.
Bob Hoffman via AP
But it had nothing to do with Wyandotte County Judge Aaron Roberts' decision to vacate the convictions of Warren on Monday and Moore on Wednesday. Roberts found that prosecutors failed to disclose information about a key witness's serious mental health issues. The witness had schizophrenia, and offered a changing account of what happened, the defense wrote in court filings.
Not aired was Tony's claim in court that before Golubski supervised the investigation that led to his son's arrest, the former detective had stalked Tony's daughter and his son's mother. He said he suspected his son's first stop would be their graves; Both of them died while he was in captivity.
The misconduct allegation is similar to that made in the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder before being freed. McIntyre's mother said that Golubski had pressured her into sexual relations.
Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree could have retried Warren and Moore, but he announced Wednesday that he will not do so, clearing the way for their acquittals.
He said Golubski's involvement had nothing to do with the verdict and was not an exoneration. Instead, he said another trial would not be “fair or impartial” because of mistakes made by his predecessors who concealed crucial evidence.
Since taking office in 2017, Dupree said his office has increased training on fairness and has nearly completed the digitization of thousands of old cases. It is an important step in a $1.7 million effort to seek possible misconduct in cases involving Golubski and others.
“It's not about getting a conviction. It's about getting a fair outcome and doing what's right,” Dupree said.
Warren's cousin Brittany Robinson said the family always maintained hope, convinced he was innocent.
Robinson described Golubski as corrupt, saying, “On his mother's deathbed he said, 'Don't stop fighting until my baby comes home.'” He added, “I feel sorry for all the families who became his victims. I hope they get a day to celebrate like we did.”
According to KCTV report, Warren will now be able to celebrate the holiday season with his family.
“We've got family here, we're here to support, we're going to celebrate. I'm trying to hold in my emotions but I'm just so happy right now,” Robinson said. “Even if I don't get a gift, it's the greatest gift I could get so I'm happy to see my cousin. I just can't wait to hug him and shower him with love.”
Moore also maintained that he was innocent as he walked home from prison with his lawyers, eagerly anticipating barbecue after 15 years of prison meals.
“I'm just grateful that the court saw what was wrong in my case,” he said.
Prosecutors say, Golubski preyed on female residents in poor neighborhoods for years, demanding sexual favors and sometimes threatening their relatives with harm or jail if they refused.
In addition to the two sets of federal charges, a lawsuit involving McIntyre and his mother has been settled, and two other lawsuits are pending.
Cheryl Pilate, one of Warren's lawyers, said that she and other lawyers would continue to look at the cases Golubski worked on.
“This is absolutely not the last case,” he said of Warren and Moore's case. “Roger Golubski was a very powerful man, who was involved in more cases than I could handle in court.”
The Midwest Innocence Project launched GoFundMe pages to support both men.
“His conviction was overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, but his journey to justice came at a high cost,” the group said in a statement. facebook post On Wednesday.