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ARMOND McCLOUD Continued from page 2 Professor Cohen remarked, “As Mr. McCloud’s case painfully illustrates, young people are particularly and acutely vulnerable to standard police interrogation tactics and, therefore, far more likely to confess falsely than adults. In order to prevent similar injustices from occurring, New York must ensure that every youth in police custody consults with an attorney before being asked to waive their Miranda rights and prohibit the use of uncounseled statements in court.” The conviction was based solely on a false confession Mr. McCloud gave after being questioned for 13 hours by a team of NYPD detectives, which included disgraced former detective Carlos Gonzalez. During the all-night interrogation, during which he was held incommunicado, Mr. McCloud was falsely told that his mother’s safety would be in jeopardy unless he told police that he killed Mr. Sunada, who had been found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head on August 4 in the fourth-floor stairwell of a building in LeFrak City, a Queens apartment complex. Police also engaged in other coercive, deceptive and threatening tactics. Eventually, Mr. McCloud signed a short statement falsely admitting his involvement in the crime and, subsequently, was subjected to video questioning by an assistant district attorney. This “confession” was the sole evidence that led to his conviction for first-degree homicide and sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Ms. Nirider added, “In this case, a bad police investigation ended up telling on itself. Detective Gonzalez’s mistaken idea about where this crime happened—he thought it happened in a hallway, when it actually happened in a separate stairwell—ended up in Mr. McCloud’s confession. It is crystal clear that Mr. McCloud’s so-called confession was nothing more than him being forced to repeat the police’s theories.” This is the third false confession cased linked to Detective Gonzalez, the lead investigator in the death of Kei Sunada. Since Mr. McCloud’s conviction, Detective Gonzalez has become notorious for obtaining the false confessions of at least two of the now-exonerated defendants in 1989’s Central Park Five case, Kevin Richardson and Antron McCrae. He also obtained the false confession of now-exonerated Johnny Hincapie, who was wrongfully convicted of the 1990 murder of Brian Watkins in the so-called Utah Tourist case. Yusef Salaam, candidate for New York City Council and one of the accused men in the Central Park Five case, said, “I’m both glad and saddened that yet another case has been uncovered in which the NYPD forced multiple innocent young Black men to falsely confess to a crime they didn’t commit. It’s past time to make sure this never happens again.” Professor Drizin added, “Most homicide detectives go their entire careers without obtaining a false confession. It appears that Detective Gonzalez has participated in obtaining at least five false confessions that we know of in three different cases. If the Brooklyn
Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic students who worked on the case include (L-R) Madeline Gayle, Anna Giblin, Prof. Laura Cohen, Armond McCloud, Attorney Laura Nirider, Werdeh Hassan, Drew Bjorklund (Northwestern), Jalen Porter DA’s audit of disgraced former Brooklyn Detective Scarcella is any indication, then there are likely more false confessions to be uncovered.” Professor Drizin and Ms. Nirider are well known for their expertise in police interrogations and false confessions, including their representation of Wisconsin man Brendan Dassey, whose wrongful conviction was profiled in the hit Netflix series “Making a Murderer.” Professor Cohen, who co-founded the New Jersey Innocence Project and directs the Rutgers Law School Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic, is a national youth justice expert who has been involved in numerous exonerations and other successful post-conviction relief efforts on behalf of wrongfully convicted young people.
Rutgers Law Clinic Represents Tenants Suing to Take Over Building The Rutgers Law School Housing Justice & Tenant Solidarity Clinic in Newark is representing tenants filing two lawsuits over the deteriorating condition of their building. Members of the 75 Prospect Street Tenant Association in East Orange announced on August 16 that they were filing the lawsuits against their landlord, who they allege is responsible. Known as “The Castle,” this 44-unit historic building has a well-documented history of neglect, such as building-wide leaks, mold, and dysfunctional elevators. The lawsuits allege that the landlord, Prospect Castle LLC and their management companies, Platinum Management and Livingo, have allowed the building to deteriorate as part of a plan to empty the building of tenants, who are protected by the City’s robust rent control ordinance. The lawsuits also allege that prior landlords, 75 Prospect Holdings LLC and their management company, OneWall, allowed the building to deteriorate as well. The first lawsuit asks the court to appoint a receiver to take over management of the property, collect rents, and dedicate them to repairs after years of mismanagement. The Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) is also named in the suit as a lender for the property. The second lawsuit seeks damages for the horrendous conditions with which the tenants have lived, discrimination against tenants with disabilities, and for violations of East Orange’s rent control ordinance. Alaina Thomas, attorney with the Rutgers Law School Housing Justice & Tenant Solidarity Clinic, stated, “The lawsuits filed today intend to address the ongoing issues at the property, first, by asking the court to appoint a receiver,
The 75 Prospect Street Tenant Association in East Orange, NJ, held a press conference on August 16 at their building. a court appointed individual or management company that takes charge of a dilapidated building, assumes the role of landlord, and uses the rent to make necessary repairs. The second lawsuit is for damages to compensate residents for the years they have endured these horrible conditions.” Tenant Association president, Erica Coleman, moved to 75 Prospect in 2017 and states that she has complained to building management about the persistent leak in her unit for years. Recently, Ms. Coleman was injured when a water-damaged ceiling in her apartment collapsed, hitting her on the head, right before the filing of these complaints.
“I complained for years about the leak in my daughter’s bathroom,” she said. “A judge even ordered my landlord to repair it. After years of patchwork repair jobs, the leak got so bad it caused the ceiling in the neighboring room to collapse two weeks ago. The collapsing ceiling hit me on the head, and I spent the night in the emergency room. I suffered a concussion.” The consistent leaks have led to the significant mold infiltration, which the landlord has failed to abate. Tenant Carla Evans’ quadriplegic son has been living outside the unit for years. His doctors told Evans that they could not advise his return home because of the mold in the apartment. Continued on page 16
