People v. Railey

• Decision Date: 15 November 1993
• Citation: 159 Misc.2d 393,604 N.Y.S.2d 680
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, v. Carlos RAILEY, Defendant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court

Page 680

604 N.Y.S.2d 680

159 Misc.2d 393

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, v. Carlos RAILEY, Defendant.

Supreme Court, New York County.

Nov. 15, 1993.

Robert M. Morgenthau, Dist. Atty. (Deborah Gelb, New York City, of counsel), for the People.

Ira Mickenberg, Appellate Defender (Tina L. Mazza, New York City, of counsel), for defense.

HERBERT J. ADLERBERG, Judge:

On January 22, 1990, the defendant was convicted after a jury trial of the crime of murder in the second degree for intentionally causing the death of Brenda Isaac by stabbing and strangulation. He was sentenced to a prison term of twenty five years to life and is currently serving that sentence. The matter is currently on direct appeal to the Appellate Division, First Department.

Defendant now moves to vacate the judgment of conviction pursuant to CPL Section 440.10 by claiming in substance that the People failed to fulfill their Rosario obligation by neglecting to turn over the autopsy worksheet in the medical examiner's file, in which the medical examiner noted the words "neck organs saved".

On the evening of April 8, 1989, the deceased went to Sweetwater's with friends to hear a band called Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. There she met Carlos Railey, the defendant who was the drummer in the band. After the show, the deceased invited the defendant to stay over in her apartment so he would not have to return to Philadelphia with the rest of the band. They left together with a female friend of the deceased and went to Brooklyn where they deposited the friend. They then returned directly to the deceased's studio apartment in Manhattan.

The evidence established that the defendant was in fact alone with Brenda Isaac until early in the morning, when Ms. Isaac's friend, Carol Richardson spoke to her on the telephone. After that call, the deceased was not heard from or seen alive again.

At about 11:30, the same morning, the defendant entered Sweetwater's, where he had left some personal belongings the night before. He was wearing blue jeans and a WLIB T-shirt that belonged to the deceased. He spoke to Anna Samaneiga, the production manager and told her that something terrible had happened the night before, and that a girl had been killed while he was in her apartment last night. He then contacted the police from a pay phone. He called 911 and, according to the tape which was admitted into evidence, reported to the police that his girl friend had been stabbed about two hours ago. The defendant then flagged down a police car and made a similar report to the officers, who drove the defendant to Midtown North Precinct.

While on the way to the precinct, the defendant recognized and pointed out the building where the deceased lived. It was 400 West 45th Street. At the Midtown North Precinct the defendant was questioned by detectives. One detective, Richard Chartrand, went to the deceased's apartment and discovered her body.

Brenda Isaac was lying partly on a bed with her feet on the floor. She was fully clothed, except she was not wearing shoes. She had been strangled and the defendant's white shirt was around her neck. She had also been stabbed eighteen times and lay in a pool of blood. In addition to the defendant's shirt around her neck, the defendant's gray suit pants were at the foot of the bed on the floor. They were spattered with blood and the area around the knees were saturated with blood.

The defendant gave numerous statements to the detectives. He related that he met the deceased the night before at Sweetwater's and had gone home with her to spend the night after stopping off at Carol Richardson's apartment in Brooklyn. He remembered staying up and talking to the deceased and hugging and kissing her on the bed. He claimed that he decided to take a shower around 6:30 A.M. and he took off his pants and shirt. He told Detective Chartrand that he left his shirt on the bed and dropped his pants to the floor at the foot of the bed. He was in the shower twenty to twenty-five minutes. While he was in the shower he said a strange man came to the door of the apartment and the deceased let him in as if she knew him. After his shower, during which defendant heard no screams or loud sounds, he returned to the bedroom to find the deceased lying on the bed with his shirt around her neck. She had obviously been stabbed several times. Defendant told one detective that he picked up his pants which were on the floor but they were wet. He told another detective that he found his pants on the bed and they were bloody.

The defendant told the detectives he was too nervous to call the police and after feeling for a pulse, he tried but was unable to call 911. He stated he found some clothes of the deceased, the T-shirt and jeans he was wearing when he went to Sweetwater's later. He left the apartment, tried unsuccessfully to flag down a police car and then took a cab to Sweetwater's. In substance, five hours had elapsed between his shower at 6:30 A.M. and his arrival at Sweetwater's at 11:30 A.M.

The medical examiner, Dr. Joseph Veress testified that the cause of death was strangulation, manually and by ligature, as well as eighteen stab wounds about the deceased's chest, face and arms. He testified that the defendant's white shirt, which was found around the deceased's neck, was consistent with being a ligature. Dr. Veress also stated that in his opinion, the stabbing and strangulation occurred somewhat simultaneously and that either the strangulation or stab wounds would independently have caused death. Dr. Veress further testified that his external examination of the deceased revealed several contusions on the face which, in his opinion, were consistent with blunt force trauma.

A forensic expert, Dr. Henry Lee testified regarding the results of his examination of the items of bloody clothing which were recovered from the scene. He examined the defendant's shirt found around the deceased's neck, the defendant's gray trousers, the blue jeans and T-shirt that defendant had worn when exiting the apartment and were later recovered in a locker at Sweetwater's. He also examined the crime scene photographs and the autopsy report. Dr. Lee testifed that the blood pattern he observed on the defendant's gray trousers was inconsistent with the defendant's version of events, to wit: that blood had gotten on the trousers because they were on the bed when someone else entered the apartment and stabbed and strangled the deceased while defendant was in the shower. Dr. Lee stated to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty that the pattern of blood stains on the gray trousers was consistent with a person having worn them in close proximity to the deceased at the time of the stabbing. Therefore defendant must have been wearing the trousers and been in close proximity to the deceased when she was stabbed. Additionally, Dr. Lee concluded that, contrary to defendant's version, the defendant must have been wearing the victim's T-shirt at the time she was stabbed because of a blood pattern on it.

The defendant testified that he was showering during the crucial period, and that while in the shower a man entered the apartment and must have strangled the deceased with the defendant's shirt. He described the man but stated he had never seen him before. He heard no screams or sounds of struggle. He was not able to explain where he was or what had occurred during the approximately five hours commencing with the killing of Ms. Isaac and his subsequent appearance at Sweetwater's. He further testified that because of a previous medical condition he had little strength in his two little fingers, thus implying he would not have been capable of strangling the victim.

The defense also called David Green, a friend of the victim in order to establish that Mr. Green had access to the victim's apartment and might have had a motive to kill her. Mr. Green established that he was at the airport at about the time of the homicide and had not seen the deceased for a period of time.

Subsequent to the defendant's conviction, and on August 17, 1992, while the case was still on direct appeal, defendant's appellate attorney subpoenaed all of the documents in the Chief Medical Examiner's file pertaining to the autopsy performed on Brenda Isaac. Among the materials received from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was an Autopsy Worksheet bearing, under the category "Notes", the following words: "neck organs saved".

According to the Assistant District Attorney who prosecuted the defendant, she was, at the time of trial unaware of the existence of this document, and has since learned that it is an internal form used by the Medical Examiner's Office, which was not routinely provided to the District Attorney's Office at the time this case went to trial.

It is the defendant's present contention that the conceded failure of the People to turn this document over to the defense constituted a violation of the People's Rosario obligation, and since the case is still on direct appeal, constitutes per se reversible error requiring a new trial. See, People v. Jackson, 78 N.Y.2d 638, 578 N.Y.S.2d 483, 585 N.E.2d 795 (applying the prejudice rule only to those cases where direct appeal has been completed). Additionally, defendant argues that since the autopsy report, which was turned over to the defense, omitted the detail set forth in the worksheet, to wit: "neck organs saved", the...