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Pastimes : Murder Mystery: Who Killed Yale Student Suzanne Jovin? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (770)	5/26/2000 3:53:00 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: More on Raucci Hit and Run for 10/15/98 Minor Breakthrough? It was just a small concession. But an important one. Michael Dearington, New Haven County's top prosecutor, made it in a conversation last week about the conviction of Scott Lewis, the man serving a 120-year murder sentence on what FBI investigators conclude is a trumped-up charge by a crooked former cop. (See "The Cop & The 'Killer,'" Sept. 17.) Dearington says he still believes Lewis deserves the sentence. He believes this even though the state's only witnesses against Lewis have recanted. Dearington believes this even after reading two separate FBI reports that present more than a dozen witnesses confirming important parts of Lewis' alibi story: that the cop, Vincent Raucci, was in business with drug dealers, doing coke himself, and setting up other dealers (like Lewis) on crimes because of drug debts. (Raucci denies all the accusations.) If Dearington saw evidence that convinced him of Lewis's and the FBI's story, he'd on his own move for a new trial, he says. He sees many cases where witnesses recant. Juries hear both versions and make their verdict, he says. But he acknowledges that not every case--or every 100 cases--lead to FBI reports whose investigators believe the convict. So Dearington says that if Scott Lewis's lawyer moves for a hearing on a new trial based on new evidence (the FBI reports), Dearington won't try to convince a judge otherwise. Dearington points out that right now he has no subpoena power to interview all these witnesses. In a court hearing, he would. His offer may not sound like much. But it removes an important barrier. Lewis's attorney, Michael Jefferson, says he still doesn't understand Dearington's logic. Especially since Dearington's own office is prosecuting former Detective Raucci on second-degree larceny charges in a separate case--basically calling him a fugitive felon who ripped off the government, whose word can't be trusted. But in any case, attorney Jefferson says he does plan to help Scott Lewis file a motion for a hearing on a new trial. He just has to decide whether to file it in state court or in federal court. Either way, here's betting that the judge will find the FBI reports far more damning than Dearington did. E-mail: pbass@newhavenadvocate.com newmassmedia.com