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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 (806)	6/21/2000 8:51:00 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: 6/21/00 - Convicted Killer Won't Get New Trial Convicted Killer Won't Get New Trial By JANICE D'ARCY The Hartford Courant June 21, 2000 NEW HAVEN - A convicted killer who claims a former city detective framed him for the 1990 murders of a former alderman and his lover won't get a new trial. A Superior Court judge last week rejected claims by Stefon Morant, 32, that former New Haven police detective Vincent Raucci orchestrated his conviction for the murders of former New Haven alderman Ricardo Turner and Lamont Fields. ``He's disappointed, he's down, but he's going to continue the fight to prove his innocence,'' Attorney Michael Fitzpatrick said of his client, who is serving a 70-year prison term. Morant's friend Scott Lewis, who was convicted for the same murders, is fighting for a new trial on the same grounds. They both claim that Raucci - whose policing has been questioned in several cases recently - coerced the testimony of the state's key witness. The FBI investigated the claims in 1997 and found several people who supported the convicted men. To FBI agents, the key witness, Ovil Ruiz at first recanted his original story, but later reversed himself again and repeated his original testimony. That FBI report served as the core of Morant's latest petition for a new trial. But New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue was not convinced. In his 29-page decision, Blue wrote: ``Of course the fact that Ruiz has given so many different stories inevitably raises its own flag of suspicion, but suspicion is not the standard for the granting of a new trial. It is not unusual for witnesses in criminal trials - especially incarcerated witnesses - to tell a number of different stories following a verdict of guilty. The law wisely recognizes that a jury's considered verdict should not be set aside because of this phenomenon. If the law were otherwise, verdicts in criminal cases would be fragile indeed.'' The decision came as a blow to both Morant and Lewis, whose fight for a new trial has been slowed by representation conflicts. But it was better news for the New Haven police department, a force stung by Raucci's legacy. After Raucci retired in 1996, some of the cases he solved began to unravel. One conviction was overturned recently following allegations that Raucci may have had consensual sex with a rape victim immediately after the alleged attack. Raucci himself was also the subject of legal actions for allegedly overcharging the department overtime and for allegedly beating his wife. The former detective was arrested in 1998, but skipped bail and moved to New Mexico. When FBI agents tracked him down there, Raucci forced a four-hour armed standoff before he returned to Connecticut to answer the charges. He pleaded no-contest in the case and received a suspended sentence. Fitzpatrick, Morant's lawyer, said he plans to continue the fight against Raucci for his client. On Tuesday, Fitzpatrick said he began the process to appeal Blue's decision. ``I'm going to continue to represent him because I truly believe in his innocence,'' he said. ctnow.com