October 6, 2022 • 54 mins
On April 10, 2002, Victor Vulcain was shot and killed in broad daylight in front of 201 Linden Blvd. Brooklyn, NY. There were several witnesses, each of whom provided a version of events to police that stood in conflict with the other witnesses; not even their descriptions of the shooter matched. No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no DNA evidence connected Gary to the murder. Yet Gary was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
On April tenth, two thousand two, on Lyndon Boulevard in
the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, a man named Victor Vulcan
was shot and killed in broad daylight just after school
had let out. Fortunately, no one else was heard as
people ran to their buildings for cover, including a young
father named Gary ben Lass who had had prior run
ins with the police. Nine one one callers and eye
(00:23):
witnesses described the shooter with short hair, dark skin, and
a similar bill to the victim, who was five ten
and a hundred and sixty eight pounds. However, one alleged witness,
Anthony Holder, who did not give a description of the shooter,
set among other falsehoods, that the assailant's nickname was Chuckie.
Gary ben Lass was known as Chucky, but he was
over six three and two hundred and fifty pounds with
(00:44):
a seven inch high afro. A photo of a much
younger and slimmer Gary with short hair was put into
a photo array, eliciting an identification from Anthony Holder and
one other witness. However, once that other witness saw Gary
a trial, she too jo and all the other witnesses
in denying Gary's in pop Holders pending charges for which
(01:05):
it is believed that he received leniency in exchange for cooperation,
were hidden by the state, and somehow the jury believed
his bizarre testimony that included a non existent second victim,
sending Gary away for to life. This is wrongful conviction.
(01:36):
Welcome back to rangful conviction. Today we have a Brooklyn
case dating back to two thousand two in which several
witnesses described a gunman that looked wildly different from our
guests today, Gary ben Laws, a guy that I came
to know through my friendship with a previous guest on
our show, John Asian Velasquez. Gary is joining us from
sing sing and I'm glad you're here with us even
(01:58):
though I hate to read and why you're here. But Gary,
welcome to the show. Thank you, You're very welcome. And
with him as a band whose voice should probably recognize
from other appearances here with us where he's been advocating
for Nelson Cruz, Marcus Wiggins, Vincent Simmons, and so many more.
Justin bonus, welcome back. It's great to be back on
the show for ship, all right. So Gary, before we
(02:19):
get into the reason why we're here today, can you
tell us a little bit about your life growing up.
I was born July twenty six to a proud single
mother who migrated from the rural country area of Jamaica,
West Indies, moved to America where she resided in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
(02:39):
And your nickname was Chucky, right, how I mean, where
does that come from? At the age of nine, I
received the nickname Chuckles. Being poor, no father around at school,
kids could be very cruel, so as a as a
defense mechanism, I was one of those kids who was old.
(03:00):
He's like to joke and laugh. That's how I got
the moniker chuckles. Always have people laughing, always joking, And
that nickname ended up playing a part in your wrong
for conviction. But before all of that, in the summer
of you had your first encounter with one of the
detectives on this case, Robert Ready. He knows me because
(03:21):
on my fifties birthday I was jumped, assaulted and hospitalized.
He was actually the detective on the case, and he
wanted not just for me, you know, to snitch on
the guys that hospitalized me, but he wanted me to
become a neighborhood snitch. So the case against those who
(03:42):
are assaulted me never went to court, and I never
became the snitch for detective reading. I said, it's not happening, right,
So you refused to help Ready, And then the following
spring you ran into some more trouble, but this time
you were the assailant at the age of exteen. Much
of Mention ninety seven, I made a very foolish mistake,
(04:04):
but I'm not proud. It was a lesson that I
needed to learn. So because of grown up being poor,
I followed a friend of mine into a pizzeria to
rob the pizzeria. I took full responsibility, and I copped
out to one to three years right. And I've been
(04:27):
haunted by the NYPD ever since. And I'd like the
audience to take note here when guilty people usually take
plea deals it makes sense. I mean, hell, even innocent
people take plea deals if it makes more sense, which
it often does in fighting the charges. Like our friend
Dieter te Hata. So you did a few years as
a juvenile in a men's present page your debt to society,
(04:51):
and after your release, he moved back in with your
mother at to eighteen Lennon Boulevard and flat push where
you remained on the NYPD's radar leading up to this
crime in two thousand two. But before we get into
all those details, justin we've seen this kind of thing
before more than once, where the cops just crab a
guy with a record, whether they did a climb or not.
(05:12):
And as our listeners will surely recognized, Brooklyn, especially in
the eighties, nineties and into the two thousands, was fraught
with wrongful conviction cases and issues like like I wouldn't
submits identification, coerced and incentifized witnesses who made misidentifications, sometimes
knowingly by the way, and of course crazily corrupted identification procedures.
(05:33):
And in this case we have all of those factors.
And at the helm of the investigation we had detectives
Robert Ready and John McGurran, as well as King's country
assistant D A. Kyle Reeves. And and I feel like
I've heard his name before Kyle Reeves, right, yes, absolutely,
Jabbar Washington. I believe Jabbar was exonerated in two thousand
(05:55):
and eighteen. Kyle Reeves in that case had withheld Brady evidence.
But and this is on the stand that testified falsely.
Then Reeves push forward with prosecuting someone for murder. I
believe it was a fight of some sort, and it
turned out that the mother of the victim actually sued
the hospital for medical malpractice, wrongful death, that the hospital
(06:18):
caused the death. I know that he had some issues.
He left the d a's office in Brooklyn and went
to Staten Island, and I know he had some issues
in Staten Island with witnesses and then left. And now
he's in private practice, so he has a history of
prosecuting cases that he shouldn't and to not turning over
exculpatory material. I mean, I'd like to point out prior
(06:41):
misconduct just to give the audience an idea of who
we were dealing with. But to be fair, Reeves doesn't
really sound like an outlier knowingly prosecuting innocent people and
hidekicks culpatory evidence to make a stick. It sounds like
the usual playbook in New York. It's a little different
because it's a lot harder to catch them, and he's
been caught. New York is different in that there's usually
(07:02):
no forensic investigation, no paper right, no paper trail, whereas
a lot of other places there's a lot of paper here.
These are very short, choppy statements. The police don't write
as much down. And then prosecutors, even when the case
falls apart, they are able to hang their hat on
somebody like Anthony Holder, who's the only witness that testified
(07:25):
at trial at Gary Bin laws committed this murder. And
we're going to talk a lot more about this alleged eyewitness,
Anthony Holder. And I say alleged because his description of
the crime conflicted with both reality and with every other eyewitness,
all of whom corroborated each other, and none of whom
described or ultimately identified Gary in person. Now, Anthony Holder
(07:48):
was a building super rights who were intended on Gary's block,
and he's the guy who's credited with throwing Gary's nicknamed
Chucky to the cops right into the mix after the crime. Gary,
did you know this guy Holder? So, Anthony Holder is
the super of I believe two of the buildings on
Linden will cross the street from my So I didn't
(08:10):
live there, but my friends did, so I'm visiting them.
Anthony Holder never used to like when my friends and
I will hang out on the stool, So in the
courtyards of the building. It wasn't like we was causing
any disruption being disrespectful. Okay, So he didn't like you,
but he didn't have a real beef with you. But
(08:33):
maybe he didn't care if he used you to stay
out of prison. That's what it seems like to me.
As it becomes clear much later, holder had some pending
charges for which he like they received leniency for his
testimony in this case, but a trial, that deal was
when you've heard this before, that deal was hidden by
assistant to A Kyle Reeves. And now here we are,
(08:54):
so let's get to the clime itself. This was April ten,
two thousand two, a sunny spring day on Linden and
Boulevard in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Now this is a broad street
with the east and westbound side a turning lane down
the middle street, parking on either side, so about five
lanes of car's wife if you can picture that, And
there are apartment buildings on either side, so tons of
(09:15):
people in the area. It's a bustling street scene. And
the shooting happened in front of two O one Linden Boulevard,
where you lived, across the street and down the block
at number two eighteen, So it's about three in the afternoon.
The weather extremely nice, The blocks are extremely extremely busy,
people out and enjoying the weather. School is letting out.
(09:38):
As I am approaching my building, the first blood shock
light now, and that's when I started seeing everybody starting
to run, and I ran right into mont building. And
according to corroborating eyewitness accounts, two men, the victim in
this case, Victor Vulcan, and the shooter got into an
argument welcome was shot four or five times, and then
a mail carrier, a woman named let him in Voting,
(10:00):
gave police a description, as did another woman named Paula
edge Hill, who called nine one and spoke to a dispatcher.
So you had led him in boats and who's the
mail carrier? And the nine callers who described the shooter
as all dark skinned, five eight short hair let him
in Voting actually, in a statement to police, described the
(10:21):
shooter as similarly built to the victim in the case. Now,
the victim, Victor Vulcan, was five ten sixty eight pounds,
so the nine one one call and votings accounts corroborated
each other. Now, Gary, what did you look like at
this time? I was about six three, two forty years
(10:42):
and I had a very large affro and I'm light skinned.
No one describes the afro. That's the other major major issue.
I mean, was this like a close cropped afro? How
much volume are we talking about here? Will have to
be roughly six seven inches? Okay, so that's a remarkable
(11:02):
hair do. Like I mean, people aren't going to miss
a seven inch I afro. But unfortunately, this giant discrepancy
didn't seem to matter to Anthony Holder or the detectives,
and later didn't matter either to the prosecutor in the case.
So what did Anthony Holders statements of police say? This
alternate version of events, and Anthony Holder says that Chucky
(11:27):
is talking to some girls. Uh, they say, get at him, Chucky.
Nobody else describes this, by the way. Then he says
that Chucky begins to argue with this guy and pulls
a gun out of the back and then shoots the guy.
And and Anthony Holder he doesn't describe Gary at all,
and he never gives a description. See all he does
(11:48):
Anthony Holder has dropped a nickname, and the police know
the nickname because they're familiar with Garrett. And we're not
even sure who brought up the nickname first. Perhaps Anthony
Holder decided to trade information false information. Let's call it
what it is, about a neighborhood guy who he didn't
really like in exchange for leniency in his pending charges,
(12:09):
or the lead detectives who knew Gary from both previous
incidents when he was an assault victim who refused to
snitch and then the robbery. Now, of course I'm referring
to detectives Robert Ready and John mcgarran. It was recently
going over the d D fives I come across John
mcgarnan's d D five. He says that he was at
(12:30):
two eighteen Linden Boulevard when he received information that the
shooter is above by the name of Chuckles. Only people
that does the name Chuckles is people that went to
elementary school with me. Anthony Holden never said Chuckles. Anthony
(12:53):
Holders says Chucky. So before John mcgaren we see any
information ancient in regards to the shooter, he was already
at two eight teen. The shooting happm at two or
one Linden Boulevard. We have nine one one calls police
reports that says the shooter ran into one eighty Linden Boulevard.
(13:17):
It was never a police call to respond to to
eight teen. Why are you at to eight two? Right?
The nine one one call said one eighty Lindon Boulevard.
But mcgern went straight to your building and claimed to
hear that the assailant was named Chuckles, your original nickname
that had evolved into Chucky over time. Exactly. Mcgarren already
(13:40):
knew who I was, the same way detective really already
knew who I was. So this isn't definitive proof, but
it certainly looks like they were immediately directing the investigation
towards you without cause either way. Your nickname was now
part of this investigation. And then they take this and
they and they on with it, and they put a
(14:02):
photo array together very soon after the shooting. And why
the photo array was really important is because the picture
of Gary is of when he was I believe eighteen
years old. By the time he was twenty one, he
was much heavier than he was when he was eighteen.
(14:22):
He didn't even look like the same person, and he
had short hair when he was eighteen, all right, So
they showed this misleading photo array with an eighteen year old,
slimmer looking Gary importantly, with no afro but short hair instead. Right,
as the witnesses that initially described the assailant, I mean,
it's it's so dirty, it's amazing. And the mail carrier
(14:46):
led him in Bolton looking at this old photograph gave
up tepid identification, right, and the incentivized alleged witness, Anthony Holder,
gave an idea as well. Now, Anthony Holder also allegedly
told him that the shooter had a black Duffel bag.
No other witnesses reported seeing this, and in the continued
(15:07):
effort to get to Gary, investigators put pressure on a
guy from your building named Roger Isaac, who at about
five eight, dark skinned with short hair, better match the
description of the shooter, and so he was snatched up
shortly after the shooting. Roger Isaac, I feel the full
I really do. He's oblivious to what's going on. They
(15:28):
jump out on him and say he's being arrested for
the murder. They bring him down to the station in
his d D five. He saw me come into the building,
go back into the palming and come right back out.
So now they have someone corroborating Holder about you and
the alleged black bag. And then Roger Isaac allegedly described
(15:51):
you as five ft eight two hundred pounds, but again
you're over six ft three and at least two hundred
forty at the time, and he said thing about your
impressive afro, which is very talent because the only picture
that detectives McGurn and ready had at that time was
from when you were eighteen years old. It looks like
(16:11):
they still thought that you were under two d pounds
with short hair. So they brought Roger Isaac down to
the precinct where he allegedly made this statement implicating you
carrying this non existent black Duffel bag. And we're getting
ahead of ourselves here, but at trial, this alleged statement
from the d D five unravels for the prosecution exactly
(16:32):
at trial assisted this attorney Kyle Reeves is trying to
have Roger Isaac testify that he saw me went into
the building build back into the partment. So he gives
them the d D five and that's when the cat
is let out the bag. He did the d D five.
He said, I don't saying none of this. He says
(16:53):
that he was in a cell and that the police
roughed them up, assaulted Mr Roger Isaac, because sounds like
they might have just written that statement up just for
him to sign. There was no signature. This is typed up.
And then you have the offices chimnenship. So there's no
Roger Isaac right in and saying I do this swear
of this being authentic. There's none of that. So the
(17:16):
sham statement in Roger Isaacs d V five blew up
in Kyle Reeves's face at trial. But in the immediate
aftermath of the crime, this same d D five corroborated
Anthony Holder. They had already tricked led him in voting
into making the I D with that phony Bologny photo array.
So now they're closing in on you, but you didn't
even know it. So let's go back to the immediate aftermath.
(17:38):
Shots rang out, You got to safety, and after things
calmed down, you went out to handle a few rands
before or three month old son and his mother arrived
later on from Queens. Now, at that time you had
gone to a friends in Bushwick when a neighborhood friend
paged you to tell you that the police had rated
your apartment. He say the police just went into the apartment.
(18:00):
So I called my mother. When she goes home, the
police are still there. They asked her to sign a
consent for him to search. They already searched already, so
now they're using her consent to cover their eyes. So
the police legally search your apartment looking for this alleged
black dupple back, but they came up empty, and they
(18:22):
got your mom to give consent to the search after
the fact. So at this time, again, I'm not even
aware that someone even died. It wasn't until there. I
speak to my mother, she said. Detective really gave her
his card for me to call. He said a guy
was signed and killed and they're looking to speak to
(18:45):
me about it. I have nothing a hide, so I
called him. He said, people are saying that you killed
this guy. I said, the time, I don't know what
you're talking about. I've just had a son. I have
no reason into the out killing anybody. He said, well,
you know, let's meet up some react. That's not happening.
(19:06):
I am not comfortable meeting you guys and check them out.
You're looking for me because somebody's got killed. He said, well,
you know, just in the hole would change in mind.
And this is right after nine eleven, So the police
had all these sweeping new powers from the Patriot Act,
and they triangulated your position from the cell signal and
found you over at your friends in Bushwick. But what's
(19:30):
weird is that they're looking for the the old version
of you right there, looking for the eighteen year old,
slimmer shorthaired Gary from the photo array, not the fully
grown up, much heavier, twenty one year old Gary with
the seven inch high afro, who looks nothing close to
the eyewitness descriptions. So both you and the police are confused. Now,
(19:54):
can you describe what happened during your arrest. It's like
one of those seems almost like a die hard movie.
The whole block is just filled with, you know, squad
cars and police officers and police officers on the rules
and the helicopters. As they were going in to the building,
(20:14):
I was coming out, right, I'm not knowing they're coming
for me. All right, I'm going to the store, and
here'll go all these police officers. I look at them,
they look at me. I'll go. And I walked to
the store, not running. Walking. As I'm in the store,
the door opened, and then the head pokes in and
(20:37):
he said, hey, or did you just come from and
he recites the building number and I said yes, he
actually what my name is, and I tell him my
name is Gary Bella. He said I can can please
put your hands behind your back? So again I didn't say, Oh,
my name is George Jeffrey Calvin. So I'm not evading
(20:58):
being identified. Does this sound like the actions of a
guilty man. Of course not. But it's crazy because you
didn't think they were even there for you, and they
thought they were looking for a guy who could potentially
fit the description. But as we see here in your case,
the description really didn't matter to them. They just move
(21:19):
forward anyway. So you're arrested. Detective really questioned you. You
told him what you're telling us here today, that you
had absolutely nothing to do with it, and then they
put you in a lineup. And that lineup was was
conducted by Robert Ready and Robert Ready at least one
time a couple of years after this case admitted to
(21:40):
essentially taining a lineup in a photo Arry and the
case was thrown out on that basis. So Robert Ready
knew who Gary was, and he violated best practices. He
shouldn't have been involved with the lineup at all, but
he was. So they save me how to sell, and
I'm going to go for this lineup. They took the
colds I was wearing, didn't something else to put on,
(22:03):
and then they told me to put on a shower
cap to hide my hair. And that's when I started no.
I said, hell no, I said, what's I doing? And
I looked at really and I say, REALLYO, you ain't right,
and he just like held down his head. At that time,
I already knew what they was doing, that they was
(22:24):
dressing me up to fit the description of this person
that they're looking for. They gave me a jacket. I'm
not hold on, this is not my clothes. Oh you
gotta you gotta put it on. And then they they
hiding my hair, Like what reason would you have to
hide my hair? This episode is underwritten by A i G,
(22:58):
a leading global insurance company. A i G is committed
to corporate social responsibility and is making a positive difference
in the lives of its employees and in the communities
where we work and live. In light of the compelling
need for pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of
a i g s commitment to criminal and social justice reform,
the a i G Pro Bono program provides free legal
(23:19):
services and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. So
they corrupted that lineup, and ultimately both Anthony Holder big surprise,
and then the mail carrier let him in voting identified you.
So you spent eighteen long months awaiting trial at Riker's,
(23:43):
away from your family and your baby son. Your lawyer,
Daniel F. Lynch got discovery and the machinations of that
lineup started to become even clearer, confirming what you had feared.
And I said, I knew it. I noticed is why
they wanted me to change my clothes. They wanted me
to hide my head. These witnesses are saying x y
(24:06):
n Z. If this witness says short here, they cannot
put me in the lineup with this large afrow, so
they have me hide it. But now the particular witness
let him in Brighten, I'm gonna pick her first at
the grand jury, and they was questioned and let him
(24:26):
in Broen. She stopped for a second to say as
if she wasn't sure she picked out the right guy.
So fast forward to two thousand and three. While I'm
at trial, they asked her, do you see the shoot
her in the court room? Let him mc brinen unequivalent
he is, says no. So she says no at trial
(24:48):
and at the grand jury she wasn't sure. But then
at the time of when she's viewing the line up,
I am presented with the shower cap that's I didn't
my hear, and with some clothing that's close enough to
what the shoot had had on the day of the crime.
Is there any reason why she wouldn't have taken me
(25:10):
out to witnesses identified Gary in the lineup, and of
those two witnesses, only one of them identify him, the tron,
which is Anthony Older. So Letterman Bolton was supposed to
be a prosecution witness but ended up working in favor
of Gary's defense, just like Roger Isaac. So at that point,
as this case was crumbling in front of their eyes,
(25:30):
all they had left was Anthony Holder, who ended up
being totally unreliable. And we're gonna get to his testimony
in a minute. But it doesn't seem like your attorney
should have had to work very hard to discredit Holder
with with what was available to him on assisted this
attorney Kyle Reis witness list. They had Paula Edgehew that
(25:51):
was the witness that I wanted my attorney to call
on my behalf. Her phone call and won one call,
as well as her d D five and her after
David at the sty seven priests is very much as
cowartory and tools third party culpability. The description that she
(26:12):
gave Paula Edgehill states that she looked through her window
and she saw the shooter and the shooter was a
medium height, dark skin male, no affro. So that's not
me right, But neither the prosecution nor your attorney called
(26:33):
her as a witness. But even without Paula edge Hell,
you still had let him in Bolton and Roger Isaac
blow up their part of the state's case. So all
this left is Anthony Holder, who never actually described the shooter.
He just used your nickname Chucky, saying that some girls
were encouraging you to get after him, meaning Victor Vulcan.
(26:54):
And none of those girls ever surfaced, nor did this
alleged black duffel bag. What other hall should your defense
have poked in Holders testimony? The inconsistencies are abound. With
Anthony Holder. He says, the guys shot with the thirty eight.
Guy's not shot with the thirty eight. I believe the
slugs were consistent with Forensically, the description that he gives
(27:17):
does not match up to the wounds that demand suffers.
And to be honest with you, I don't really think
anybody gives a very consistent description of what actually happened
because of how fast it happened. We don't know if
Vulcan was standing upright when the first shots ring out right,
(27:38):
but what we do know is that there was stipling
on one of the shots on the chest, which would
indicate that the shooter was very close, within twenty four inches.
Anthony Holder says that the shooter was four ft away.
So it would have been helpful if these wild inconsistencies
(27:59):
were pointed out, impeached the one the only state's witness here.
It was, in fact, they're only piece of evidence, but
your attorney was not prepared to do that. However, your
attorney did present one very powerful witness, Augustine Hinton, who
had called and corroborated let him in voting, and Paula
Edgehill's descriptions and versions of events Dustin Hinson states that
(28:23):
the shooter and the victim is the same height. The
medical examiner at trial stated that Dictor Volcane sustaining the
gunshot wound to his chest and there was no vertical
for ponderance when acts. What can cause that is that
whoever shot him with the same height as him. So
(28:47):
Dustin Hinton is right on that. Now, another part of
his testimony is he states that when the shooting was
going on, that was ushering some young children away from
the crime. Now, when you get to Anthony Holder, Anthony
(29:09):
Holder is a legend that he was the one that
was ushering his young children away from the crime. But
he goes on to also say that the shooter also
is responsible for shooting one of those young children. What
(29:29):
I think is important about Holder is there's nothing about
his testimony that's true. The fact that he says a
little girl was shot at the scene when there's absolutely
no and my p D record of a small younger
girl being shot at the scene. A little girl was not.
This is like a child was shot at the scene,
(29:52):
Gary been lost to be doing a lot more than life.
That's testimony had never surfaced at any chime time prior
to trial. That false testimony only came about when assisted
Gifted attorney Kyle Weaves elicited that false and inflammatory testimony
(30:16):
from Anthony Holder and then later turned around and vouched
for the authenticity of that testimony. He also presented Antony
Holder as this superrighteous citizen of society. I mean, not
only should his shaky testimony have been seen through, but
also they were hiding something, which was that this guy
(30:39):
had a powerful incentive to lie or to say what
the authorities wanted him to say, which is that he
had he was facing pending charges himself. And we know
that in a lot of these cases where these eyewitnesses
suddenly are able to make an identification, those charges that
they're facing magically go away and they're sort of making
(30:59):
it deal with the devil. Is that what happened here? Yes, absolutely,
absolutely his. He he had pending charges, and from our investigation,
those charges are sealed, which means at some point they
were dismissed, but they were pending while he testified. And
and interestingly enough, Kyle Reeves, when asked if the man
(31:21):
had any pending charges, said that he'd never been arrested before,
So that sounds carefully worded. And why would any prosecutor
lie or mislead the jury about a witness's criminal history
or pending charges if not to hide a potential deal
for leniency. And when holders testimony is the only piece
of evidence against you stacked up against all of the
independent witnesses whose testimony was in favor of Gary's innocence.
(31:44):
Plus Anthony Holder made an unfounded charge that a little
girl had been shot as well. If that's true, then
why wasn't Gary charged with the attempted murder of a child.
It's just it's just hard to see how the jury
could get this so wrong. You had Roger Isaac let
him in voting, and even without Paula Edgehill, you then
(32:06):
had Augustin Hinkson. I mean, was the prosecution able to
say that Hinston was a friend of Gary's or something
anything to impeach him. I think Augustine Hickson was the
most reliable person that testified. Augustin Hanksen's relations to Gary's
is just an acquaintance. Hankston had no dog in the race,
I believe. Actually Hanson is a nine one one caller.
(32:28):
That's how they get to Hankson. Hanksen is a real
world person that's there that they know is there from
the gate that gives a statement to them. Hanksen is
adamant that Gary was not there. I don't understand how
Gary loses other than the fact that maybe the jury
believed that he shot a little girl. I don't know.
(32:50):
I mean that a little girl that definitely wasn't shot.
It's a miracle that no kids were shot. But the
fact remains that no kid was shot. But they just
made up this worry, and it seems to me there's
at least a good chance that they were doing that
in order to cast this terrible light on Gary, so
that if the jury saw through the nonsense that they
(33:12):
were being fed, they would still say, well, this guy
is a terrible guy because he shot a child. So
even if the evidence is shaky as hell, we're still
gonna go ahead and convict him. Am I am I
off base here? No? No, not at all. No. I
think you're hunter per cent right. Holder was a terrible witness,
(33:33):
but he was enough, you know, he was enough um
to sink Gary unfortunately, and that's the that's the problem
with the American justice system, is that a single witness
like this could actually send a man a prison for life.
Gary was convicted of second agree murder in November two three.
(33:53):
So Gary, take us inside the courtroom and inside your
heart and soul. At that moment, it was, it was unbelievable.
It was it was heartbreaking. It was so shadowing. My
my my my life, and my world came to a
halt at that moment. The day I was sentenced, my
(34:16):
family has also been sentenced to five years to life.
They're pretty much shipped of everything I was given. You know,
(34:40):
this new identity, the identity that the Department of Correction
wished to know me by. They don't care to know
who Gary Benloss is, and if Gary Denlos is wrongly convicted,
they don't care about that. I'm known to the Department
Corrections that zero three eight s four one five. But
(35:02):
I'm here to tell everyone that's not who I am
talking about, a young man who was stripped away from
his family. There's a void in the lives of my
mother or my sister, the mother of my son, from
my grandmother, my uncle's, my aunt's, my cousins. So I'm
(35:23):
not carrying this sentence alone. There's a void that's in
the life of my son who had to grow up
without me there that I had dreams of his father
coming home, but he will never see that because he
had passed away before that could happen. This tragedy, it's
(35:52):
it's almost hard to even process this, right, but I
know when I was up visiting you, Gary, you showed
me a letter you had gotten from your son. Are
Your son grew up without his dad through no vault
of yours and no vault of his own, and yet Um,
you managed to be a good father, a great father
from prisoners, as good as any what could be, and
he turned out to be a fantastic kid. I saw
(36:12):
a letter that he wrote to you. Um. That was
a letter that any father would love to get from
their child, UM, where he basically said, I love you
and I wish things were different, but we're gonna make
up for lost time when you come home. You're my inspiration,
You're my hero. And that letter, which I could almost
(36:35):
not read knowing what happened next, was just so beautiful
and powerful. And the awful truth is that the day
after that he received that letter, he was killed in
a writing in an uber, just a passenger in an
uber in a random hit and run accident. Um, I
think we should really dedicate this episode to his memory,
(36:57):
you know, talking about a very very very dark moment,
and and I had to find first within needs strength.
It's a tremendous way that I cannot imagine lifting, considering
the way you had already lifted. Perhaps it's the strength
that you built over all that time leading up to
(37:20):
this even heavier moment. Now I had to find that
light of redemption. First within needs to God needs do
this perilous place so I can get to that plateau
where I can say, listen, I'm not going to let
(37:41):
my time in here go two ways. I'm not going
to allow my room for conviction to stop me from
being the man that I'm supposed to be. I'm going
to fight this. I'm going to win, and I'm also
going to make sure that I'm in position where I
can pockets. And I've read a bit about some of
(38:03):
the good things that you've done with your time on
the inside, the fact I've witnessed some of them in person.
I mean I've been up there and seeing you doing
your thing, um making a difference. Can you tell us
a little bit about your work? So in two thousands
six I went and I actually obtained my g D.
Now I'm helping other individuals to achieve their g ds. UM.
(38:25):
I became a facilitator for UM a cultural awareness class
to to see a U organization which is a Caribbean
African community. I've partacting Alternative violence program where you helped
to mentor people to find a way to alleviate situations
without the meedings of violence. Two thousand and twelve, I
(38:49):
was in the electrical trade program. I actually advanced and
became I think which is called inmate programming system. So
how was assistant to the teacher. So I became a
facilitator and do that also allowed me the opportunity to
then my apprenticeship through the n c C d R
(39:11):
of course, where I was able to take the same
type of tests and courses that a person on the
outside would so they could become electrician. When I came
to sim, SIM immediately signed up for the Mercy College
Hustling program that you have here where I am actually
going for my bachelor's in behavioral science. I wasn't allowing
(39:34):
my state of mind conservation to hold me back, and
I was sitting down the stones for my future and
I have a looked back. No, you have not, and
you've brought that same proactive and incredibly positive spirit to
the work that you've done inside with a group of
guys called the AI Team, the Actual Innocence Team, good name.
(39:55):
Long time listeners of the show will remember other members
of this New York based crew, to with whom are
already out. I'm talking about Derrick Hamilton, Shabaka Shakor and
of course Nelson Cruz, Danny Rinkhn and yourself still remain
inside you. Also, we're friendly with another great friend of
the show and great personal friend of mine, personal hero,
(40:17):
I would say, I'm talking about j. J. Velasquez, who
is another just incredibly inspirational man. Being around these individuals
also helped to give me a sense of hope and
courage because now you no longer feel alone. And we'll
go to a lot of berries, will research cases, and
(40:39):
we'll see what we can find will be able to
help us. Oh that right, there's a batter In issue
that's a Strictment versus Washington issue. Oh that's the way
the issue, and that's how I started to learn the
law instinctly that you know is not supposed to happen.
But now you can put legal theory to it. Now,
(41:00):
it's more than just going into a coising a piece
of paper and saying I didn't do it. So you
fought your case for a while this way, and eventually Derek,
Shabaka and JJ got out and slowly but surely you've
got your case in front of our friend justin here.
So justin, what has happened so far in Gary's post
conviction fight and where does his case stand? Now? Okay? Well, Gary,
(41:24):
you know, of course he filed a direct appeal. And
what's very interesting about Gary's direct appeal is that he's
we're saying the same thing that we're saying now, right,
Gary has been consistent since day one. He filed a
motion to vacate his conviction back in two thousand to
One of the issues was the fact that Anthony Holder
(41:44):
had a criminal charge that was pending during the trial
that was never disclosed. Actually, Kyle Reeves, as per usual,
I should say, Kyle Reeves, failed to turn that over
and actually indicated that Anthony Holder had never been arrested
for in his life, which was totally untrue. That just
goes along with Kyle Reeves's theme. But as of right now,
(42:06):
you know, we are really reinvestigating the forensics at the
scene and pulling all the files from the NYPD and
the District Attorney's office to prepare for another four forty
or to go to the conviction Review Unit, which I
do think would be very interested in this case based
upon how unreliable the evidence is here that convicted Gary
(42:28):
and the evidence of innocence. Uh. You know, Jason, I
think the biggest thing is what makes a case like
Gary's very strong is the evidence that's in the possession
of the prosecutor. And when you look at that, including
Augustine Hanksen led him in Bolton and then a caller,
three people all say that Gary bin Lost is not
(42:51):
the shooter here, He's not the person that killed Victor Vulcan.
And I think that that's overwhelming evidence of innocence in
comparison to and any holder. And that's what we're working
on right now is tying that all together, both forensically
and through our investigation and to see if there's any
more Brady evidence out there, because there was at least
(43:11):
one witness that was interviewed that was friends with Victor
Vulcan that stated that Victor Vulcan had beef with people
from his own block. He was not from the block
where he was found murdered at So we you know,
we are investigating all these claims before we do anything,
but we're we're evaluating whether we go forward with another
motion to vacate or go to Brooklyn's conviction review. You know,
(43:32):
justin what can people do? And I'm sure people are
listening heartbroken and angry and motivated. So what can people
do to help bring some semblance of justice? Right Gary
um I would say start off by reaching out to
Eriknzals Brooklyn d A's office, and also Gary has a
change dot org page, and support the petition and continue
(43:53):
to support people who are like Gary. I think that's
the biggest problem. There needs to be more support from
a broader base in the country. Right. It has to
be more than just the people that have been affected
by rongful convictions. It has to be people that are
just regular, average American citizens because they need to understand
(44:14):
that this could be you, because it could be you.
It could be your son, it could be your daughter,
it could it could be anybody. It could be you,
and people need to stop acting like that's not a
that's not a fact. We will link in the bio
to the petition and to other information about the case.
Please do click on the link in the bio, sign
the petition and get involved, and will hopefully be able
(44:38):
to publish an update to this episode sometimes in not
too distant future, where we get to speak with Gary
from the outside. And now, of course it's time to
turn to the closing of our show, which everyone knows
is called closing arguments, and this is where I thank
you guys again. I'm going to turn over to you first,
justin for your thoughts, any other thought do you want
(45:00):
to share, and then of course hand off to Gary
and he'll take us off into the sunset. The first
thing that we really need to consider in this case
is because it happens over and over and over again
in identification cases, is where there's a description that does
not match the person that they end up arresting. Obviously,
(45:20):
common sense says that the suspect should match the description
that the witnesses say was the perpetrator, and Gary's case
is very typical, especially in a place like New York City,
where the police don't care. They just don't care. They
get a name, they focus on the name. They don't
(45:41):
care that that the person that is this name doesn't
match the description of the perpetrator given by the witnesses.
That just goes right out the window. People don't think
that that's true. But Gary is evident to that. And
I can tell you, as an attorney that practices in
New York City every day, that that happens all the time,
and it's still happens in and Gary is a He's
(46:03):
a spot on case of where the police didn't care,
and the police didn't care because they knew his name,
they knew who he was. They focused in on him.
They put him in a photo array with a photo
that didn't match anything that looked like him. It matched
more the description of what the witnesses said the perpetrator
looked like. And what I mean by that is obviously
(46:23):
a photo array. All you really have is the head.
The person had short hair in the photo right right,
so that at least matched more the description of the perpetrator.
They went and they went arrested Gary. Then they put
him in a lineup where he looks nothing like he
looked in the photo array. And Robert Ready is the
one that handles the identification and the witnesses somehow identify
(46:45):
him in the lineup. The person that's running these procedures
should not be involved with the investigation and they should
not know who the subject is. And Robert Ready has
done this before, He's gotten called out, cases have been
thrown out. He because he suggested and tainted identification procedures.
And then who does Robert Ready hand the case off
(47:06):
to Kyle Reeves, whose framed numerous men, scumback of the
highest order, And and and people need to understand what
is the d a's job. The d a's job is
to vet the police's investigation. Kyle Reeves doesn't vet an investigation.
He takes the investigation and he fixes it. He does
(47:27):
the opposite of what you're supposed to do. And even
in the face of descriptions of a perpetrator that are
eighty pounds less and half a foot shorter than Gary
ben Laws and having a haircut that doesn't match the
afro that Gary ben Law says, there's nothing about the
shooter in this case that matches the description of Gary
(47:50):
ben Laws, Kyle Reeves still takes this to trial. He
puts let him in bolting on the stand. She stands
up in court. He asked him, you see the guy
that shot the victim, Victor Vulcan here. She says no.
She says no, her testimony matches her initial description of
the shoe, which it was not gary Ben Lost. That's
(48:12):
a non identification. He puts Anthony Holder on the witness stand.
Anthony Holder gives a ridiculous testimony that is not consistent
at all with the evidence at the scene, not consistent
at all with the other witnesses at the scene. Says
that a little girl was shot at the scene. There
is no NYPD record of a little girl being shot.
And let me tell you, if a little if a
child was shot at the scene, gary Ben Lost to
(48:36):
be doing a lot more than life, Okay, he would be,
and there would be absolutely police reports indicating that medical
reports indicating there wasn't. Anthony Holder completely lies that there's
not one shred of his testimony that is true. And
then another witness comes in and says that it wasn't
(48:58):
gary Ben Lost. That the calls. But what the defense
failed to do here which they often do, as they
failed to put on the caller that described the shooter
as five ft eight dark skin with short hair. The
defense failed to cross examine led Him in Bolton, even
though she said that Gary ben Laws wasn't the person
(49:21):
that she saw fining the weapon that day. The jury
never heard the description of led Him in Bolton, that
that the shooter matched the description and body type of
the victim, who was five hundred and sixty eight pounds.
That could have definitively proved to the jury. It would
have overridden the terrible testimony of Anthony Holder. I don't
(49:44):
even really need to do a reinvestigation here. It's clear
Gary is innocent. He's been in jails for over twenty
years at this point. It's a travesty of justice. But
it's all too often of a story, especially in a
place like New y York City. I witness identification is
a real problem in New York City. It's all too
(50:05):
often of a story. And it is just tragic with
Gary because he should have never been arrested, should have
never been charged, and he was just railroaded. The traumatic
and irreparable effects of wrongful conviction just don't affect those
wrongfully convicted. It also impacts the lives of their families,
(50:26):
their communities, and the fabric of our nation. Let explain
what I mean. I would like to share this letter
with you all. It was written by my beloved son,
Isaiah Belos, who was seventeen years old at the time.
It reads, Dear Sir Madam, I'm writing on behalf of
my father, Gary Belos. When I was a baby, I
(50:49):
never really got the chance to spend time and bond
with my father until I got older. This situation really
got to me while I was growing up without him.
He wasn't there when I first picked up a basketball
and when I first rode a bike. Also, he wasn't
there when I graduated elementary and middle school. All I
(51:11):
wish is for me and him to go out and
bond with each other. Even though he wasn't there for
my elementary and middle school years, I hope he can
be there when I graduated from high school. In I
hope whoever is reading this you find it in your
heart to give my father early parole. Please thank you
(51:33):
in advance. The SAILI Isaaiah Benlos. That was written in
April twenty second of and as you see, I'm still
in prison, so he never got that wish for me
to be there for his graduation. In June of the
(51:56):
month following his graduation, he sent me a car for
my birthday and if be happy birthday to the real
O G. I just want to say thank you for
being real with me, believing in me when no one did,
still being real and never switching up and sticking it
through even in these hard times. I know you can't
(52:19):
be out here with me and wishing things could have
been different, But I always reminded myself and never regret
what I have, because then I wouldn't have you in
my amazing girlfriend and family that I love dealing. I
appreciate and love you Dad. Hopefully when you get out
you can make up for lot times. I love your
(52:40):
pops to tell your son Isaaiah Bengas again those wishes
will never be manifested because just a day after receiving
this card from my son, he was in a tragic
car accident that le declaimed this life. So as I
(53:02):
leave you, go here with these final thoughts. As I
studied before, the state of wrongful conviction doesn't just impact
those wrongfully convicteds, it also affects the families. Thank you,
(53:28):
Thank you for listening to wrongful conviction. I'd like to
thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Clyburne and Kevin
Wardis with research by Lila Robinson. The music in this
production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction,
on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at
(53:50):
wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava for Good. On
all three platforms, you can also follow me on both
TikTok and Instagram at It's Jason Flom. Rob Conviction is
the production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with
Signal Company Number one h
On April tenth, two thousand two, on Lyndon Boulevard in
the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, a man named Victor Vulcan
was shot and killed in broad daylight just after school
had let out. Fortunately, no one else was heard as
people ran to their buildings for cover, including a young
father named Gary ben Lass who had had prior run
ins with the police. Nine one one callers and eye
(00:23):
witnesses described the shooter with short hair, dark skin, and
a similar bill to the victim, who was five ten
and a hundred and sixty eight pounds. However, one alleged witness,
Anthony Holder, who did not give a description of the shooter,
set among other falsehoods, that the assailant's nickname was Chuckie.
Gary ben Lass was known as Chucky, but he was
over six three and two hundred and fifty pounds with
(00:44):
a seven inch high afro. A photo of a much
younger and slimmer Gary with short hair was put into
a photo array, eliciting an identification from Anthony Holder and
one other witness. However, once that other witness saw Gary
a trial, she too jo and all the other witnesses
in denying Gary's in pop Holders pending charges for which
(01:05):
it is believed that he received leniency in exchange for cooperation,
were hidden by the state, and somehow the jury believed
his bizarre testimony that included a non existent second victim,
sending Gary away for to life. This is wrongful conviction.
(01:36):
Welcome back to rangful conviction. Today we have a Brooklyn
case dating back to two thousand two in which several
witnesses described a gunman that looked wildly different from our
guests today, Gary ben Laws, a guy that I came
to know through my friendship with a previous guest on
our show, John Asian Velasquez. Gary is joining us from
sing sing and I'm glad you're here with us even
(01:58):
though I hate to read and why you're here. But Gary,
welcome to the show. Thank you, You're very welcome. And
with him as a band whose voice should probably recognize
from other appearances here with us where he's been advocating
for Nelson Cruz, Marcus Wiggins, Vincent Simmons, and so many more.
Justin bonus, welcome back. It's great to be back on
the show for ship, all right. So Gary, before we
(02:19):
get into the reason why we're here today, can you
tell us a little bit about your life growing up.
I was born July twenty six to a proud single
mother who migrated from the rural country area of Jamaica,
West Indies, moved to America where she resided in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
(02:39):
And your nickname was Chucky, right, how I mean, where
does that come from? At the age of nine, I
received the nickname Chuckles. Being poor, no father around at school,
kids could be very cruel, so as a as a
defense mechanism, I was one of those kids who was old.
(03:00):
He's like to joke and laugh. That's how I got
the moniker chuckles. Always have people laughing, always joking, And
that nickname ended up playing a part in your wrong
for conviction. But before all of that, in the summer
of you had your first encounter with one of the
detectives on this case, Robert Ready. He knows me because
(03:21):
on my fifties birthday I was jumped, assaulted and hospitalized.
He was actually the detective on the case, and he
wanted not just for me, you know, to snitch on
the guys that hospitalized me, but he wanted me to
become a neighborhood snitch. So the case against those who
(03:42):
are assaulted me never went to court, and I never
became the snitch for detective reading. I said, it's not happening, right,
So you refused to help Ready, And then the following
spring you ran into some more trouble, but this time
you were the assailant at the age of exteen. Much
of Mention ninety seven, I made a very foolish mistake,
(04:04):
but I'm not proud. It was a lesson that I
needed to learn. So because of grown up being poor,
I followed a friend of mine into a pizzeria to
rob the pizzeria. I took full responsibility, and I copped
out to one to three years right. And I've been
(04:27):
haunted by the NYPD ever since. And I'd like the
audience to take note here when guilty people usually take
plea deals it makes sense. I mean, hell, even innocent
people take plea deals if it makes more sense, which
it often does in fighting the charges. Like our friend
Dieter te Hata. So you did a few years as
a juvenile in a men's present page your debt to society,
(04:51):
and after your release, he moved back in with your
mother at to eighteen Lennon Boulevard and flat push where
you remained on the NYPD's radar leading up to this
crime in two thousand two. But before we get into
all those details, justin we've seen this kind of thing
before more than once, where the cops just crab a
guy with a record, whether they did a climb or not.
(05:12):
And as our listeners will surely recognized, Brooklyn, especially in
the eighties, nineties and into the two thousands, was fraught
with wrongful conviction cases and issues like like I wouldn't
submits identification, coerced and incentifized witnesses who made misidentifications, sometimes
knowingly by the way, and of course crazily corrupted identification procedures.
(05:33):
And in this case we have all of those factors.
And at the helm of the investigation we had detectives
Robert Ready and John McGurran, as well as King's country
assistant D A. Kyle Reeves. And and I feel like
I've heard his name before Kyle Reeves, right, yes, absolutely,
Jabbar Washington. I believe Jabbar was exonerated in two thousand
(05:55):
and eighteen. Kyle Reeves in that case had withheld Brady evidence.
But and this is on the stand that testified falsely.
Then Reeves push forward with prosecuting someone for murder. I
believe it was a fight of some sort, and it
turned out that the mother of the victim actually sued
the hospital for medical malpractice, wrongful death, that the hospital
(06:18):
caused the death. I know that he had some issues.
He left the d a's office in Brooklyn and went
to Staten Island, and I know he had some issues
in Staten Island with witnesses and then left. And now
he's in private practice, so he has a history of
prosecuting cases that he shouldn't and to not turning over
exculpatory material. I mean, I'd like to point out prior
(06:41):
misconduct just to give the audience an idea of who
we were dealing with. But to be fair, Reeves doesn't
really sound like an outlier knowingly prosecuting innocent people and
hidekicks culpatory evidence to make a stick. It sounds like
the usual playbook in New York. It's a little different
because it's a lot harder to catch them, and he's
been caught. New York is different in that there's usually
(07:02):
no forensic investigation, no paper right, no paper trail, whereas
a lot of other places there's a lot of paper here.
These are very short, choppy statements. The police don't write
as much down. And then prosecutors, even when the case
falls apart, they are able to hang their hat on
somebody like Anthony Holder, who's the only witness that testified
(07:25):
at trial at Gary Bin laws committed this murder. And
we're going to talk a lot more about this alleged eyewitness,
Anthony Holder. And I say alleged because his description of
the crime conflicted with both reality and with every other eyewitness,
all of whom corroborated each other, and none of whom
described or ultimately identified Gary in person. Now, Anthony Holder
(07:48):
was a building super rights who were intended on Gary's block,
and he's the guy who's credited with throwing Gary's nicknamed
Chucky to the cops right into the mix after the crime. Gary,
did you know this guy Holder? So, Anthony Holder is
the super of I believe two of the buildings on
Linden will cross the street from my So I didn't
(08:10):
live there, but my friends did, so I'm visiting them.
Anthony Holder never used to like when my friends and
I will hang out on the stool, So in the
courtyards of the building. It wasn't like we was causing
any disruption being disrespectful. Okay, So he didn't like you,
but he didn't have a real beef with you. But
(08:33):
maybe he didn't care if he used you to stay
out of prison. That's what it seems like to me.
As it becomes clear much later, holder had some pending
charges for which he like they received leniency for his
testimony in this case, but a trial, that deal was
when you've heard this before, that deal was hidden by
assistant to A Kyle Reeves. And now here we are,
(08:54):
so let's get to the clime itself. This was April ten,
two thousand two, a sunny spring day on Linden and
Boulevard in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Now this is a broad street
with the east and westbound side a turning lane down
the middle street, parking on either side, so about five
lanes of car's wife if you can picture that, And
there are apartment buildings on either side, so tons of
(09:15):
people in the area. It's a bustling street scene. And
the shooting happened in front of two O one Linden Boulevard,
where you lived, across the street and down the block
at number two eighteen, So it's about three in the afternoon.
The weather extremely nice, The blocks are extremely extremely busy,
people out and enjoying the weather. School is letting out.
(09:38):
As I am approaching my building, the first blood shock
light now, and that's when I started seeing everybody starting
to run, and I ran right into mont building. And
according to corroborating eyewitness accounts, two men, the victim in
this case, Victor Vulcan, and the shooter got into an
argument welcome was shot four or five times, and then
a mail carrier, a woman named let him in Voting,
(10:00):
gave police a description, as did another woman named Paula
edge Hill, who called nine one and spoke to a dispatcher.
So you had led him in boats and who's the
mail carrier? And the nine callers who described the shooter
as all dark skinned, five eight short hair let him
in Voting actually, in a statement to police, described the
(10:21):
shooter as similarly built to the victim in the case. Now,
the victim, Victor Vulcan, was five ten sixty eight pounds,
so the nine one one call and votings accounts corroborated
each other. Now, Gary, what did you look like at
this time? I was about six three, two forty years
(10:42):
and I had a very large affro and I'm light skinned.
No one describes the afro. That's the other major major issue.
I mean, was this like a close cropped afro? How
much volume are we talking about here? Will have to
be roughly six seven inches? Okay, so that's a remarkable
(11:02):
hair do. Like I mean, people aren't going to miss
a seven inch I afro. But unfortunately, this giant discrepancy
didn't seem to matter to Anthony Holder or the detectives,
and later didn't matter either to the prosecutor in the case.
So what did Anthony Holders statements of police say? This
alternate version of events, and Anthony Holder says that Chucky
(11:27):
is talking to some girls. Uh, they say, get at him, Chucky.
Nobody else describes this, by the way. Then he says
that Chucky begins to argue with this guy and pulls
a gun out of the back and then shoots the guy.
And and Anthony Holder he doesn't describe Gary at all,
and he never gives a description. See all he does
(11:48):
Anthony Holder has dropped a nickname, and the police know
the nickname because they're familiar with Garrett. And we're not
even sure who brought up the nickname first. Perhaps Anthony
Holder decided to trade information false information. Let's call it
what it is, about a neighborhood guy who he didn't
really like in exchange for leniency in his pending charges,
(12:09):
or the lead detectives who knew Gary from both previous
incidents when he was an assault victim who refused to
snitch and then the robbery. Now, of course I'm referring
to detectives Robert Ready and John mcgarran. It was recently
going over the d D fives I come across John
mcgarnan's d D five. He says that he was at
(12:30):
two eighteen Linden Boulevard when he received information that the
shooter is above by the name of Chuckles. Only people
that does the name Chuckles is people that went to
elementary school with me. Anthony Holden never said Chuckles. Anthony
(12:53):
Holders says Chucky. So before John mcgaren we see any
information ancient in regards to the shooter, he was already
at two eight teen. The shooting happm at two or
one Linden Boulevard. We have nine one one calls police
reports that says the shooter ran into one eighty Linden Boulevard.
(13:17):
It was never a police call to respond to to
eight teen. Why are you at to eight two? Right?
The nine one one call said one eighty Lindon Boulevard.
But mcgern went straight to your building and claimed to
hear that the assailant was named Chuckles, your original nickname
that had evolved into Chucky over time. Exactly. Mcgarren already
(13:40):
knew who I was, the same way detective really already
knew who I was. So this isn't definitive proof, but
it certainly looks like they were immediately directing the investigation
towards you without cause either way. Your nickname was now
part of this investigation. And then they take this and
they and they on with it, and they put a
(14:02):
photo array together very soon after the shooting. And why
the photo array was really important is because the picture
of Gary is of when he was I believe eighteen
years old. By the time he was twenty one, he
was much heavier than he was when he was eighteen.
(14:22):
He didn't even look like the same person, and he
had short hair when he was eighteen, all right, So
they showed this misleading photo array with an eighteen year old,
slimmer looking Gary importantly, with no afro but short hair instead. Right,
as the witnesses that initially described the assailant, I mean,
it's it's so dirty, it's amazing. And the mail carrier
(14:46):
led him in Bolton looking at this old photograph gave
up tepid identification, right, and the incentivized alleged witness, Anthony Holder,
gave an idea as well. Now, Anthony Holder also allegedly
told him that the shooter had a black Duffel bag.
No other witnesses reported seeing this, and in the continued
(15:07):
effort to get to Gary, investigators put pressure on a
guy from your building named Roger Isaac, who at about
five eight, dark skinned with short hair, better match the
description of the shooter, and so he was snatched up
shortly after the shooting. Roger Isaac, I feel the full
I really do. He's oblivious to what's going on. They
(15:28):
jump out on him and say he's being arrested for
the murder. They bring him down to the station in
his d D five. He saw me come into the building,
go back into the palming and come right back out.
So now they have someone corroborating Holder about you and
the alleged black bag. And then Roger Isaac allegedly described
(15:51):
you as five ft eight two hundred pounds, but again
you're over six ft three and at least two hundred
forty at the time, and he said thing about your
impressive afro, which is very talent because the only picture
that detectives McGurn and ready had at that time was
from when you were eighteen years old. It looks like
(16:11):
they still thought that you were under two d pounds
with short hair. So they brought Roger Isaac down to
the precinct where he allegedly made this statement implicating you
carrying this non existent black Duffel bag. And we're getting
ahead of ourselves here, but at trial, this alleged statement
from the d D five unravels for the prosecution exactly
(16:32):
at trial assisted this attorney Kyle Reeves is trying to
have Roger Isaac testify that he saw me went into
the building build back into the partment. So he gives
them the d D five and that's when the cat
is let out the bag. He did the d D five.
He said, I don't saying none of this. He says
(16:53):
that he was in a cell and that the police
roughed them up, assaulted Mr Roger Isaac, because sounds like
they might have just written that statement up just for
him to sign. There was no signature. This is typed up.
And then you have the offices chimnenship. So there's no
Roger Isaac right in and saying I do this swear
of this being authentic. There's none of that. So the
(17:16):
sham statement in Roger Isaacs d V five blew up
in Kyle Reeves's face at trial. But in the immediate
aftermath of the crime, this same d D five corroborated
Anthony Holder. They had already tricked led him in voting
into making the I D with that phony Bologny photo array.
So now they're closing in on you, but you didn't
even know it. So let's go back to the immediate aftermath.
(17:38):
Shots rang out, You got to safety, and after things
calmed down, you went out to handle a few rands
before or three month old son and his mother arrived
later on from Queens. Now, at that time you had
gone to a friends in Bushwick when a neighborhood friend
paged you to tell you that the police had rated
your apartment. He say the police just went into the apartment.
(18:00):
So I called my mother. When she goes home, the
police are still there. They asked her to sign a
consent for him to search. They already searched already, so
now they're using her consent to cover their eyes. So
the police legally search your apartment looking for this alleged
black dupple back, but they came up empty, and they
(18:22):
got your mom to give consent to the search after
the fact. So at this time, again, I'm not even
aware that someone even died. It wasn't until there. I
speak to my mother, she said. Detective really gave her
his card for me to call. He said a guy
was signed and killed and they're looking to speak to
(18:45):
me about it. I have nothing a hide, so I
called him. He said, people are saying that you killed
this guy. I said, the time, I don't know what
you're talking about. I've just had a son. I have
no reason into the out killing anybody. He said, well,
you know, let's meet up some react. That's not happening.
(19:06):
I am not comfortable meeting you guys and check them out.
You're looking for me because somebody's got killed. He said, well,
you know, just in the hole would change in mind.
And this is right after nine eleven, So the police
had all these sweeping new powers from the Patriot Act,
and they triangulated your position from the cell signal and
found you over at your friends in Bushwick. But what's
(19:30):
weird is that they're looking for the the old version
of you right there, looking for the eighteen year old,
slimmer shorthaired Gary from the photo array, not the fully
grown up, much heavier, twenty one year old Gary with
the seven inch high afro, who looks nothing close to
the eyewitness descriptions. So both you and the police are confused. Now,
(19:54):
can you describe what happened during your arrest. It's like
one of those seems almost like a die hard movie.
The whole block is just filled with, you know, squad
cars and police officers and police officers on the rules
and the helicopters. As they were going in to the building,
(20:14):
I was coming out, right, I'm not knowing they're coming
for me. All right, I'm going to the store, and
here'll go all these police officers. I look at them,
they look at me. I'll go. And I walked to
the store, not running. Walking. As I'm in the store,
the door opened, and then the head pokes in and
(20:37):
he said, hey, or did you just come from and
he recites the building number and I said yes, he
actually what my name is, and I tell him my
name is Gary Bella. He said I can can please
put your hands behind your back? So again I didn't say, Oh,
my name is George Jeffrey Calvin. So I'm not evading
(20:58):
being identified. Does this sound like the actions of a
guilty man. Of course not. But it's crazy because you
didn't think they were even there for you, and they
thought they were looking for a guy who could potentially
fit the description. But as we see here in your case,
the description really didn't matter to them. They just move
(21:19):
forward anyway. So you're arrested. Detective really questioned you. You
told him what you're telling us here today, that you
had absolutely nothing to do with it, and then they
put you in a lineup. And that lineup was was
conducted by Robert Ready and Robert Ready at least one
time a couple of years after this case admitted to
(21:40):
essentially taining a lineup in a photo Arry and the
case was thrown out on that basis. So Robert Ready
knew who Gary was, and he violated best practices. He
shouldn't have been involved with the lineup at all, but
he was. So they save me how to sell, and
I'm going to go for this lineup. They took the
colds I was wearing, didn't something else to put on,
(22:03):
and then they told me to put on a shower
cap to hide my hair. And that's when I started no.
I said, hell no, I said, what's I doing? And
I looked at really and I say, REALLYO, you ain't right,
and he just like held down his head. At that time,
I already knew what they was doing, that they was
(22:24):
dressing me up to fit the description of this person
that they're looking for. They gave me a jacket. I'm
not hold on, this is not my clothes. Oh you
gotta you gotta put it on. And then they they
hiding my hair, Like what reason would you have to
hide my hair? This episode is underwritten by A i G,
(22:58):
a leading global insurance company. A i G is committed
to corporate social responsibility and is making a positive difference
in the lives of its employees and in the communities
where we work and live. In light of the compelling
need for pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of
a i g s commitment to criminal and social justice reform,
the a i G Pro Bono program provides free legal
(23:19):
services and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. So
they corrupted that lineup, and ultimately both Anthony Holder big surprise,
and then the mail carrier let him in voting identified you.
So you spent eighteen long months awaiting trial at Riker's,
(23:43):
away from your family and your baby son. Your lawyer,
Daniel F. Lynch got discovery and the machinations of that
lineup started to become even clearer, confirming what you had feared.
And I said, I knew it. I noticed is why
they wanted me to change my clothes. They wanted me
to hide my head. These witnesses are saying x y
(24:06):
n Z. If this witness says short here, they cannot
put me in the lineup with this large afrow, so
they have me hide it. But now the particular witness
let him in Brighten, I'm gonna pick her first at
the grand jury, and they was questioned and let him
(24:26):
in Broen. She stopped for a second to say as
if she wasn't sure she picked out the right guy.
So fast forward to two thousand and three. While I'm
at trial, they asked her, do you see the shoot
her in the court room? Let him mc brinen unequivalent
he is, says no. So she says no at trial
(24:48):
and at the grand jury she wasn't sure. But then
at the time of when she's viewing the line up,
I am presented with the shower cap that's I didn't
my hear, and with some clothing that's close enough to
what the shoot had had on the day of the crime.
Is there any reason why she wouldn't have taken me
(25:10):
out to witnesses identified Gary in the lineup, and of
those two witnesses, only one of them identify him, the tron,
which is Anthony Older. So Letterman Bolton was supposed to
be a prosecution witness but ended up working in favor
of Gary's defense, just like Roger Isaac. So at that point,
as this case was crumbling in front of their eyes,
(25:30):
all they had left was Anthony Holder, who ended up
being totally unreliable. And we're gonna get to his testimony
in a minute. But it doesn't seem like your attorney
should have had to work very hard to discredit Holder
with with what was available to him on assisted this
attorney Kyle Reis witness list. They had Paula Edgehew that
(25:51):
was the witness that I wanted my attorney to call
on my behalf. Her phone call and won one call,
as well as her d D five and her after
David at the sty seven priests is very much as
cowartory and tools third party culpability. The description that she
(26:12):
gave Paula Edgehill states that she looked through her window
and she saw the shooter and the shooter was a
medium height, dark skin male, no affro. So that's not
me right, But neither the prosecution nor your attorney called
(26:33):
her as a witness. But even without Paula edge Hell,
you still had let him in Bolton and Roger Isaac
blow up their part of the state's case. So all
this left is Anthony Holder, who never actually described the shooter.
He just used your nickname Chucky, saying that some girls
were encouraging you to get after him, meaning Victor Vulcan.
(26:54):
And none of those girls ever surfaced, nor did this
alleged black duffel bag. What other hall should your defense
have poked in Holders testimony? The inconsistencies are abound. With
Anthony Holder. He says, the guys shot with the thirty eight.
Guy's not shot with the thirty eight. I believe the
slugs were consistent with Forensically, the description that he gives
(27:17):
does not match up to the wounds that demand suffers.
And to be honest with you, I don't really think
anybody gives a very consistent description of what actually happened
because of how fast it happened. We don't know if
Vulcan was standing upright when the first shots ring out right,
(27:38):
but what we do know is that there was stipling
on one of the shots on the chest, which would
indicate that the shooter was very close, within twenty four inches.
Anthony Holder says that the shooter was four ft away.
So it would have been helpful if these wild inconsistencies
(27:59):
were pointed out, impeached the one the only state's witness here.
It was, in fact, they're only piece of evidence, but
your attorney was not prepared to do that. However, your
attorney did present one very powerful witness, Augustine Hinton, who
had called and corroborated let him in voting, and Paula
Edgehill's descriptions and versions of events Dustin Hinson states that
(28:23):
the shooter and the victim is the same height. The
medical examiner at trial stated that Dictor Volcane sustaining the
gunshot wound to his chest and there was no vertical
for ponderance when acts. What can cause that is that
whoever shot him with the same height as him. So
(28:47):
Dustin Hinton is right on that. Now, another part of
his testimony is he states that when the shooting was
going on, that was ushering some young children away from
the crime. Now, when you get to Anthony Holder, Anthony
(29:09):
Holder is a legend that he was the one that
was ushering his young children away from the crime. But
he goes on to also say that the shooter also
is responsible for shooting one of those young children. What
(29:29):
I think is important about Holder is there's nothing about
his testimony that's true. The fact that he says a
little girl was shot at the scene when there's absolutely
no and my p D record of a small younger
girl being shot at the scene. A little girl was not.
This is like a child was shot at the scene,
(29:52):
Gary been lost to be doing a lot more than life.
That's testimony had never surfaced at any chime time prior
to trial. That false testimony only came about when assisted
Gifted attorney Kyle Weaves elicited that false and inflammatory testimony
(30:16):
from Anthony Holder and then later turned around and vouched
for the authenticity of that testimony. He also presented Antony
Holder as this superrighteous citizen of society. I mean, not
only should his shaky testimony have been seen through, but
also they were hiding something, which was that this guy
(30:39):
had a powerful incentive to lie or to say what
the authorities wanted him to say, which is that he
had he was facing pending charges himself. And we know
that in a lot of these cases where these eyewitnesses
suddenly are able to make an identification, those charges that
they're facing magically go away and they're sort of making
(30:59):
it deal with the devil. Is that what happened here? Yes, absolutely,
absolutely his. He he had pending charges, and from our investigation,
those charges are sealed, which means at some point they
were dismissed, but they were pending while he testified. And
and interestingly enough, Kyle Reeves, when asked if the man
(31:21):
had any pending charges, said that he'd never been arrested before,
So that sounds carefully worded. And why would any prosecutor
lie or mislead the jury about a witness's criminal history
or pending charges if not to hide a potential deal
for leniency. And when holders testimony is the only piece
of evidence against you stacked up against all of the
independent witnesses whose testimony was in favor of Gary's innocence.
(31:44):
Plus Anthony Holder made an unfounded charge that a little
girl had been shot as well. If that's true, then
why wasn't Gary charged with the attempted murder of a child.
It's just it's just hard to see how the jury
could get this so wrong. You had Roger Isaac let
him in voting, and even without Paula Edgehill, you then
(32:06):
had Augustin Hinkson. I mean, was the prosecution able to
say that Hinston was a friend of Gary's or something
anything to impeach him. I think Augustine Hickson was the
most reliable person that testified. Augustin Hanksen's relations to Gary's
is just an acquaintance. Hankston had no dog in the race,
I believe. Actually Hanson is a nine one one caller.
(32:28):
That's how they get to Hankson. Hanksen is a real
world person that's there that they know is there from
the gate that gives a statement to them. Hanksen is
adamant that Gary was not there. I don't understand how
Gary loses other than the fact that maybe the jury
believed that he shot a little girl. I don't know.
(32:50):
I mean that a little girl that definitely wasn't shot.
It's a miracle that no kids were shot. But the
fact remains that no kid was shot. But they just
made up this worry, and it seems to me there's
at least a good chance that they were doing that
in order to cast this terrible light on Gary, so
that if the jury saw through the nonsense that they
(33:12):
were being fed, they would still say, well, this guy
is a terrible guy because he shot a child. So
even if the evidence is shaky as hell, we're still
gonna go ahead and convict him. Am I am I
off base here? No? No, not at all. No. I
think you're hunter per cent right. Holder was a terrible witness,
(33:33):
but he was enough, you know, he was enough um
to sink Gary unfortunately, and that's the that's the problem
with the American justice system, is that a single witness
like this could actually send a man a prison for life.
Gary was convicted of second agree murder in November two three.
(33:53):
So Gary, take us inside the courtroom and inside your
heart and soul. At that moment, it was, it was unbelievable.
It was it was heartbreaking. It was so shadowing. My
my my my life, and my world came to a
halt at that moment. The day I was sentenced, my
(34:16):
family has also been sentenced to five years to life.
They're pretty much shipped of everything I was given. You know,
(34:40):
this new identity, the identity that the Department of Correction
wished to know me by. They don't care to know
who Gary Benloss is, and if Gary Denlos is wrongly convicted,
they don't care about that. I'm known to the Department
Corrections that zero three eight s four one five. But
(35:02):
I'm here to tell everyone that's not who I am
talking about, a young man who was stripped away from
his family. There's a void in the lives of my
mother or my sister, the mother of my son, from
my grandmother, my uncle's, my aunt's, my cousins. So I'm
(35:23):
not carrying this sentence alone. There's a void that's in
the life of my son who had to grow up
without me there that I had dreams of his father
coming home, but he will never see that because he
had passed away before that could happen. This tragedy, it's
(35:52):
it's almost hard to even process this, right, but I
know when I was up visiting you, Gary, you showed
me a letter you had gotten from your son. Are
Your son grew up without his dad through no vault
of yours and no vault of his own, and yet Um,
you managed to be a good father, a great father
from prisoners, as good as any what could be, and
he turned out to be a fantastic kid. I saw
(36:12):
a letter that he wrote to you. Um. That was
a letter that any father would love to get from
their child, UM, where he basically said, I love you
and I wish things were different, but we're gonna make
up for lost time when you come home. You're my inspiration,
You're my hero. And that letter, which I could almost
(36:35):
not read knowing what happened next, was just so beautiful
and powerful. And the awful truth is that the day
after that he received that letter, he was killed in
a writing in an uber, just a passenger in an
uber in a random hit and run accident. Um, I
think we should really dedicate this episode to his memory,
(36:57):
you know, talking about a very very very dark moment,
and and I had to find first within needs strength.
It's a tremendous way that I cannot imagine lifting, considering
the way you had already lifted. Perhaps it's the strength
that you built over all that time leading up to
(37:20):
this even heavier moment. Now I had to find that
light of redemption. First within needs to God needs do
this perilous place so I can get to that plateau
where I can say, listen, I'm not going to let
(37:41):
my time in here go two ways. I'm not going
to allow my room for conviction to stop me from
being the man that I'm supposed to be. I'm going
to fight this. I'm going to win, and I'm also
going to make sure that I'm in position where I
can pockets. And I've read a bit about some of
(38:03):
the good things that you've done with your time on
the inside, the fact I've witnessed some of them in person.
I mean I've been up there and seeing you doing
your thing, um making a difference. Can you tell us
a little bit about your work? So in two thousands
six I went and I actually obtained my g D.
Now I'm helping other individuals to achieve their g ds. UM.
(38:25):
I became a facilitator for UM a cultural awareness class
to to see a U organization which is a Caribbean
African community. I've partacting Alternative violence program where you helped
to mentor people to find a way to alleviate situations
without the meedings of violence. Two thousand and twelve, I
(38:49):
was in the electrical trade program. I actually advanced and
became I think which is called inmate programming system. So
how was assistant to the teacher. So I became a
facilitator and do that also allowed me the opportunity to
then my apprenticeship through the n c C d R
(39:11):
of course, where I was able to take the same
type of tests and courses that a person on the
outside would so they could become electrician. When I came
to sim, SIM immediately signed up for the Mercy College
Hustling program that you have here where I am actually
going for my bachelor's in behavioral science. I wasn't allowing
(39:34):
my state of mind conservation to hold me back, and
I was sitting down the stones for my future and
I have a looked back. No, you have not, and
you've brought that same proactive and incredibly positive spirit to
the work that you've done inside with a group of
guys called the AI Team, the Actual Innocence Team, good name.
(39:55):
Long time listeners of the show will remember other members
of this New York based crew, to with whom are
already out. I'm talking about Derrick Hamilton, Shabaka Shakor and
of course Nelson Cruz, Danny Rinkhn and yourself still remain
inside you. Also, we're friendly with another great friend of
the show and great personal friend of mine, personal hero,
(40:17):
I would say, I'm talking about j. J. Velasquez, who
is another just incredibly inspirational man. Being around these individuals
also helped to give me a sense of hope and
courage because now you no longer feel alone. And we'll
go to a lot of berries, will research cases, and
(40:39):
we'll see what we can find will be able to
help us. Oh that right, there's a batter In issue
that's a Strictment versus Washington issue. Oh that's the way
the issue, and that's how I started to learn the
law instinctly that you know is not supposed to happen.
But now you can put legal theory to it. Now,
(41:00):
it's more than just going into a coising a piece
of paper and saying I didn't do it. So you
fought your case for a while this way, and eventually Derek,
Shabaka and JJ got out and slowly but surely you've
got your case in front of our friend justin here.
So justin, what has happened so far in Gary's post
conviction fight and where does his case stand? Now? Okay? Well, Gary,
(41:24):
you know, of course he filed a direct appeal. And
what's very interesting about Gary's direct appeal is that he's
we're saying the same thing that we're saying now, right,
Gary has been consistent since day one. He filed a
motion to vacate his conviction back in two thousand to
One of the issues was the fact that Anthony Holder
(41:44):
had a criminal charge that was pending during the trial
that was never disclosed. Actually, Kyle Reeves, as per usual,
I should say, Kyle Reeves, failed to turn that over
and actually indicated that Anthony Holder had never been arrested
for in his life, which was totally untrue. That just
goes along with Kyle Reeves's theme. But as of right now,
(42:06):
you know, we are really reinvestigating the forensics at the
scene and pulling all the files from the NYPD and
the District Attorney's office to prepare for another four forty
or to go to the conviction Review Unit, which I
do think would be very interested in this case based
upon how unreliable the evidence is here that convicted Gary
(42:28):
and the evidence of innocence. Uh. You know, Jason, I
think the biggest thing is what makes a case like
Gary's very strong is the evidence that's in the possession
of the prosecutor. And when you look at that, including
Augustine Hanksen led him in Bolton and then a caller,
three people all say that Gary bin Lost is not
(42:51):
the shooter here, He's not the person that killed Victor Vulcan.
And I think that that's overwhelming evidence of innocence in
comparison to and any holder. And that's what we're working
on right now is tying that all together, both forensically
and through our investigation and to see if there's any
more Brady evidence out there, because there was at least
(43:11):
one witness that was interviewed that was friends with Victor
Vulcan that stated that Victor Vulcan had beef with people
from his own block. He was not from the block
where he was found murdered at So we you know,
we are investigating all these claims before we do anything,
but we're we're evaluating whether we go forward with another
motion to vacate or go to Brooklyn's conviction review. You know,
(43:32):
justin what can people do? And I'm sure people are
listening heartbroken and angry and motivated. So what can people
do to help bring some semblance of justice? Right Gary
um I would say start off by reaching out to
Eriknzals Brooklyn d A's office, and also Gary has a
change dot org page, and support the petition and continue
(43:53):
to support people who are like Gary. I think that's
the biggest problem. There needs to be more support from
a broader base in the country. Right. It has to
be more than just the people that have been affected
by rongful convictions. It has to be people that are
just regular, average American citizens because they need to understand
(44:14):
that this could be you, because it could be you.
It could be your son, it could be your daughter,
it could it could be anybody. It could be you,
and people need to stop acting like that's not a
that's not a fact. We will link in the bio
to the petition and to other information about the case.
Please do click on the link in the bio, sign
the petition and get involved, and will hopefully be able
(44:38):
to publish an update to this episode sometimes in not
too distant future, where we get to speak with Gary
from the outside. And now, of course it's time to
turn to the closing of our show, which everyone knows
is called closing arguments, and this is where I thank
you guys again. I'm going to turn over to you first,
justin for your thoughts, any other thought do you want
(45:00):
to share, and then of course hand off to Gary
and he'll take us off into the sunset. The first
thing that we really need to consider in this case
is because it happens over and over and over again
in identification cases, is where there's a description that does
not match the person that they end up arresting. Obviously,
(45:20):
common sense says that the suspect should match the description
that the witnesses say was the perpetrator, and Gary's case
is very typical, especially in a place like New York City,
where the police don't care. They just don't care. They
get a name, they focus on the name. They don't
(45:41):
care that that the person that is this name doesn't
match the description of the perpetrator given by the witnesses.
That just goes right out the window. People don't think
that that's true. But Gary is evident to that. And
I can tell you, as an attorney that practices in
New York City every day, that that happens all the time,
and it's still happens in and Gary is a He's
(46:03):
a spot on case of where the police didn't care,
and the police didn't care because they knew his name,
they knew who he was. They focused in on him.
They put him in a photo array with a photo
that didn't match anything that looked like him. It matched
more the description of what the witnesses said the perpetrator
looked like. And what I mean by that is obviously
(46:23):
a photo array. All you really have is the head.
The person had short hair in the photo right right,
so that at least matched more the description of the perpetrator.
They went and they went arrested Gary. Then they put
him in a lineup where he looks nothing like he
looked in the photo array. And Robert Ready is the
one that handles the identification and the witnesses somehow identify
(46:45):
him in the lineup. The person that's running these procedures
should not be involved with the investigation and they should
not know who the subject is. And Robert Ready has
done this before, He's gotten called out, cases have been
thrown out. He because he suggested and tainted identification procedures.
And then who does Robert Ready hand the case off
(47:06):
to Kyle Reeves, whose framed numerous men, scumback of the
highest order, And and and people need to understand what
is the d a's job. The d a's job is
to vet the police's investigation. Kyle Reeves doesn't vet an investigation.
He takes the investigation and he fixes it. He does
(47:27):
the opposite of what you're supposed to do. And even
in the face of descriptions of a perpetrator that are
eighty pounds less and half a foot shorter than Gary
ben Laws and having a haircut that doesn't match the
afro that Gary ben Law says, there's nothing about the
shooter in this case that matches the description of Gary
(47:50):
ben Laws, Kyle Reeves still takes this to trial. He
puts let him in bolting on the stand. She stands
up in court. He asked him, you see the guy
that shot the victim, Victor Vulcan here. She says no.
She says no, her testimony matches her initial description of
the shoe, which it was not gary Ben Lost. That's
(48:12):
a non identification. He puts Anthony Holder on the witness stand.
Anthony Holder gives a ridiculous testimony that is not consistent
at all with the evidence at the scene, not consistent
at all with the other witnesses at the scene. Says
that a little girl was shot at the scene. There
is no NYPD record of a little girl being shot.
And let me tell you, if a little if a
child was shot at the scene, gary Ben Lost to
(48:36):
be doing a lot more than life, Okay, he would be,
and there would be absolutely police reports indicating that medical
reports indicating there wasn't. Anthony Holder completely lies that there's
not one shred of his testimony that is true. And
then another witness comes in and says that it wasn't
(48:58):
gary Ben Lost. That the calls. But what the defense
failed to do here which they often do, as they
failed to put on the caller that described the shooter
as five ft eight dark skin with short hair. The
defense failed to cross examine led Him in Bolton, even
though she said that Gary ben Laws wasn't the person
(49:21):
that she saw fining the weapon that day. The jury
never heard the description of led Him in Bolton, that
that the shooter matched the description and body type of
the victim, who was five hundred and sixty eight pounds.
That could have definitively proved to the jury. It would
have overridden the terrible testimony of Anthony Holder. I don't
(49:44):
even really need to do a reinvestigation here. It's clear
Gary is innocent. He's been in jails for over twenty
years at this point. It's a travesty of justice. But
it's all too often of a story, especially in a
place like New y York City. I witness identification is
a real problem in New York City. It's all too
(50:05):
often of a story. And it is just tragic with
Gary because he should have never been arrested, should have
never been charged, and he was just railroaded. The traumatic
and irreparable effects of wrongful conviction just don't affect those
wrongfully convicted. It also impacts the lives of their families,
(50:26):
their communities, and the fabric of our nation. Let explain
what I mean. I would like to share this letter
with you all. It was written by my beloved son,
Isaiah Belos, who was seventeen years old at the time.
It reads, Dear Sir Madam, I'm writing on behalf of
my father, Gary Belos. When I was a baby, I
(50:49):
never really got the chance to spend time and bond
with my father until I got older. This situation really
got to me while I was growing up without him.
He wasn't there when I first picked up a basketball
and when I first rode a bike. Also, he wasn't
there when I graduated elementary and middle school. All I
(51:11):
wish is for me and him to go out and
bond with each other. Even though he wasn't there for
my elementary and middle school years, I hope he can
be there when I graduated from high school. In I
hope whoever is reading this you find it in your
heart to give my father early parole. Please thank you
(51:33):
in advance. The SAILI Isaaiah Benlos. That was written in
April twenty second of and as you see, I'm still
in prison, so he never got that wish for me
to be there for his graduation. In June of the
(51:56):
month following his graduation, he sent me a car for
my birthday and if be happy birthday to the real
O G. I just want to say thank you for
being real with me, believing in me when no one did,
still being real and never switching up and sticking it
through even in these hard times. I know you can't
(52:19):
be out here with me and wishing things could have
been different, But I always reminded myself and never regret
what I have, because then I wouldn't have you in
my amazing girlfriend and family that I love dealing. I
appreciate and love you Dad. Hopefully when you get out
you can make up for lot times. I love your
(52:40):
pops to tell your son Isaaiah Bengas again those wishes
will never be manifested because just a day after receiving
this card from my son, he was in a tragic
car accident that le declaimed this life. So as I
(53:02):
leave you, go here with these final thoughts. As I
studied before, the state of wrongful conviction doesn't just impact
those wrongfully convicteds, it also affects the families. Thank you,
(53:28):
Thank you for listening to wrongful conviction. I'd like to
thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Clyburne and Kevin
Wardis with research by Lila Robinson. The music in this
production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction,
on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at
(53:50):
wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava for Good. On
all three platforms, you can also follow me on both
TikTok and Instagram at It's Jason Flom. Rob Conviction is
the production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with
Signal Company Number one h
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Bright Pacheco
Maggie Freleng
Jason Flom
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