Opinion ID: 774017
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Impact of Garcia's Testimony

Text: 103 It is likely that Garcia's testimony at trial would have had seismic impact, both because of what he would have said and because his testimony would have furnished the defense with promising lines of inquiry for the cross-examination of Torres and Modica. Evidently, the evidence from Garcia and the others has now convinced even Torres and Modica to doubt their identification of Leka. As the jury would appreciate: Garcia, a former police officer, is a trained and impartial observer; he happened to be at a vantage that commanded the scene of the crime; and he had reason to be on the lookout (for a visitor). He saw the entire incident except for brief seconds when he retrieved his revolver (from a room with another window overlooking the shooting) and when he ran down the stairs to be at the scene. 104 What Garcia saw renders Torres' observations untenable. Torres saw one person outside the car shooting, and identified him as Leka. According to Garcia, however, the victim went down with a gun, and it is not disputed by the State that the victim returned the fire of his killer. Since no witness observed the shooter (Leka or anyone else) leave the car, and since the victim (who was standing) would be shooting downward toward the shooter seated in the light-colored car, Garcia's testimony would support the conclusion that the person Torres identified as Leka was the victim. As the district court noted, this conclusion is reinforced by the fact that Torres told police detectives that the man he had seen [shooting] was holding a black revolver with a brown handle. In fact, Ferati's gun was a black.44 caliber revolver with a brown handle, whereas the actual murder weapon was a black, nine millimeter semi-automatic. Leka v. Portuondo, 76 F. Supp. 2d at 287 (citations omitted). Furthermore, Torres testified that he estimated that the shooter was about five nine with a medium build. Tr. at 587, 656, 678-79. Leka is 5'3, 115 pounds, and Ferati was 5'9, 165 pounds--the difference between a bantamweight and a light heavyweight (or cruiserweight). See Leka, 76 F. Supp. 2d at 287; see also Tr. at 905, 1295. The most plausible conclusion that can be drawn from Garcia's testimony, taken together with Torres's testimony, is that (as Torres has since conceded under oath): the person [Torres saw] standing outside the car shooting a gun was Ferati and not Leka. Torres Aff. at 3. 105 Garcia's testimony would have likewise cast doubt on Modica's identification. Modica recounted her observation of a man lounging and joking in a double-parked car that remained stationary while she walked five car lengths past. That man cannot be the shooter if, as Garcia saw, the shooting began just as the light-colored car pulled up. (Although we do not rely upon the non-disclosure of Chiusano to the defense, it is worth noting that Chiusano would have confirmed that the shooting started right after the light-colored car pulled out of the traffic.)