Opinion ID: 199406
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conley's Perjury Trial

Text: 25 On August 14, 1997, Conley was charged in a three-count indictment arising from his grand jury testimony. Count I charged that Conley committed perjury in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623 by denying that he saw Cox pursue and grab a suspect as that suspect ran toward and climbed a fence. Count II charged that Conley also committed perjury when he denied that he saw Boston police officers strike and kick Cox. Count III charged that Conley obstructed the grand jury investigation in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503 by giving false, evasive and misleading testimony and by withholding information. 26 At trial, the government presented evidence that contradicted Conley's grand jury testimony and supported Cox's version of events. Brown, the suspect arrested by Conley, testified that as he ran toward the fence, he saw a black man wearing black clothing running after him. He stated that as he was scaling the fence, he felt someone touch his foot. After he reached the other side of the fence, he looked back and saw a black man wearing a black hood start to climb the fence. Brown then saw an officer strike Cox from behind, and saw other officers beating him. Brown further testified that he made eye contact with an officer, later identified as Conley, who was standing next to the officers who were beating Cox. Conley then chased and apprehended Brown. 27 Officer Richard Walker, whose cruiser arrived at the dead-end after Cox's car, testified at trial that he saw Cox running in front of him from left to right in very close pursuit of a black male suspect wearing brown. Walker saw Cox running about three feet behind Brown, and saw Brown climb the fence and Cox reach to grab him. He testified that less than two seconds elapsed between the time he saw Brown on the top of the fence and when he saw Cox grab at him. When Walker saw Brown drop down the other side of the fence, Walker ran straight ahead through a hole in the fence down a hill, falling twice. When Walker got up, he encountered two white plainclothes officers, including a tall officer who eventually caught Brown. 28 On June 10, 1998, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on Counts I and III and not guilty on Count II. The district court sentenced Conley to 34 months imprisonment, but stayed the execution of the sentence pending appeal. 29 This court affirmed Conley's conviction on July 23, 1999. We concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction: 30 At trial, the government presented ample circumstantial evidence from which a rational jury could conclude that Conley's statements were false beyond a reasonable doubt. By comparing Conley's testimony about the timing and location of his actions with the testimony of Cox, Walker, and Brown, the jury reasonably concluded that Conley lied when he stated that he did not observe Cox chasing the suspect. Conley testified that upon arrival at the scene, he observed Brown exit from the passenger side of the Lexus, run to the right, and climb over the fence. Most significantly, Conley testified that within seconds of seeing [the suspect] go over the fence he scaled the fence at the same location. Both Cox and Walker placed Cox at the exact same time at the exact same place where Conley claims to have climbed over the fence. According to their testimony . . . Cox was right behind Brown, approximately three feet behind him, as Brown approached the fence. When Brown reached the fence, Cox was even closer. At that point, Cox was close enough to make contact with Brown and attempt to pull him back over the fence. Brown corroborated this version of events when he testified that a black man wearing a black hoody was behind him as he ran toward the fence and had just started to come over the fence after him when he observed the black man being struck on the head by a police officer. Brown confirmed that the person behind him was close enough to make contact with his foot as he scaled the fence. Conley's testimony that he scaled the fence within seconds of seeing Brown go over the fence, and that he scaled the fence in the same location as Brown does not square with the testimony of Cox, Walker, and Brown. Conley's version of the events provides for no reasonable gap in time during which he could have missed observing Cox at the fence. Indeed, Conley concedes that if the Cox/Walker/Brown version is true, he would have seen Cox at the fence. In reaching its verdict, the jury apparently found the Cox/Walker/Brown version more credible. 31 Conley, 186 F.3d at 19-20 (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added).