New England Public Radio

Wilhite Acquitted Of New Charges In Assault Trial

A Springfield man exonerated in a high-profile murder case three years ago has now been acquitted of assault charges in a separate case.

Charles Wilhite was accused of shoving and threatening to kill his landlord, Albert Weiss, during a confrontation last January. According to MassLive, Wilhite said he did argue with Weiss, but denied threatening or assaulting him. Wilhite’s attorney says the jury deliberated for only about a half hour before acquitting Wilhite of all charges.

Meanwhile, a civil rights suit Wilhite filed against two Springfield Police officers for their role in his initial murder conviction continues. Wilhite spent 40 months in prison before he was found not guilty in a second trial. That lawsuit is due back in court on Friday.

 

Perjury Trial Of Two Witnesses In Springfield Murder Case To Begin Friday

The perjury trial of two former prosecution witnesses is scheduled to begin Friday in Springfield.

Nathan Perez and Giselle Albelo initially testified they saw Charles Wilhite fatally shoot Alberto Rodriguez outside a Springfield convenience store in 2008. Wilhite was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. But Perez and Albelo later claimed their testimony was coerced by police and Wilhite was acquitted in a second trial.

Prosecutors say the two lied under oath when giving differing accounts in the two trials. Their supporters claim prosecutors are going after the two as retribution for losing their case against Wilhite. If convicted, Perez and Albelo could face life in prison.

 

New Hampden DA Withholds Judgment On Accused Perjurers From Wilhite Trial

The incoming district attorney of Hampden County says he knows little about the high-stakes prosecution of two Springfield residents facing perjury charges.

Nathan Perez and Giselle Albelo are accused of lying after testifying for prosecutors in the murder trial of Charles Wilhite, and later saying those statements were coerced by police.

Wilhite was acquitted in a retrial, but the witnesses face up to life in prison if convicted of perjury. DA-elect Anthony Gulluni says he is withholding judgment for now.

“Perjury is a very serious offense,” he said in an interview with week. “It has serious ramifications for investigators in the court system. I will review those cases with all,and make sure that they are cases we should be prosecuting and are based on the law and are fair and just prosecutions, for sure.”

The trial is scheduled to begin in February.

New England Public Radio’s Henry Epp and Kari Njiiri contributed to this report.

Wilhite Witnesses Face Perjury Charges

Two former prosecution witnesses who recanted testimony in the trials of a Springfield man charged with murder, are facing a trial of their own Friday.

In 2010, Charles Wilhite was convicted in the shooting death of Alberto Rodriguez two years earlier outside a Springfield convenience store. Angel Hernandez, the store’s owner, was also found guilty and both were sentenced to life in prison. Wilhite’s conviction was based on testimony by two key government witnesses, Nathan Perez and Giselle Albelo, who initially claimed they saw Wilhite pull the trigger.

But Perez and Albelo later said they were coerced by police to identify Wilhite. Their recanting led a judge to order a second trial. In early 2013, a jury acquitted Wilhite and, after 40 months in prison, he was freed. Vira Douangmany Cage is Wilhite’s aunt and part of an advocacy group formed on his behalf.

“Charles could still be at Souza Baranowski maximum security prison with lifers if it weren’t for these two courageous individuals and what they were able to do with respect to coming forward and telling the truth,” she says.

But Perez and Albelo are now facing charges of perjury, which carries a possible life sentence. Cage says she thinks prosecutors are seeking retribution for losing their case, but Hampden District Attorney James Orenstein says the charges came out because the defendants gave two different accounts under oath.

“If they feel free to disobey that oath and decide when they’re going to testify truthfully or not, our criminal justice system would be in total shambles,” he says.

Both Perez and Albelo have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys have not respondED to repeated requests for comment. Meanwhile, Wilhite is pursuing a civil rights lawsuit against two Springfield police officers and the city. His lawyers have also filed suit against the state to receive compensation for the time he was incarcerated.

Charles Wilhite Sues Springfield Police Officers For Civil Rights Violations In Wrongful Murder Conviction

A Springfield man who was initially convicted of murder then acquitted in a second trial, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and two police officers.

Charles Wilhite was charged in the shooting death of Alberto Rodriguez in October 2008, even though eyewitnesses initially described the shooter as a light-skinned Hispanic. Wilhite is a dark-skinned African-American.

But attorney Howard Friedman says officers Anthony Pioggia and Steven Tatro threatened witnesses and fabricated evidence that put Wilhite in prison.

“They spoke to witnesses and got the witnesses to make an identification that was not what they initially had said,” Friedman says. “Or they…called something an identification when it wasn’t.”

Wilhite spent three years and four months in prison before he was released last January.

His aunt, Vira Douangmany Cage, says the suit also hopes to shed light on police practices.

“Young men and women should not feel when they go home, when they walk to school, when they come from home, from a job or when they’re with their children on the bus, getting off the bus, that they will be frisked, stopped, searched and violated and have no due process,” Cage says.

Calls to the city solicitor for comment were not returned.

In a statement to The Republican Newspaper, Springfield Police spokesperson John Delaney called the two officers named in the lawsuit good and dedicated, and said the department acted professionally and properly.

Charles Wilhite Found Not Guilty, Case Poses Challenges for Prosecutors

Charles Wilhite, a Springfield man convicted of murder in 2010 was re-tried this week and found not guilty. The verdict was celebrated by Wilhite’s supporters, but for state prosecutors, it points to challenges in gaining reliable testimony in criminal cases.

Wilhite was granted a re-trial after a key government witness, Nathan Perez, recanted his original testimony. Perez claimed police coerced him into testifying Wilhite was the shooter in the 2008 murder of Alberto Rodriguez.  David Lewis, one of Wilhite’s lawyers, says the Springfield police took a narrow view in their investigation of the crime.

“I think what happened was the police made a decision early on that Charles was the guy they wanted,” Lewis says, “and the investigation, instead of being open…was about confirming that view.”

But Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastrioanni says he felt the state had enough evidence to re-try despite the challenge of witness recantations.

“Nonetheless, Mr. Wilhite remained after reevaluation…of the evidence, the main suspect, that the evidence we did have still supported going forward with the charges.”

Mastrioanni says while he respects the verdict, the case speaks to a broader challenge for law enforcement to collect reliable witness testimony. He says witnesses are often pressured to not cooperate with police. Springfield-based defense attorney Don Frank says that often leads law enforcement to use legal threats.

“It is very often the case when young men are involved in the City of Springfield, that they [police] use coercive, that they’re left to use coercive tactics in order to convince people to testify.”

Charles Wilhite was released Thursday after serving 40 months in prison.