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CNN Live At Daybreak

Federal Appeals Court Overturns Convictions of Three of Four Police Officers in Diallo Case

Aired March 01, 2002 - 06:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A federal appeals court has overturned the convictions of three of the four police officers in one of the most notorious incidents of police brutality in New York City. You'll remember this one - the case involved the torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. Our Deborah Feyerick has the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His wife, his lawyer, and his police union chief say they never lost faith Charles Schwarz would get out of prison.

ANDRA SCHWARZ, WIFE OF CHARLES SCHWARZ: You know I just pray to God that this - you know this is the beginning of the end and he'll be home soon. You know all we wanted was a fair trial and I just hope we get it this time.

FEYERICK: Police officer Charles Schwarz on the other end of the phone speaking to his lawyer from federal prison after learning an appeals court overturned his 15-year sentence and ordered a new trial.

RON FISCHETTI, SCHWARZ'S ATTORNEY: There was no obstruction of justice, and he just didn't get a fair trial the first time. The jury never heard Volpe saying that he was innocent, that Chuck was innocent, and we finally got three judges to listen to it, and Chuck's coming home.

FEYERICK: Justin Volpe, a disgraced cop, pleaded guilty to sodomizing a Haitian immigrant with a wooden stick inside Brooklyn's 70th precinct five years ago. The assault rocked New York City. Huge demonstrations, public cries of police brutality, a shakeup of the NYPD, a city divided.

Schwarz was convicted of helping Volpe, holding Abner Louima during the assault, but Volpe never testified at the first trial and would have denied Schwarz was there. The appeals court overturning the conviction saying Schwarz did not have effective assistance of counsel, that Schwarz's lawyer provided by the police union had a conflict of interest because the union was being sued by Louima.

Louima supporters upset at the turn of events.

REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: A shocking display of how the judicial system continues to fail to protect citizens against police abuse.

FEYERICK: Schwarz and two other officers were also cleared of obstructing justice, prosecutors saying in trial they lied to cover up their roles in the assault. The victim, Abner Louima, now living in Florida, sued New York City settling for close to $9 million.

SANFORD RUBENSTEIN, ABNER LOUIMA'S ATTORNEY: With regard to the trial, the retrial of Officer Schwarz, Abner Louima will cooperate with the federal authorities, and we look to the federal authorities to vigorously prosecute once again.

FEYERICK: The federal prosecutors saying the government is ready to retry this case against Charles Schwarz.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And if you would like to read more on this case, all you have to do is log onto our Web site at CNN.com, AOL keyword, of course, CNN and you can take a look at reaction to the court decision and options for the prosecution.

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