08/18/08 Joseph Valdez Will Not Have A Perry Mason Moment: The Greenwich Time Realizes We Right From The Begining About The "Dinnertime Bandit" Case

HEADLINES:

We Hate To Say We Told You So But...

Greenwich Police Department's Investigation Of The Dinnertime Bandit Investigation Was Not Ready For Prime Time.

Without fingerprints, DNA, or other physical evidence, or a rock solid eyewitness identification Assistant State Attorney Joseph Valdes is presenting a weak circumstantial case that should have never seen the light of day.

Judge John Kavanewsky Jr is going to have to instruct the jury that if they have a doubt they have to let the Dinnertime bandit go, even if they think he is guilty

QUOTES:

"Because they don't have footprint or fingerprint proof, they produce a witness who alleges he sold a lot of jewelry for the guy at the time," said Stephan Seeger A Stamford criminal defense attorney , who is not involved in the case. "It all goes to credibility of the witness and when a like this takes the stand it undermines the state's case."

"The trial will not be decided based on his past or all the information and background known about him," said Todd Fernow, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law. "From what I hear there seems to be reasonable doubt everywhere and the state has a very tough row to hoe in this case."

"People assume he is the bandit because he has done it before, but I don't think a jury will convict him simply upon their past if the evidence in the immediate case is not there," said Mickey Sherman, a Stamford-based criminal defense attorney.


THE STORY:

Golder case not open and shut

The questionable credibility of a prosecution witness and the lack of eyewitness identification could lead to the acquittal of Alan Golder of charges that he was the Dinnertime Bandit who stole jewels from town mansions a decade ago, according to Stephan Seeger, a Stamford criminal attorney.

Prosecution witness Robert Liebman testified last week that he drove Golder to Greenwich for burglaries and helped sell jewelry stolen from town homes.

He also admitted he lied to police for two years to protect the man who actually purchased the jewelry - a Manhattan jeweler who dated Liebman's sister....

...Also troubling for the prosecution is Judge John Kavanewsky Jr.'s ruling that evidence about Golder's past crimes as a prolific cat burglar who swiped millions of jewels from wealthy estates from 1975 to 1980 is inadmissible and prejudicial...

...Prosecutors also lack a firm identification of Golder. In court last week, a woman who was eight at the time of a 1996 burglary said she had picked out a profile photo of Golder shortly after a 1996 burglary of her home, telling police that his nose was similar to the burglar's.

But Kavanewsky warned the jurors that picking out a similar facial feature was not a positive ID of the suspect....

...Last week, Assistant State Attorney Joseph Valdes argued that a similar technique in all four burglaries points to a single perpetrator, noting the burglaries were committed in the early evening hours.

But Cornell Abruzzini, the retired Greenwich detective who investigated the case and obtained warrants for Golder, acknowledged that a shoe print found on a cellar door at the scene of one of the burglaries was never linked to shoes that Golder wore.

A partial fingerprint also could not provide identification, Abruzzini said.

Abruzzini declined comment Friday....

Please Read The Full Greenwich Time Story:

PLEASE SEE:

08/13/08 Public Defender Howard Ehring Keeps Stomping Assistant States Attorney Joesph Valdez's Weak Dinnertime Bandit Case In The Ground

Please See How Incomplete Martin Cassidy's "Dinner Time Bandit" Story Was August 12th:

08/12/08 The states attorney contends that Alan Golder still has the agility of a cat, the cunning of a spy and the eye of a jeweler

Please See:

08/02/08 Prosecutor Joseph Valdes Falsely Claims That John Christoffersen's Testimony And Notes Are Needed To Prove Golder Is Guilty Of 10 Felonie

• Disparate And Lazy Prosecutor Joseph Valde Wants The Associated Press To Save The Poorly Investigated Greenwich Police Department Case.
• ”If people knew that every time they talked to a reporter they'd be talking to a state prosecutor, they'd stop talking to reporters,” New York attorney David Schulz said. “The state is trying to get the benefit of a reporter doing his job covering this case. That's exactly what the shield law does not allow.”
• “It's a fishing expedition.”said Howard Ehring, Golder's public defender.

PLEASE ALSO SEE:

08/01/08 Judge John Kavanewsky Jr Would Be A Fool To Try And Weaken Connecticut 2006 Reporter Shield Law

• Judge John Kavanewsky Jr had better tell the Connecticut States Attorney to have the Greenwich Police Department to hit the bricks and uncover another states witness. Otherwise Judge Kavanewsky is going to find his overturned decission in featured in law school text books.

Please also read:

07/17/08 When asked if anyone in the court room appeared to be the person that she described to police she said no.

• Howard Ehring Says Greenwich Detective's Police Work Does Not Meet Judicial Standards
  
• Patricia Solari identified Alan Golder a decade ago from an array of eight photos as the intruder who robbed her home in 1997. She said she only saw him for a few seconds and that he wore a ski mask and gloves.
• "We have a photo array here that really does not meet the standard," said Howard Ehring, a public defender representing Golder.
• Ehring said Golder's photo had a background distinctive from the other seven photos and that police presented Solari with all the photos at once, alloing her to quickly eliminate all but two based on eye color. Ehring also said the lead investigator should not have shown her the photos because of the potential for bias.
• Solari only saw the intruder for a few seconds and was not certain of his eye color, Ehring said. He also said she felt badgered to make an identification.
• Solari said last week she eliminated six of the eight photos quickly because their eye color was not blue or green.
• Asked if anyone in the court room appeared to be the person she described to police, she said no. Golder, who has blond hair and blue eyes, was in court.

Please Also See How A Greenwich Resident Sent An Email To A California Newspaper, Because The Greenwich Time's So-Called News Web Site Is Not Covering The Local Angle Of The "Fake Rockefeller" Case:

08/12/08 READER FORWARDED EMAIL ABOUT THE ROCKEFELLER CASE: Which minister's son, what church? FW: Episcopal Church In Greenwich?