Thread: Man falsely accused of murder is awarded $10M

Originally Posted by MW

Ex-reality TV show contestant acquitted of murder in S.F. retrial

By Jaxon Van Derbeken
Updated 5:26 pm, Wednesday, March 11, 2015

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Photo: Courtesy, VH1

Jamal Trulove, a one-time reality TV show contestant who was acquitted of murder Wednesday in San Francisco.

A San Francisco jury acquitted a onetime TV reality contestant of murder Wednesday in a retrial prompted by an appeals court ruling throwing out his earlier conviction because of a prosecutor’s improper closing argument.

Jamal Trulove, 34, of Oakland burst into tears and embraced his lawyers when the jury found him not guilty of murder and firearms charges in the 2007 slaying of Seu Kuka.

The verdict ended a real-life saga for Trulove, whose brief reality TV appearance on “I Love New York 2” led a witness to insist he was the man who chased down and shot the 28-year-old Kuka in the back at the Sunnydale public housing complex in July 2007.

The witness, a neighbor of Kuka’s, said she recognized Trulove from the TV show.

Jurors said outside court Wednesday that they had trouble reconciling the evidence with the witness’ account of events.

Trulove had been sentenced to 50 years to life after being convicted of murder in 2010.

He and Kuka had been friends. The witness said she had seen Kuka knock down Trulove while chasing Trulove’s brother after an argument outside Kuka’s Blythedale Avenue apartment. She said Trulove then got up, ran after Kuka and shot him repeatedly in the back.

She tentatively identified Trulove to police, then affirmed it three months later when she saw him on the taped reality show.

Last year, a state appeals court reversed Trulove’s conviction after finding fault with prosecutor Linda Allen’s assertion that the witness had been willing to “risk her life” to tell the truth in a courtroom full of Trulove’s friends and relatives.

Although Allen never said the witness had been threatened by anyone, she clearly implied that the woman was endangering herself by speaking out, the court found.

“This yarn (about any threats) was made out of whole cloth,” Justice J. Anthony Kline wrote in the court’s 3-0 ruling. He said the prosecutor’s statement “implied a consciousness of guilt” by Trulove and may well have led to his conviction.

The court threw out the verdict because of defense attorneys’ failure to challenge the prosecutor’s statement.

Allen was also the lead prosecutor at Trulove’s retrial. “These are very serious charges,” she said outside court. “I commend the witness for having the courage to come forward and testify twice.” Defense attorneys were unavailable.

District Attorney George Gascón, who was in Superior Court at the Hall of Justice for the verdict, said the jury had performed its job, but added, “We’re not happy about it, obviously.”

https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Ex-reality-TV-show-contestant-acquitted-of-murder-6128811.php

After reading this, I'm still not convinced Trulove is innocent. Hope this isn't a case of liberal California justice. Interestingly, Trulove was already criminal felon prior to the incident.

The civil trial wasn't about guilt or innocence, it was about damages for being framed by prosecutors.

Originally Posted by Judy

The civil trial wasn't about guilt or innocence, it was about damages for being framed by prosecutors.

I'm aware of that. However, my comment still stands.

Sure everyone's opinions stand here.