Murder at the Palladium

Last week, for the first time in nearly a decade, David Lemus and Omeldo Hidalgo were back in court. Their defense team argued that the two men had been misidentified by eye-witnesses, and that key evidence, pointing to Thomas Spanky Morales as the real gunman, had been mishandled by the Manhattan district attorney's office, not disclosed to the defendants, therefore depriving them of a fair trial.

Did the prosecution withhold key evidence? It was issue one at the hearing, the very same issue that detective Bobby Addolorato says he raised to no avail two years earlier.

Daniel Bibb: "It is the people's position that they were told about Morales's identification.

Prosecutor Daniel Bibb insisted that the Manhattan District Attorney's office had acted properly, withholding nothing that would have cleared Lemus and Hidalgo. Yes, he said in court papers, there was evidence that Spanky Morales was involved in the crime, but as "a third perpetrator,"  "an accomplice, not an alternative," that Lemus, Hidalgo and Spanky had all committed the crime together. The defense countered, asking if the prosecution believed Spanky was involved, why hadn't he ever been prosecuted? Picking up on that, Judge Roger Hayes turned to prosecutor Bibb for an explanation.

Judge Roger Hayes: "It is something that is puzzling to the court."
Bibb: "It is the subject of continuing discussion within my office."
Judge Hayes: "In other words, if your theory is correct, why is that person unprosecuted?
Bibb: "That also has been the subject of continuing discussions in my office."

In court papers, Bibb offered a fuller explanation of what he called the "failure" to arrest Spanky. He cited New York City's high murder rate at the time, noting there were 2,262 murders in 1990, the year of the Palladium shootings. He also noted the fact that within months of the shootings, Spanky was in prison for other crimes anyway.

But for more than two years now, Spanky Morales has been a free man. In November 2003, and again in February of 2004, he was questioned by the new detectives about the Palladium murder. During one interview, police said Morales told them "he had firsthand knowledge of the incident" and that "he was there." But he wouldn't give specifics unless he "was given immunity" from prosecution. And what did Spanky have to say about whether he thought the two men convicted of the murder belonged in jail? He told police "he had the answers to that, but would not say yes or no."

In January, Dateline tracked down Spanky Morales, who told us more than police ever heard from him about Lemus and Hidalgo. When we showed him photos of the convicted killers, his so-called accomplices, here's what he had to say:

Spanky: "I do not know any of them."
Slepian: "Never met them before."
Spanky: "No."
Slepian: "Ever spoken to them before?"
Spanky: "No. Never seen them before."

And then, Spanky practically invited authorities to pick him up. He claimed he could finally clear up the whole mess and maybe free the two imprisoned men.

Spanky: "I'm not hiding from nobody, they know here I'm at. They say they've got an abundance of evidence that I'm involved in this thing. I'm in the same place I've been at since I've been home. So I just want to rectify and make it clear in the record that I don't know these guys."

'I think I made a huge mistake. I want to reverse it. I want the police and the district attorney to put the right man in jail and get the innocent guys out. I mean this is a travesty of justice.' — Carol Kramer Former jury foreperson

If he's telling the truth and he doesn't know and has never seen Lemus or Hidalgo, and they were never part of his gang called C an C, does the prosecution's theory that they all did this together hold up?

Judge Hayes: "Is there any information in your possession that ties the defendant with each other or the C and C gang."
Bibb: "Only in the most tenuous way."

Under questioning from the judge, prosecutor Bibb acknowledged that aside from growing up in the same vicinity and hanging out the some of the same local bars, he found nothing to connect Lemus to Hidalgo or either of them to Spanky Morales and his gang.

Bibb: "Absent that, I've been able to find no other connections."

Fourteen years after the Palladium murder, it's up to the judge to decide did these men get a fair shake from the system. Should they be set free? Those are questions that weigh heavily on all those who have been drawn into the case.

Addolorato: "I ended my career for this case, and I'd do it again cause it's the right thing to do."

Schwartz: "If they can do it to these two guys they can do it to anyone else."

Cohen: "My heart breaks for the two of them. It's just something I can't imagine living through."

Nilsa: "But the wheels of justice roll slowly. So we have patience for 13 years. I have patience. I told my son and I promised him, 'I'll fight for you to the day of my last breath.' And that's how it is."

Kramer: "I think I made a huge mistake. I want to reverse it. I want the police and the district attorney to put the right man in jail and get the innocent guys out. I mean this is a travesty of justice."

The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined Dateline's request for an interview, citing the on-going court action. In a statement, prosecutors emphasized that they've conducted a comprehensive reinvestigation of the Palladium shooting. They also noted that the motion filed by lawyers for Lemus and Hidalgo seeking a new trial is based largely on evidence uncovered and disclosed to the defense by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. The next hearing in the case is set for April 18.

MORE FROM SHADOW OF JUSTICE

Shadow of Justice Section Front

Lemus acquitted after 13 years in prison Producer Dan Slepian blogs about the case Photos: New evidence in Palladium murder Judge’s 2005 decision freeing Lemus Original Dateline story Shadow of Justice Section Front   Add Shadow of Justice headlines to your news reader: