Arthur Paul Carmona

Arthur Paul Carmona, (February 5, 1982 - February 17, 2008), served more than two years in custody after being wrongfully convicted of two armed robberies on the basis of eyewitness testimony. His case took on prominence in the ongoing debate in the legal community over the reliability of eyewitness identification. After his release, he had become an activist for the wrongfully accused.

Trial and Conviction

Carmona was arrested in Fullerton, CA just days after his 16th birthday; he had no prior criminal record and steadfastly maintained his innocence. When eyewitnesses failed to identify Carmona, police retrieved a Lakers cap linked to the crime and placed the hat on Carmona’s head. Now eyewitnesses could agree to a positive ID. During his interrogation with Irvine detectives, police repeatedly lied when they told Carmona that they had evidence—including videotape—proving that he had committed the robbery. [ [http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/hell-yeah-im-angry/24746/ Orange County Weekly - 'Hell, Yeah, I'm Angry' ] ] A 33-year-old man who admitted being the driver in the robberies identified Carmona as his accomplice as part of a plea bargain. An investigator for Carmona later said the man recanted and said he'd never met Carmona until they were arrested. Police never established a link between the two.

In fact, no physical evidence linked him to the crimes, even though police recovered a handgun, a backpack and a getaway car used in the crimes. [ [http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/arthur-convicted-become-1991258-system-prison Opinion: The Orange Grove: Injustice came back for Carmona - OCRegister.com ] ]

Starting several months after Carmona's October 1998 conviction, Times columnist Dana Parsons wrote a series of columns that raised questions about the evidence and argued for a new trial. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/la-me-party18feb18,1,2136400.story L.A. Times article] , retrieved 3-3-2008.] On Aug. 22, 2000, Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett Dickey considered the overwhelming evidence that Carmona had been convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and ordered him released. Instead of apologizing for bad police work, overzealous prosecutors and Carmona’s two years in state prison, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told Carmona he was lucky to be walking free and blamed the media for ruining his case. [ [http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/hell-yeah-im-angry/24746/ Orange County Weekly - 'Hell, Yeah, I'm Angry' ] ]

After getting out of jail, Carmona moved to San Diego and got a job installing carpet with his father. He also traveled with his mother, a paralegal, to Sacramento to meet with groups like the California Innocence Project, which seeks to free wrongfully convicted inmates in the state’s prison system.

Death

In the months leading up to his death, Carmona had been dividing his time between advocating on behalf of wrongfully convicted inmates in the California prison system and taking firefighting classes at Santa Ana College. On February 17, 2008, Santa Ana police responded to what turned out to be erroneous reports of gunfire at a party at a mobile home. As they drove up, they saw Carmona lying in the street. An ambulance took him, unconscious, to Garden Grove Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses said a man who started a fight at the party ran over Carmona after the 26-year-old and his relatives left. Police impounded a nearby pickup truck and opened a homicide investigation. [ [http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/the-kid-is-dead-arthur-carmona-1982-2008/28485/ Orange County Weekly - The Kid Is Dead: Arthur Carmona, 1982-2008 ] ]

Notes

1. Minsker, N: "OC Register", 2008.
2. Schou, N: "OC Weekly", 2006.
3. Berthelsen, C: "Los Angeles Times", 2008.
4. Schou, N: "OC Weekly", 2006.
5. Schou, N: "OC Weekly", 2008.

References

Berthelsen, C (2008) "Santa Ana man freed from prison is killed at party", The Los Angeles Times [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/la-me-party18feb18,1,2136400.story] , retrieved 3-3-2008.
Schou, N (2008) "The Kid Is Dead: Arthur Carmona, 1982-2008" OC Weekly [http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/the-kid-is-dead-arthur-carmona-1982-2008/28485] , retrieved 3-6-2008.
Minsker, N (2008) "Injustice came back for Carmona" OC Register [http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/arthur-convicted-become-1991258-system-prison] , retrieved 3-6-2008.
Schou, N (2006) "'Hell, Yeah, I'm Angry'" OC Weekly [http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/hell-yeah-im-angry/24746] , retrieved 3-6-2008.

External links

ACLU Mourns the Loss of Arthur Carmona, Advocate for the Wrongfully Convicted [http://www.aclunc.org/issues/criminal_justice/death_penalty/aclu_mourns_the_loss_of_arthur_carmona,_advocate_for_the_wrongfully_convicted.shtml]