GUILTY NY - Jose Martinez, 44, New York City, 22 Nov 1986

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NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly praises woman who cracked cold case to find father's killer 26 years later

But Joselyn, a fetching 36-year-old actress, might not have had to track down murder suspect Justo Santos herself if police had been more diligent.

Justo Santos, who fled to the Dominican Republic after allegedly murdering Jose Martinez back on Nov. 22, 1986, had been arrested two years later in his homeland, Kelly said.

Believing that Santos was busted for murder, the NYPD closed their case against him.

[BUT...]

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...ked-cold-case-article-1.1369396#ixzz2VweJCOhI
 
I just heard about this story yesterday. It made me think of the many family members we have had come here looking for their missing, looking for justice. I hope this gives them some hope that what they do can bring them justice.
 
Joselyn Martinez, NYC woman, tracks down her father's alleged killer after 27 years

Beginning in 2006, she trolled Myspace and Facebook for information. In 2011, she wrote a letter to "America's Most Wanted." Through it all, she spent her own money, dishing out payments of $69.99 to various online search programs that turn up potential addresses and phone numbers for people.

full article at link ................. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_...wn-her-fathers-alleged-killer-after-27-years/
 
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...nt-dropped-man-1986-slaying-article-1.1993006

A Manhattan judge Thursday dismissed a cold case murder indictment against a 44-year-old man who allegedly shot a restaurant owner in the Washington Heights in 1986.

Accused killer Justo Santos, teary-eyed and surrounded by emotional relatives, walked out of Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday a free man after Justice Robert Stolz ruled, on constitutional grounds, that authorities let too much time pass before bringing a case.
Click to expand...
 
I'm not sure which is worse - that another murderer walks free on a technicality or that someone wanted for murder can become a US citizen. Absolutely ridiculous on both counts. JMO
 
I'm rather confused... there is no statutes of limitations on murder so how can the judge rule this way?!?

"A Manhattan judge on Thursday dismissed a 1986 murder charge because authorities waited too long to make an arrest, violating the accused killer’s constitutional rights."
 
I am very confused as well...... what I gathered from the article, the judge basically said, well since LE and Prosecution did nothing for nearly 30 years..this guy gets to walk???? Am I understanding that right?
 
Daughter launches online petition to overturn judge's ruling that dropped a cold case murder indictment

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...cold-case-murder-indictment-article-1.1995125

The justice system may have failed her father, but Joselyn Martinez still believes in the power of a daughter’s love.

The determined 37-year-old launched an online petition Friday to overturn a judge’s ruling that gave her father’s killer a free pass because the case was too old to prosecute...

Stolz’s ruling — maddening as it may be to Martinez — was correct, a legal expert said.

“Unreasonable delay in prosecuting a defendant violates due process,” said Mark Bederow, a former prosecutor.

But the Manhattan district attorney is mulling an appeal.

“We believe cold cases should not be forgotten cases. While we respect the decision of the court, we will closely review it,” a spokeswoman said.


more at link
 
http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-news/20141229/da-wont-appeal-dismissal-in-86-killing

Prosecutors won’t appeal a judge’s decision to throw out a murder case brought last year in a 1986 New York shooting after the victim’s daughter helped police track the suspect down in Florida.

The Daily Newsreported Monday that Jose Martinez’ family got the news last week.

The paper says the Manhattan district attorney’s office concluded it didn’t have any viable appeal options.
Click to expand...
 
So, how long do you have to remain in hiding to be able to murder someone without risk of being penalized for it?
 
Unbelievable!? I do not think this would be allowed in any other US jurisdictions.
JMO.
 
The problem is he was arrested for the crime in 1988.

If he had never been arrested, due process wouldn't apply.

Darn shame, but that's the law.
 
No, he wasn't arrested for that crime in 1988.

Article said he had been jailed in the Dominican Republic in an unrelated case about two years after the Martinez killing but served just more than a year before he was released.
 
ModMaiden said:
No, he wasn't arrested for that crime in 1988.

Article said he had been jailed in the Dominican Republic in an unrelated case about two years after the Martinez killing but served just more than a year before he was released.
Click to expand...
Yes, he was. Read the article in the first post of this thread. It states the following:

Justo Santos fled to the Dominican Republic after allegedly murdering Jose Martinez back on Nov. 22, 1986, and was arrested two years later in his homeland, Kelly said.

Santos was charged in the Dominican Republic with the Martinez murder and with criminal impersonation for carrying a fake ID identifying him as Puerto Rican, sources said. But for reasons that aren’t clear, he was never tried for murder there and released a year later.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...ked-cold-case-article-1.1369396#ixzz2VweJCOhI
Click to expand...
 
In Spain if a killer is not charged in 20 years, the crime expires and can not be prosecuted , althought there is a confession. Crazy.
 
"The Law" and "Justice" are not the same thing. I will choose Justice every time over the law.
 
Reader said:
“Unreasonable delay in prosecuting a defendant violates due process,” said Mark Bederow, a former prosecutor.
Click to expand...

I actually strongly agree with that statement. I think all crimes, even murder should have a statute of limitations. Justice should be swift. Sometimes people will get away with a crime. I think that is just something we have to accept. We will never be able to prosecute somebody for every single crime that is committed.

Trying to prosecute people decades after a crime is just wrong. I can't even imagine how terrible it would be to be falsely accused of committing a crime 20 or 30 years after the fact. How could anyone defend themselves against those charges? I can't even remember that long ago.

Plus even if a person is guilty, and they are captured decades later, is justice really served by prosecuting them so long after the crime? Let's say somebody commits a really terrible crime when they are 18, then for what ever reason, they never commit another crime. Then when they are 65, somehow or other they are connected to the crime they committed when they were 18. It seems to me that it would be pointless to prosecute that person at that time. Are we really going to send an old man to prison for a crime he committed as a teenager. That's just not justice IMHO.
 
KaaBoom said:
I actually strongly agree with that statement. I think all crimes, even murder should have a statute of limitations. Justice should be swift. Sometimes people will get away with a crime. I think that is just something we have to accept. We will never be able to prosecute somebody for every single crime that is committed.

Trying to prosecute people decades after a crime is just wrong. I can't even imagine how terrible it would be to be falsely accused of committing a crime 20 or 30 years after the fact. How could anyone defend themselves against those charges? I can't even remember that long ago.

Plus even if a person is guilty, and they are captured decades later, is justice really served by prosecuting them so long after the crime? Let's say somebody commits a really terrible crime when they are 18, then for what ever reason, they never commit another crime. Then when they are 65, somehow or other they are connected to the crime they committed when they were 18. It seems to me that it would be pointless to prosecute that person at that time. Are we really going to send an old man to prison for a crime he committed as a teenager. That's just not justice IMHO.
Click to expand...
Due process has nothing to do with lapse of time since crime was committed. It's the lapse of time from arrest until trial. This murder was arrested but never had a trial. It's our constitutional right to a speedy trial after being charged. He is free because trying him in court so many years after his arrest (not years after crime committed) violates his constitutional rights.
 
KaaBoom said:
Are we really going to send an old man to prison for a crime he committed as a teenager. That's just not justice IMHO.
Click to expand...

Sure. We're not talking about minor offenses but of murders. It is necessary to send the message that if someone commits murder will always be pursued. That like his act is irreversible for the victim, will be irreversible for him.
 
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