A New York Court overturned the sexual abuse conviction of Brooklyn Rabbi Baruch Lebovits last week.
Rabbi Lebovits, 61, was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison in 2010, after he was convicted of molesting a teenage boy, the New York Daily News reported.
The appellate court agreed: "The late disclosure all but set a trap for the defendant which had already sprung at the time the notes were finally furnished," the ruling said.
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See Tablet Magazine August 22, 2011
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See Tablet Magazine August 22, 2011
Lebovits was free on $250,000 bail following the arrest of a rabbi, Samuel Kellner, on charges of bribery and witness tampering. Kellner was charged with giving a boy—not the boy who addressed the court, but another alleged victim—$10,000 to falsely testify he had been abused by Lebovits and of threatening to bring more victims forward unless the Lebovits family paid him $400,000. Today, the matter is still unresolved
Baruch Hashem.
ReplyDeleteThis serves as a warning and proof to all other cases of false testimony against innocent men can lead to a false conviction. We cannot even trust or accept a conviction as proof of guilt, let along mere accusations. So many times, like was now proven here, innocent people are accused of a crime.
Actually it doesn't do either. The case was dismissed on a technicality that the police did not reveal certain information to the defense. Apparently someone tried paying some to give false testimony against him - but it wasn't the testimony that was given in court.
DeleteWhile there clearly are cases of false testimony against innocent men - especially in divorce cases - it has not been established that the testimony against Rabbi Leibovitz was false.
This is the case where the defendant, Lebovitz, was attempted to be extorted by a prosecution witness. When Lebovitz failed to pay the extortion, a false child witness was induced to falsely testify against him. Check past media coverage.
DeleteAND how many times does an innocent person get convicted? 1-5% is too much for sure YET how many times does the GUILTY person escape conviction...is the more worthy question.
DeleteDovy your are wrong Here is the report from Tablet Magazine
ReplyDeleteLebovits was free on $250,000 bail following the arrest of a rabbi, Samuel Kellner, on charges of bribery and witness tampering. Kellner was charged with giving a boy—not the boy who addressed the court, but another alleged victim—$10,000 to falsely testify he had been abused by Lebovits and of threatening to bring more victims forward unless the Lebovits family paid him $400,000. Today, the matter is still unresolved
If there are credible witnesses that can testify against Lebovitz and can speak the truth, that getting a conviction is all but guaranteed. Why, then, would anyone need to spend a dollar to procure a false witness? This entire parsha smells like tampering with the truth, and only shmears the efforts to stop the problem of molestation in the community. What's unresolved for me is that there are people who will exploit the subject of abuse and molestation to hurt people or to extort money. There are enough real predators and victims. Can energy be directed at apprehending the real ones and protecting those who have been victimized or are at risk of victimization?
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