Mr. Jenkins was convicted of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of attempted assault, and two counts of weapon possession on April 9, 1988, in relation to a shooting that took place in Brooklyn in 1986. No physical evidence connected Mr. Jenkins to the crime. Former detective Louis Scarcella was the lead detective on the case. Scarcella’s misconduct is all over this case: he showed witnesses a photo of only Mr. Jenkins instead of conducting a photo array, he conducted a show-up when he could have conducted a lineup, and he took very few notes about his interactions with the witnesses. The trial judge ultimately precluded everything Scarcella did. However, several witnesses were still permitted to testify because they claimed they had previously known Mr. Jenkins and therefore, could properly identify him. The main witness against Mr. Jenkins, Nathan Torres, has testified in at least two other cases where Scarcella was the detective. Mr. Jenkins has continuously claimed he is innocent of these crimes, and he is working with his attorneys to obtain new evidence establishing his innocence.
According to the NY Times, “In the 1987 murder trial of James Jenkins, who was convicted, Judge Francis X. Egitto said that the witness identification procedures used by Mr. Scarcella were ‘a classic illustration of what not to do.’ Witnesses were shown one photo rather than a gallery, the court records show. They were allowed to mingle together while making an identification of Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Scarcella told them, ‘We have the guy who committed the murder.’”