Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
He was a football player at the same college as O.J. Simpson. Then, Howard McCowan was arrested with two friends at an automatic-teller machine on suspicion of robbing a man of $53, his bank card and access code.
Detective Mark Fuhrman helped put together the case against McCowan, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Now, four years later, his attorney is looking into reopening the case and throwing Fuhrman's tape-recorded racist comments and boasts of evidence-planting back at the former detective in an attempt to overturn the conviction.
Some lawyers say that because the tapes were heard by millions of TV watchers nationwide, Fuhrman's comments and other recent examples of police misconduct elsewhere may give prosecutors around the country problems in winning over juries.
In Philadelphia, 42 drug convictions have been overturned because of falsified police reports, illegal tactics and perjury by six officers. In addition, five murder cases are being reopened because some of the officers participated in the investigations.
In New Orleans, at least 38 police officers have been arrested since 1993, including 10 in a federal drug sting in December.
``This makes it difficult for all prosecution cases,'' Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson said. ``It opens up a question that Los Angeles has been struggling with for years. It's going to make every officers' testimony suspect.''
Fictional or not, the Fuhrman tapes are expected to send lawyers searching for new legal openings for their convicted clients - particularly if those clients were arrested by Fuhrman.
``A reasonable defense lawyer would be duty bound to do some investigation,'' said Ira Salzman, a lawyer who defended one of the Los Angeles policemen involved in the Rodney King beating.
by CNB