The revelation that a witness saw another person near the crime scene “is not a minor offense,” the defense team said. “It`s huge.” “It may have changed our defense strategy,” the defense team said, arguing that information from Brown`s interview had not been disclosed to them until the first day of the trial. “We may have joined a jury rather than a trial.” North Country Now Photo by Andy GardnerNick Hillary and his defense team leave the courthouse after the verdict is read. GMPR also created a website called Truth for Nick Hillary. “Building an online newsroom for Hillary was critical to the success of this campaign,” Goldman said. “We have constantly updated the facts about the case on the website and have also allowed people to donate money to Mr. Hillary`s legal fund. Whenever Mr. Hillary or her lawyers gave an interview to the media, not only was her public profile raised, but donations were also received. The jury, which began deliberations Thursday, quickly returned a verdict to U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe in Albany to exonerate the village, its police chief Mark Murray and former police chief Edward Tischler of charges of illegally detaining Hillary on Oct. 26, 2011. Two days earlier, a village official had discovered Garrett Phillips, the son of Hillary`s ex-girlfriend, Tandy Cyrus, strangled in his apartment in a building on 100 Market Street.
The trial, which began Monday, involved a lawsuit first filed in 2012. It was one of two federal lawsuits filed by Hillary; the other, filed against St. Lawrence County in 2017, was dismissed in April, though Hillary said she would appeal. The dismissed lawsuit included allegations that police targeted Hillary because he was a black person and were not pursuing potential white suspects. This week`s trial initially included allegations that police illegally seized Hillary`s phone. That part of the lawsuit was withdrawn Thursday. Hillary is originally from Jamaica, whose family moved to America in 1990. He graduated from Brooklyn High School, served in the military, and was captain of St. Lawrence University`s undefeated national soccer team in 1999. He was acquitted of murder charges in a non-jury trial in St. Lawrence County Court in 2016. His case garnered national attention and was featured in HBO`s two-part documentary “Who Killed Garrett Phillips?” Hillary and her lawyers, Brett Klein and Mani Tafari, residents of Manhattan, Long Island, claimed that police arrested Hillary on September 26.
He was arrested in October 2011. Police were quick to suspect Hillary, whose relationship with Cyrus ended in July 2011; Hillary moved the following month. Cyrus testified in 2014 that her sons were “dissatisfied with the conditions” with Hillary, who she said was regimented and strictly respected. Cyrus said she told Hillary she couldn`t stay in a relationship where her children were unhappy. On October 26, 2011, about an hour after Hillary`s interview with officers at the police station in the village of Potsdam, Hillary decided to leave. Instead, he was blocked by a state police investigator who told him that police had requested a search warrant — and that he would be detained until it was issued. The jury was asked to decide whether Hillary`s detention violated the Fourth Amendment`s protection against unlawful search and seizure. While criminal proceedings require evidence beyond a reasonable doubt for a jury to convict, the standard for jurors in a civil trial is a preponderance of evidence — if they believe one side 51% and the other 49%, that`s enough to reach a verdict. The verdict asked: “Did Mr.
Hillary prove his unlawful detention by a preponderance of evidence?” The judges said “no” to Murray, Tischler and the village. Hillary`s lawyers said police interrogated him inappropriately after he asked for a lawyer and did not allow him to leave. Police officials said there was a likely reason to justify Hillary`s detention for about six hours. Gregg T. Johnson, the Clifton Park-based attorney representing the village and police officers, said Thursday that there were likely grounds to suspect Hillary in the child`s death and to obtain evidence. Johnson said Hillary lied to police, was evasive and refused to answer basic questions such as her daughter`s identity. He said Hillary refused to lift her leg from her pants; Police suspected the boy`s killer jumped out of a window and injured his ankle. The defender said Hillary, when asked when football training ended that day, replied: “No comment.” He said Hillary, after being informed that Garrett was in trouble during a phone call, made six to eight calls to her attorney, but those records show no calls to the boy`s mother.
In addition, Hillary told police that he hadn`t been to the boy`s apartment since August, but showed up at midnight in September, according to Cyrus. He said Hillary had a number of keys to the apartment. Klein, in turn, told jurors that the police chief did not include some important evidence in his arrest warrant application that could have eliminated Hillary as a suspect from the start. According to Klein, witnesses heard noises coming from the boy`s apartment, while Hillary was known to drive elsewhere in the village. He added that police relied on rumors and insinuations from the boy`s relatives, who despised Hillary even before the murder. GMPR also reviewed Hillary`s past and present media coverage and began contacting journalists who had covered the case. The campaign team`s main strategy was to get Hillary and Tafari in the mainstream influential media (television, radio, newspapers) to tell Nick`s story. Strategy and execution: Goldman McCormick`s strategy was to speak at length with Hillary and her civil lawyer, Mani Tafari, in an effort to gather as much information as possible about the case. GMPR also reviewed (publicly available) legal documents related to the case and began to highlight facts that they believed would attract media interest. According to the lawsuit filed Dec.
21 by Amy Marion of Garden City`s Amy Marion, Marion, Epstein & Kearon, LLP, Mr. Hillary alleges that he continued to be subjected to illegal and inappropriate acts and conduct related to his false arrest, investigation, malicious prosecution, tampering with evidence, tampering with evidence, and concealing exculpatory evidence. • On October 26, 2011 (2 days after Garrett`s death), Nick Hillary was illegally arrested by police.
