美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-03-25

 I'm Anderson Cooper, welcome to podcast, my exclusive interview with a man whose word helped send an innocent man to prison for murder and his word decades later helped free him. Also the"RidicuList." Let's get started.

Now the remarkable¹ story of a man named David Ranta who went free this afternoon in New York after serving 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Convicted despite passing a polygraph, convicted despite alleged² abuses by the investigating officers and serious doubt from the trial judge himself. 

Convicted even though several witnesses now say they lied and one who you're going to meet in a moment says he was actually coached in the lineup who to pick. 

First, Mary Snow on how David Ranta got his freedom back. 

The defendant's motion to vacate the judgment³ of conviction is granted. 

This is 58-year-old David Ranta today. 

Thank you. Your Honor. 

This was David Ranta in 1990 when he was arrested for a murder he didn't commit and sentenced to 37 and a half years behind bars. 

It all happened in front of this building in a Hasidic neighborhood of Brooklyn, after a thief tried and failed to rob a diamond courier who sped away. The robber then turned his gun on a beloved rabbi named Chaskel Werzberger. He was shot through his car window and died four days later. 

The community was in anguish⁴. And the NYPD was under pressure. A massive effort followed to find the rabbi's killer⁵. The investigation⁶ dragged on for six months. The lead detective at the time was Louis Scarcella, a man known within the NYPD to use unorthodox tactics to get his man. 

Then a major break in the case. A key witness came forward, a 13-year-old neighbor of the rabbi. On his way to school that morning, a teen named Menachem Lieberman said he saw a suspicious looking man in a car around the time of the shooting. Eventually, police homed in on David Ranta and he was brought in for a lineup. 

The 13-year-old Lieberman identified Ranta as the man in the car. At trial, alleged accomplices⁷ of Ranta's testified that he had killed the rabbi. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and has been in prison ever since with all hopes of appeal failed. 

That is until two years ago, when Menachem Lieberman revealed a secret, something that only he knew and that had been weighing on him for over 20 years. He admitted in an affidavit( that he was coached, told by an NYPD detective to "pick the guy with the big nose." 

More troubling allegations emerged. Michael Baum was David Ranta's original lawyer. 

Do you believe he was framed?

Without a doubt. Without a doubt. I believed he was framed then. My concerns about that have never wavered. Yes, he was framed. 

There's always been the question of Ranta's supposed confession⁸ after the crime. When he was arrested, detectives said he admitted to being at the scene of the crime, but not the shooter, only that wasn't recorded. But written down on paper by Detective Louis Scarcella. Ranta says that's wrong that he didn't admit to anything. 

He said he never confessed. 

Ma'am, I really, all I have to say is I stand by my confession, by the confession that I took. 

There are investigators⁹ who are saying that rules were broken. 

Yeah. I, ma'am, I didn't do anything wrong. I stand by my investigation. 

The Brooklyn district attorney did not stand by the investigation and today a judge agreed. 

Sir, you are free to go. 

In an interview Ranta gave the "New York Times" this week as his release was pending¹⁰, he said, quote, "I've lived for years in a cage, stripped down, humiliated¹¹. I'll be able to touch people again, to make decisions. To be honest, what's ahead scares me."

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

4 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 accomplices   

从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was given away by one of his accomplices. 他被一个同伙出卖了。
• The chief criminals shall be punished without fail, those who are accomplices under duress shall go unpunished and those who perform deeds of merIt'shall be rewarded. 首恶必办， 胁从不问，立功受奖。

8 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

11 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。