| Contact George Rahsaan Brooks | |
|---|---|
 | George Rahsaan Brooks # AP-4884 SCI Coal Township 1 Kelley Drive Coal Township, PA 17866-1020 USA |
| DOB: October 30, 1945 | |
| George Rahsaan Brooks' case data | |
|---|---|
| Status | possibly innocent |
| State and County | Pennsylvania, Allegheny County |
| Case No. | 197508889-19750-9310 |
| Crime | 2nd Degree Murder and Robbery |
| Date of Crime | September 30, 1975 |
| Date of Arrest | One of the important questions in this case. |
| Date of Conviction | May 18, 1976 |
| Sentence | Life without Parole |
| Age at the Date of Crime | 29 |
| Contributing Factors | Perjury, Official Misconduct |
| Did DNA evidence contribute to the conviction? | No |
| Is there DNA evidence to test? | N/A |
Loading ...Introduction
On September 30, 1975, George R. Brooks went to Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for treatment of a neck injury. While there, George Brooks, Dale Freddy Harris and Michael Miller (the victim in this case) talked together for a few minutes. Brooks left the hospital alone after his treatment.
Later that evening, Michael Miller was discovered injured by the police and told them he was drinking with some friends when one of them punched him and took his money. He was hospitalized.
The next day, Brooks was picked up by the police concerning a separate robbery incident. One of the officers, Detective Robert Spozarski, proceeded to ask George about the robbery of Michael Miller and George Brooks told him he had no idea what the detective was talking about since he was supposed to be arrested for a different robbery. Brooks was then put in jail for the robbery not involving Michael Miller.
On November 18, 1975, a guard approached Brooks in the jail telling him his mother was sick and he would be allowed to make a phone call. When he arrived in the office for what he thought was a phone call, Detective Spozarski and two other detectives handcuffed him and took him to the coroner’s office.
His public defender informed Brooks that he had been charged with murder on November 11, 1975 when Michael Miller died in the hospital. Without further discussion or preparation, Brooks was escorted into the hearing room for his Coroner’s Inquest.
Detective Spozarski gave evidence in the preliminary hearing that Brooks was arrested on October 1, 1975 for the assault of Michael Miller and gave an inculpatory statement after being read his rights. However, this fact of the statement was never recorded by Spozarski or told to anyone until six weeks later when he learned of Michael Miller’s death.
Under Pennsylvania law an accused must be taken before a city magistrate within six (6) hours after giving a statement. The statement they say George Brooks gave, when he challenged it, is they “forgot” to take notes, reduce the statement to writing or record it in any manner. At the preliminary hearing, Brooks attempted to get the alleged inculpatory statement suppressed. At this proceeding, Detective Spozarski perjured himself and testified that he did not place Brooks under arrest on October 1, 1975, nor read him his rights to the charge of assaulting Michael Miller but instead read him his rights to a separate charge of a robbery of Schwartz Supermarket.
The Coroner issued the criminal complaint and the arrest warrant even though he lacked subject matter to do so. When Brooks’ attorney tried to get a copy of the coroner inquest transcript he was told by the prosecutor, Peter Dixon, that it did not exist. Twenty-five years later with the help of Joe H., a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Prison Society, George Rahsaan Brooks-Bey was able to get a copy of the coroner inquest transcript his lawyer had been told did not exist. This withheld transcript proves police perjury and actual innocence. The withheld transcript also demonstrates that the Commonwealth’s expert witness omitted critical cause of death evidence, demonstrated the prosecutor used the void dire as a sham to exclude Blacks and women from Brooks’ jury.
Lastly, the trial judge used suppressed dying declaration statements he had ruled were not credible when he denied Brooks’ insufficiency evidence argument and “falsely” ruled the victim’s mother gave a clear and accurate statement of Brooks’ to Detective Spozarski after stipulating at the trial that “no one” gave a description of George Brooks to anyone.
The false testimony let the court hold him over for trial. After the hearing, Detective Spozarski and others tried to have Brooks put the murder on Dale Freddy Harris, who was also at the hospital that night. Brooks told them that he knew nothing about the murder and would not falsely accuse someone else. …Their threat of life imprisonment was carried out.
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Documents
- Interrogation
- Arrest
- Personal History: George Rahsaan Brooks-Bey
- Factual History
- Evidence
- Trial
Brief for Appellant (56 pages, pdf)
Superior Court of Pennsylvania Western District
May 9, 2005
Dr. Howard E. Reidbord’s Testimony, Forensic Pathologist (pdf)
Police Officer John Gizler’s Testimony (pdf)
Dorris Terry’s Testimony (pdf)
Detective Robert W. Spozarski’s Testimony (pdf)
Officer Phares Hutton’s Testimony (pdf)
Affidavit of Attorney Michael J. Healey (pdf)
August 2, 2000
More to come!
External Links
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