DD-5 #1
Interview of Responding Officer
January 2, 2013, 0200 hours, Police Officer Raphael Colon responded to a radio run of a man stabbed at the corner of Smith and 2nd Street. When he got to the location the street was deserted. Officer Colon circled the block and saw a m/w at the intersection of Smith and 3rd Street. Officer Colon rolled down his window and asked the individual whether he was injured. The m/w responded that he was not injured. Officer Colon asked the m/w if he had passed the intersection of Smith and 2nd. The male stated he came from that direction and that he saw a few guys trying to assault some guy but he wasn’t sure if corner of Smith and 2nd he just knew it was the same street a couple of blocks back. Officer Colon noticed a welt on the m/w’s forehead that the m/w was rubbing. Colon did not inquire as to the welt. Officer Colon took pedigree information from the individual who gave his name as Tim Riley with a cell phone number of 347-333-6646. P.O. Colon described the m/w as approximately 21 years old, wearing a Mets hat, and a red down jacket.
DD-5 #2
Interview of first officer at the hospital
Police Officer Paul Smith responded to a radio run of a stabbing victim at the emergency room of Long Island College Hospital. Police Officer Smith arrived and spoke to a friend of the injured party, one Jonny Rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez stated that his friend had gotten into a fight, got stabbed, and that Rodriguez drove him to the hospital.
At that point the undersigned case detectives arrive at the hospital and interviewed Mr. Rodriquez.
DD-5 #3
Interview of Jonny Rodriguez by case detective at Long Island College Hospital Emergency Room
Last night Rodriguez’ girlfriend, Linda, came over to his house at about 2300 hours. He lives with his mother who was not home at the time. Rodriguez had been drinking Hennessy but didn’t remember how many. He and his girlfriend decided to go out for pizza.
Both Rodriguez’ license and Linda’s license were suspended because they never have the money to pay their tickets. Rodriguez wanted to be careful so he let Linda drive his mother’s car because police are less likely to stop a female driver than a male driver. Both Linda and Rodriguez had previously VLT 511 cases. En route to the pizza place, our friend Tony Ortiz called on Rodriguez’s cell phone and asked, “What’s up”? When Rodriguez told him that he and Linda were going out for pizza, Ortiz wanted to come. They offered to pick him up. They threesome went to Giardini Pizza near the intersection of Smith and 2nd Street.
Rodriguez and Ortiz went into the pizza place to order. Linda waited in the parked car. The two came out with drinks and a full pie and they all started eating in the car.
Just at that time, a male white was walking down the block obviously intoxicated, stumbling. Ortiz rolled down his window and loudly said to Rodriguez and Linda, “Look at this dude.” The m/w ended the phone call, came over to the car and said, “You talking to me?” Ortiz said “Yeah, I’m talking to you, you should get home before you get hurt". The m/w then opened the door and started to reach in for Ortiz who quickly exited the car to defend himself.
The m/w was trying to grab Ortiz who punched the m/w in the face to try to get away from him. Ortiz said this guy is crazy and started to get back in the car. The m/w got behind Ortiz and, like a pro wrestler, got Ortiz to the ground.
Rodriguez then got out of the car and got on m/w‘s back in an effort to break up the fight because the m/w was getting the better of Ortiz. Eventually Ortiz squirmed out and then said to Rodriguez, “Watch it, he’s got a knife.”
Rodriguez and Ortiz jumped back into the car and Linda drove off. Ortiz said he was feeling weak and then said “I’m bleeding, I got stabbed”. They rushed to the Long Island College Hospital Emergency Room.
DD-5 #4
Interview of Linda
Linda was interviewed at the hospital by the case detective. She stated that on the evening of January 1, 2013 around 11:00PM she and her boyfriend Jonny Rodriguez were at his mother’s house. When she picked up his cell phone to make a call, Linda noticed that Rodriguez had called his old girlfriend. She cursed him out and they had a big argument. Rodriguez made up every excuse and then threatened to "punch the shit out of me" if I didn't shut-up so I called 911 and told them that my boyfriend was threatening me. They said the cops were on the way but me and Jonny made up so we went out for Pizza.
Linda stated that while she was driving, Rodriguez' friend Tony Ortiz called. We decided to pick him up and all three went to Giardini’s. Jonny and Tony went in to get the pizza while Linda waited in the car. They were eating in the car when Ortiz rolled down the rear window and said loudly, “look at this sloppy fuck”.
Linda started to look around when a m/w wearing a red jacket came over to the car. He was slurring his words and said “Are you talking to me, asshole?” Ortiz said “Yes, asshole I am talking to you” and opened the door, got out, and approach the male white. The male white grabbed Ortiz and pushed him to the sidewalk. Ortiz was fighting the guy and Rodriquez yelled at him to get back in the car. She heard Ortiz say the guy had a knife. Both Rodriguez and Ortiz told Linda to drive before the cops came.
While she was driving Ortiz said he thought he got stabbed. Rodriguez yelled "he's bleeding, drive to the hospital". I was getting lost and Rodriguez was yelling to drive faster. I was nervous.
DD-5 #5
911 Call #1
Case detective obtained the 911 call that resulted in the original radio run to Smith St. and Second Street. The call was received from telephone #347-333-6646 at 0200 on January 2nd. The phone was registered to one Timothy Reilly. The 911 caller stated that he was at the corner of Smith and Second and he saw a group of people attack somebody. The caller heard one of the people, who was in the melee, shout that he had been stabbed. The caller refused to give name and phone number
DD-5 #6
Interview of ER Physician
Case detective spoke with Dr. Jones at the Emergency Room. Ortiz was likely to die. The stabbing had been on the right side of his chest and his lungs were filled with blood. There was one stab wound to the chest and a small stab wound to the right arm. Fifteen minutes later Ortiz was pronounced dead.
DD-5 #7
Interview of Timothy Reilly
Case Detective contacted Timothy Reilly at the number he provided to Officer Colon. Reilly confirmed that he had called 911 about someone getting jumped. Case Detective asked him to come to the precinct to discuss what he had witnesses at the intersection of Smith and Second.
Reilly arrived at the precinct. He was wearing a red down jacket. Reilly was told that he might be a witness to a crime and they wanted to get his statement about what he saw. Reilly told the detective that he had been near the location of Smith and 2nd when he saw a group of people jump an individual and heard someone yell he had been stabbed.
Detective Smith falsely told Reilly that someone driving by the scene had called 911 to report that a guy in a red jacket had been beaten badly by two Latino dudes and that if Reilly had been the victim of a mugging he should tell the detective because the guy in Red was obviously the victim. Reilly then stated that he hadn’t wanted to be involved so he lied but now he wanted to set the record straight.
Reilly stated that he was coming from Hanley’s, his favorite bar. He had a few drinks, he did not know how many. Reilly stated that while he was walking near Smith and Second, he heard somebody from a car say something to him. He thought he was being asked for directions so he went over to the car and asked “Can I help you?” For no apparent reason, one of the occupants of the car, exited the vehicle, called him an asshole, and punched him in the face. He was surprised by the punch and because he had been drinking, he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk in the forehead area. He wrestled in high school and had previously had concussions, so he thought he must have sustained a concussion from hitting the ground so hard. Then the first guy and another guy from the car jumped on top of him two were "punching this shit out of me".
They were getting the best of him and one of them smashed his head into the concrete again. He felt like he was going to lose consciousness so he reached into his pocket, took out his Swiss Army knife and, leaning back with his right hand, started stabbing motions into the guy that was on his back. He was not certain if he was stabbing him or just hitting clothing. The only reason why he used the knife was because he felt they were trying to smash his head into the ground and he thought he would lose consciousness. These guys were going crazy.
The undersigned thanked Mr. Reilly for his cooperation and then arrested Mr. Reilly.
NOTES IN THE FILE
1. District Attorney has run Rodriguez' and Ortiz' criminal history. In 2010 Rodriguez and Ortiz were co-defendants on an Assault 3rd Degree conviction that stemmed from a fight after a pick-up basketball game. Does the fact that the two were accomplices in an assault case need to be disclosed as Brady Material?
2. Defense Counsel, thru independent investigation, has found that Rodriguez and Ortiz were co-defendants in an assault case in 2010. Defendant had no knowledge of either Rodriguez or Ortiz violent propensity before the stabbing. When cross-examining Rodriguez should counsel just launch into the fact that the two were accomplices in an assault case or should counsel seek a ruling from the court before hand?