Two men suing City of Newburgh over 2005 arrests

By John Doherty
Times Herald-Record
May 04, 2007 

CITY OF NEWBURGH — When Lawrence Burley got a call that there was a shooting at his house, he did what you'd expect: dashed home as quickly as he could and burst in the front door.

The long-distance trucker found his sister-in-law upstairs in a pool of blood with two medics attending her. He searched for his four kids.

They were safe. He told them to wait in another bedroom and went back into the hall. Suddenly, there's a cop there, gun drawn, screaming for him to get down.

What Burley says happened next is the subject of a federal lawsuit.

Burley and his cousin, Franklyn Jackson, are suing the city, saying city police assaulted them, kicking them after they were handcuffed, and held them in custody that night, long after they knew the two men were not involved in the shooting.

The city has not yet been served with the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in New York City last week and asks for unspecified damages.

John Cobb, the lawyer for the two men, said his clients understand officers were justifiably cautious the night of the incident, March 11, 2005. But they say police went too far.

A man, later identified as Alphonso Kirksey, allegedly shot Connie Sackett, his girlfriend, five times. Sackett who is Burley's sister-in-law, survived the attack.

In a foot chase with police, Kirksey then allegedly fired on officers chasing him.

While that was happening, Burley was rushing to the home at 12 Williamsburg Drive.

Police cars were lined up out front, according to the suit, but no officers were present.

The first officer Burley encountered, Robert Vasta, called on his radio for backup. Quickly, according to the suit, more officers poured into the house. Burley was pepper-sprayed and thrown to the floor and kicked in the face on the way down.

Jackson soon rushed into the house and was similarly subdued.

Both men were brought to city police headquarters. After four hours, says Cobb, both the men were charged: Burley with resisting arrest and Jackson with disorderly conduct.

Both men were found not guilty at trials last year.

1 brother dropped from Newburgh murder case

By Doyle Murphy
Times Herald-Record
November 19, 2008

GOSHEN — Prosecutors dropped murder charges Tuesday against one of three brothers accused in a New Year's Day shooting in Newburgh.

Supreme Devine Williams, 26, of Newburgh, accused in the killing of 34-year-old Elisha Stubbs of Beacon, was due to stand trial next week.

Stubbs was shot to death about 5:30 a.m. outside an illegal, after-hours club on Washington Street. By February, city detectives had settled on the Williams brothers. James and John Williams were arrested first. Police arrested Supreme nearly three weeks later on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Kelle Grimmer asked Orange County Judge Robert Freehill to drop both charges Tuesday. Supreme still faces a charge of criminally possessing a hand gun, said his attorney, John Cobb.

Cobb said they'll have to wait until a Dec. 22 hearing to see if Supreme can leave Orange County Jail, where he has spent the past nine months.

Grimmer couldn't be reached for comment. Cobb praised the Orange County District Attorney's office and Grimmer in particular for dropping a case that hadn't materialized.

"As we came down here to ground zero," Cobb said, "there was an awful lot of the loose ends that the prosecution hoped would tie together and they didn't."

James and John Williams are still facing charges. John is accused of actually killing Stubbs. James is charged with attempted second-degree murder.

The Williams brothers have said from the start they were innocent. In a jailhouse interview last month, James said he had at least six witnesses who would testify he had been in Connecticut at the time of the shooting.

Cobb, who represented only Supreme, said he took Tuesday's news as an indication the case against all three brothers had begun to break down.

"We're optimistic that they'll all be let out," he said.