New York Times; July 25, 2001

Testimony of Priest and Lawyer Frees Man Jailed for '87 Murder

A Bronx man was freed from prison yesterday by a federal judge who said he never would have been convicted of murder if the jury had known 13 years ago that a guilt-racked teenager had admitted committing the crime to a priest, a lawyer and others.

In his ruling, Judge Denny Chin of United States District Court in Manhattan noted that federal courts rarely freed prisoners convicted in state criminal cases. But the judge said the New York courts had mistakenly barred testimony about the teenager's admissions.

The result of that error, Judge Chin said, was that the man, Jose Morales, and another inmate, Ruben Montalvo, were imprisoned in 1988 for a crime they did not commit.

Mr. Morales, 30, rushed from the courthouse to a family reunion at his grandmother's apartment in the South Bronx. There, he visited with his 12-year-old son, who was born shortly after he was jailed. It was their first meeting outside a prison visiting room. ''He's going back to school next week in Puerto Rico, and I was afraid I wouldn't be home in time to see him,'' Mr. Morales said.

In making his decision, Judge Chin noted that he had the advantage of testimony from two extraordinary sources who came forward recently -- a Roman Catholic priest and a former public defender. They said they had been told by the teenager, Jesus Fornes, that he had committed the crime and that Mr. Morales and Mr. Montalvo had not been involved.

Even so, Judge Chin said, the state courts rejected testimony from two other witnesses who had told essentially the same story. If evidence from those first witnesses had been available at the trial in 1988, ''surely the jury would have found reasonable doubt,'' the judge ruled.

He said the new witnesses -- the priest, the Rev. Joseph Towle, and the lawyer, Stanley Cohen -- completely sealed the matter. ''If Fornes's statements to Father Towle and Cohen are included,'' the judge said, ''it is difficult to imagine that any reasonable jury could find Morales guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.''

After Mr. Fornes died in 1997, the priest and the lawyer independently decided that they could reveal what he had told them about the case.

The judge rejected arguments from a Bronx prosecutor, Allen P. W. Karen, that Mr. Morales not be released, saying that the prosecutor had misstated parts of the evidence. He ordered Mr. Morales's immediate release and invited lawyers for Mr. Montalvo to submit papers making a similar request.