STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 More than 35 years ago, a Staten Island man swore he was not the \u201cMorning Rapist.\u201d <\/p>\n
As it turns out, he was right. <\/p>\n
Ronnell Sheffield, now 64, was charged in 1989 with robbing and raping two women at knifepoint on the borough\u2019s North Shore, as the women were walking to the St. George Ferry Terminal. The incidents occurred days apart. <\/p>\n
While Sheffield was already in jail in connection with multiple home burglaries in the area, he was charged with the rapes as well. And while he told his lawyer at the time he didn\u2019t commit the rapes, he was fearful that if found guilty by a jury, it would mean several decades in prison. <\/p>\n
So he pleaded guilty in 1991 to first-degree rape, first-degree burglary and second-degree robbery as a means to resolve his case. In exchange for his plea, he was sentenced at the time to 12-and-a-half to 25 years in prison. <\/p>\n
New evidence, however, has absolved him of the two rape incidents. That evidence, according to authorities, includes DNA and discrepancies in how Sheffield was identified at the time. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the conviction was vacated in state Supreme Court, St. George. The decision came in light of new evidence presented by the district attorney\u2019s Conviction Integrity Review Unit.<\/p>\n
District Attorney Michael E. McMahon issued the following statement this week in regard to the findings:<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly 35 years ago, fearful of a potential post-trial conviction and prison sentence, Ronnell Sheffield entered into a guilty plea for a crime he knew he did not commit. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision was not made lightly or without serious consideration … every Staten Islander deserves fairness under the law, and today, my office moved to undo this miscarriage of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Coercive plea bargain\u2019: Legal Aid<\/p>\n
The Legal Aid Society, which represented Sheffield in the case, applauded the overturned conviction.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor more than 35 years, Mr. Sheffield has adamantly denied having committed this crime,\u201d said Christine Bella, staff attorney with the Wrongful Convictions Unit at the Legal Aid Society. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the court has finally recognized that Mr. Sheffield was failed by our justice system and overturned his decades-old conviction, for which he already served his entire sentence. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis case \u2014 like all wrongful convictions \u2014 underscores the immense damage that coercive plea bargains have on the people and communities we serve. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision does more than correct a legal error \u2014 it restores a measure of humanity that was taken from him. I want to express my gratitude to the district attorney\u2019s office for their willingness to follow the evidence in this case, and allow Mr. Sheffield the long overdue closure he deserves from this painful chapter in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serial rapist put borough on edge<\/p>\n
On the morning of Aug. 30, 1989, a woman was walking near Curtis High School en route to the St. George Ferry Terminal, when she was approached from behind with a knife. She was led to a secluded area and raped. <\/p>\n
In a similar incident, a different woman who was raped told police her attacker wore a black stocking on his face. And that he told her to close her eyes and count to 100 as he fled, the Advance\/SILive.com reported at the time. <\/p>\n
Headlines labeled the suspect in some of the incidents the \u201cmorning rapist.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time he was charged in the rapes, Sheffield was being held on Rikers Island in connection with home burglaries in the St. George area. <\/p>\n
Female victims in those cases were threatened with a knife, and in one instance a woman\u2019s dog was stabbed by the perpetrator as it was trying to protect her, court documents indicate. <\/a><\/p>\n Re-opening the case, decades later<\/p>\n In re-examining the incidents, the district attorney\u2019s office conducted what turned out to be a 15-month investigation across several states, and interviews with nearly a dozen people.<\/p>\n The recent DNA evidence, had it been available at the time, would not have been enough for prosecutors to \u201csustain a burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt,\u201d said McMahon. <\/p>\n Ultimately, investigators determined there was a \u201csubstantial likelihood\u201d Sheffield did not commit the rapes. <\/p>\n Sheffield also was interviewed by detectives, during which he adamantly denied the accusations and explained his reason for taking a plea. He stated that he \u201cnever raped anyone in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently jailed for \u201922 burglary <\/p>\n Sheffield, who already served the sentence on the wrongful conviction, is now back in prison. <\/p>\n In 2022, he carried out a burglary at an unoccupied home in Schenectady, according to the district attorney\u2019s office in that county and state prison records. <\/p>\n Currently, Sheffield is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. He becomes eligible for parole again in 2042. He could not be immediately contacted this week for comment. <\/p>\n Conviction Integrity review unit<\/p>\n Sheffield is the third person whose case has been vacated as part of McMahon\u2019s Integrity Review Unit. <\/p>\n Last year, Walter Tait, 54, was exonerated of a 1993 robbery pattern<\/a> that targeted local Burger King restaurants. <\/p>\n Funding for the unit was first announced in 2018, <\/a>and McMahon touted the move as a way to \u201ceffectively address claims of innocence and prevent wrongful convictions from ever occurring, while also investigating and prosecuting cold cases to ensure justice is served.\u201d<\/p>\n