We don’t have to look to Minneapolis for instances of police misconduct and the miscarriage of justice; Buffalo has a famous case right here!
In 1976, the Buffalo police and Erie County DA conspired to frame five poor, undereducated and troubled teenaged boys for the murder of a white man, Mr. William Crawford, who lived across the street from the Golden Nugget Lounge on Fillmore Ave.
Despite no evidence tying them to the murder and having alibis that were verified by countless witnesses, four of these young men were tried, convicted and served decades in jail before they were released on lifetime parole.
The fifth boy was not charged or tried because after days of intense threats and deprivation of food, the young man, Tyrone Woodruff, made a deal with the police that he would incriminate himself and his friends by confessing to the murder if he was not charged. That is what happened. mr. Woodruff’s friends went to prison and he was told to leave town. The fourth young man, Floyd Martin, was found not guilty because his family hired a private lawyer. That lawyer is the now retired city court judge, James A.McLeod. By the time he was tried, the other three boys, who were assigned incompetent public defenders, were already tried and convicted! The corrupt powers in Buffalo even made sure that he was out of the way and could not recant his story by insisting that he go away to the army.
So, two years later, when Woodruff got out of the army and wanted to recant his lies, the DA and police refused to accept it. The chief police officer was Leo Donavan and the chief county prosecutor was the now retired State Supreme Court Justice, Timothy Drury. These two high profile names attached to this case is the main reason why the past and current county districy attornes refuse to revisit this case and provide justice for these innocent men.
I am not blaming then county prosecutor, Judge Timothy Drury; he went with the evidence the police provided or purposely withheld. The 1976 Buffalo Police Dept wanted this murder of a white man solved and they did not care that they created false evidence and withheld actual evidence, to make sure the five young men fit the crime.
