NEW YORK (AP) -- A priest testified that the wrong men were jailed in a 1987 gang murder, saying one of the real killers confided in him 12 1/2 years ago.
In an unusual court appearance by a priest, the Rev. Joseph Towle testified Monday that Jesus Fornes told him he helped beat and stab Jose Rivera to death in a Bronx park. He said Fornes, who has since died, told him in early 1989 that the two men convicted in the case, Ruben Montalvo and Jose Morales, actually didn't take part.
Towle was testifying before U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin at an appeal hearing for Morales. Prosecutors argued the conviction should stand. Chin did not immediately issue a ruling.
Towle said he had encouraged Fornes to tell his story to the courts, and Fornes did go to Morales' attorney, but courts ruled that his confession, coming after Morales and Montalvo had been convicted, was too late. The two were sentenced to 15 years.
Fornes was shot to death in 1997. Towle disclosed his story in May 2000, and Morales' attorney filed a new appeal, arguing that Towle's account gave new credibility to what Fornes had told lawyers in 1989.
Prosecutors argued that Towle was violating his sacred responsibility to keep confessions secret. But the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York supported Towle's decision to come forward, saying that Fornes' comments to the priest were not a formal confession.
"Naturally, it has taken a long time," said Towle, a priest at St. Ignatius Church. "There is nothing I am more careful about in my whole life than the confession."
Stanley Cohen, Fornes' former lawyer, also testified Monday that Fornes had confessed to his involvement in the murder. He said he felt free to testify about the confidential conversation now that Fornes was dead.
