Jurors in a federal court in Santa Ana have rejected a malicious prosecution claim made by a man who spent 13 years behind bars for a wrongful conviction in a gang-related and racially charged killing near Torrance in 2001, according to court records obtained on Friday.
Marco Antonio Milla wrongly served about 13 years in prison for the gang-related and racially charged killing of 19-year-old Robert Hightower and the injury of another man on September 29, 2001. However, the claim was rejected by the jurors on Thursday.
The incident took place when Hightower and three friends were on their way to visit his sister’s apartment near 204th and Harvard Streets in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Harbor Gateway, near Torrance. They were attacked by unidentified individuals, as confirmed by authorities.
In his opening statement, Milla’s attorney, Martin Stanley, informed the jury that tensions were increasing in the neighborhood as more Black residents, including Hightower’s sister, were moving into the largely Latino community.
Milla was initially sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting incident. However, he was ultimately cleared when evidence from a confidential informant, provided by Homeland Security officials, implicated someone else as the shooter of Hightower and his friends, Ramar Jenkins and Steven Flowers.
In response to his wrongful conviction, Milla filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city, Detective Richard Ulley (now a lieutenant), and the estate of John Vander Horck, who passed away in June 2020.
During the investigation, Traci McCombs, Erica Hightower, and Ramar Jenkins were interviewed by the detectives. McCombs and Hightower provided tentative identifications of Milla as the shooter through photo lineups, while Jenkins was the only one who positively identified Milla. However, Stanley highlighted the detectives’ use of leading questions during Jenkins’ interviews, as well as their failure to disclose Hightower’s statement that she did not recognize any of the suspects in the lineups.
Stanley pointed out that Jenkins had felt pressured to identify a suspect and became angry when he learned that the shooting was racially motivated. According to Stanley, Jenkins was determined to remove the gang member responsible from the streets.
Furthermore, Stanley criticized the detectives for their failure to approach the liquor store for video footage or to interview any alibi witnesses when Milla and his friends were watching a boxing match at the time of the shooting.
According to Stanley, Milla’s involvement with a gang was involuntary, as he was coerced into joining at the age of 13. While Milla did have a criminal history, it primarily consisted of minor non-violent offenses.
Stanley emphasized that there was no direct evidence connecting Milla to the shooting, noting that the police never recovered a gun and that Milla had alibi witnesses who testified that he was elsewhere during the incident.
Furthermore, Stanley argued that the investigators concealed evidence by not pursuing video footage from the liquor store that would have confirmed Milla’s alibi.
On the other hand, defense attorney Kevin Gilbert mentioned that Milla had previous encounters with the police, including being stopped as a suspect in another shooting. Gilbert also highlighted a previous incident where Milla was a suspect in threatening a black man, but no charges were filed due to the victim’s reluctance to testify.
Gilbert defended the detectives’ actions, stating that they tape-recorded the interviews as a standard procedure and questioned Jenkins again when they realized the initial recording was unclear. He also acknowledged that Erica Hightower had mentioned similarities between Milla and the shooter to the detectives.
According to Gilbert, the detectives attempted to interview Milla’s alibi witnesses, but they either evaded or refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Gilbert concluded by emphasizing that the jury should consider what the detectives knew at the time of the investigation, rather than assessing the case with hindsight.
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