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Schwarz was convicted in 1999 of helping to torture Louima in a New York police precinct bathroom

From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The police officer whose testimony helped convict a colleague in the police station torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima told a federal judge Thursday that he was never unsure about identifying the offending cop.

Speaking in Brooklyn Federal Court, NYPD Officer Eric Turetzky denied that he had been confused in his initial statements with investigators in picking out Officer Charles Schwarz. Turetzky said Schwarz led Louima from the precinct's arrest processing desk to the bathroom, where another officer, Justin Volpe, sodomized the Haitian immigrant with a broomstick handle.

Turetzky's statements came in the second and final day of hearings in which Schwarz is asking for a new trial, claiming he was a victim of mistaken identity.

Turetzky said he told other senior officers, even before his formal interview with Internal Affairs, that he "saw Officer Schwarz bring Mr. Louima toward the bathroom" on the night of August 9, 1997.

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Turetzky, then a rookie officer, came forward six days later and his testimony helped convict Schwarz in a 1999 trial. Volpe pleaded guilty in mid-trial and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while Schwarz has served two years of his 15-year sentence.

"Charles Schwarz was convicted on a seven-second observation by Officer Turetzky, and Turetzky's observation is in doubt," Schwarz defense attorney Ron Fischetti told reporters outside the court.

U.S. District Court Judge Eugene Nickerson, who presided over the Louima trials, has until September 24 to render a decision on granting Schwarz a new trial.

Schwarz's appeal hinges on the testimony of retired police Sgt. Patrick Walsh, who told the court Wednesday that Turetzky initially could not tell if Schwarz or another officer, Thomas Wiese, forced Louima into the bathroom. Walsh said Turetzky witnessed the scene from behind and that Schwarz and Wiese look alike from that angle.

Two other officers at the 70th precinct station house that night said Wednesday they could not recall Turetzky wavering in his identification of Schwarz.

Turetzky

On Thursday, Denise Valentine, a police sergeant who counseled Walsh, further undermined his account by telling the court that Walsh, who left the force last June due to a liver ailment and a drinking problem, admitted that he sometimes drank on the job.

Inspector Barry Fried, who conducted Turetzky's Internal Affairs interview, said Turetzky never mentioned difficulty in recognizing Schwarz or Wiese. His only confusion, Fried said, was over who led Louima out of the bathroom. Turetzky has testified that he saw Volpe exit the bathroom wielding a stick and with Louima after the attack.

U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad told Nickerson that Walsh "was not a credible and reliable witness" and that besides Turetzky and other prosecution witnesses, there were others not called "who would have incriminated Mr. Schwarz even further."

Wiese and another patrolman, Thomas Bruder, were convicted last year along with Schwarz in a second trial for lying to investigators to conceal Schwarz's role in the attack. Wiese and Bruder are free on bail as they appeal their convictions. They were acquitted in the Louima assault.

Volpe told authorities that Wiese -- and not Schwarz -- brought Louima to the bathroom and watched as he was assaulted. Prosecutors say they did not believe Volpe, and trial jurors never heard his account.

Louima, who said there were two cops in the bathroom, the second holding him down, was unable to positively identify Schwarz at trial.

Louima settled his civil lawsuit against New York City and the NYPD for $8.75 million last month.