Appeals court reverses conviction in 2001 Albany murder

Shawndell Smith opened the door to his Second Street apartment and saw a group of armed men charging toward him.

The 21-year-old father slammed the door shut as two gunshots passed through it, striking him in the neck and killing him. His June 2001 murder went unsolved for more than two years until an Albany police investigator acting on a lead beguiled one suspect into implicating another.

Shahkene “Shottie” Joseph admitted that he and Lamarr “Rez” Reid went to the house to rob a marijuana dealer, an admission that led to both receiving up to life in prison. Only when Reid was put on trial for Smith’s murder, he was never able to confront the man implicating him in the shooting, which therefore posed a violation of his constitutional rights, justices with the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

“The only proof linking defendant to this murder was the testimony of his friends — themselves criminals, testifying in exchange for some benefit — relating admissions that defendant made to them,” Justice William McCarthy wrote in the unanimous ruling reversing Reid’s 2007 conviction. “The possibility that the jury was influenced by testimony regarding an eyewitness was demonstrated by its request for a read-back of the investigator’s ‘testimony regarding eyewitness or witnesses regarding any eyewitness statement.’ ”

Reid, 30, is serving a sentence of 25 years to life in the Clinton Correctional Facility outside of Plattsburgh. He was not eligible for parole until 2027 before the ruling, which sends his case back to trial.

Calls to Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ office were not returned Thursday.

Reid has gang ties in Schenectady, a lengthy criminal record and has remained in prison for much of his adult life. At 17, he began serving a four-year prison sentence for conviction on cocaine dealing.

While in prison, Reid became angered after learning a member of the Schenectady-based Cleanaz gang — Elliot Felder — had fathered a child with his girlfriend. In January 2001, his brother Kie “Guntalk” Washington, who was also a Cleanaz member, retaliated by shooting Felder in the head as they talked in a crumbling garage on Schenectady Street.

Washington received a sentence of 66 years to life in prison for the murder. Reid was never charged in the case and was released from prison after finishing his sentence in May 2001.

Just three weeks after leaving jail, Reid allegedly fired an AK-47 through a door at Smith, who was visiting a friend’s apartment. On a lead generated from a New York City case, an Albany police detective confronted Joseph about the killing and obtained a statement explaining that he and Reid were behind the attempted robbery.

Joseph was tried separately and convicted of murder. The appellate division upheld his conviction in December 2009.

But during Reid’s trial, his defense attorney questioned whether an investigator received information implicating a man named Charles McFarland in this murder. On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked if the investigator had also received eyewitness testimony about who was behind the door Smith slammed and whether that account suggested McFarland was not there.

The defense objected to the question, since no one in the apartment with Smith could see who was behind the door. Thus the only “eyewitness testimony” could come from Joseph, who admitted to the shooting.

“Such an implication was improper, however, because Joseph was unavailable to testify,” the ruling stated. “Because Joseph was unavailable and his pretrial statement to the police regarding who was present at the murder scene was testimonial, admission of that statement violated defendant’s right to confront his accusers.”