Martin Tankleff

Tankleff was convicted of killing his parents, Seymour and Arlene Tankleff, on June 28, 1990, and sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison. In December 1993, the divided New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division affirmed Tankleff's conviction.{{cite court |litigants=People v. Tankleff

|vol=199

|reporter=A.D.2d

|opinion=550

|court= App. Div.

|date=1993

|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13356520625117682391

|accessdate=}}

Tankleff was admitted to the New York State Department of Correctional Services in October 1990. In state custody, Tankleff was incarcerated at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, in a special housing unit called "APPU" for high-profile inmates and inmates at high risk of victimization.

In January 1997, federal district Judge Thomas Collier Platt Jr. denied Tankleff's petition for a writ of habeas corpus.{{cite court |litigants=Tankleff v. Senkowski

|vol=993

|reporter=F. Supp.

|opinion=151

|court= E.D.N.Y.

|date=1997

|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5439698539034020718

|accessdate=}} In January 1998, that judgment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, with Judge Guido Calabresi writing for the unanimous panel.{{cite court |litigants=Tankleff v. Senkowski

|vol=135

|reporter=F.3d

|opinion=235

|court= 2d Cir.

|date=1998

|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8786062546043647533

|accessdate=}}

In an appeal 12 years later, his lawyers presented new evidence and witnesses.

His lawyers mounted appeals of his conviction. A 2003 appeal hearing presented new evidence from 20 witnesses who named his father's business partner as having planned, executed, and bragged about the murder.{{cite news|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/t/martin_tankleff/index.html|newspaper=The New York Times | first=Bruce | last=Lambert|title=Questions About a Son's Guilt, and a Cop's Methods}}{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Man's Appeal in Killings of Parents Takes a Twist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/04/nyregion/man-s-appeal-in-killings-of-parents-takes-a-twist.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 4, 2004}} In December 2007, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division unanimously vacated Tankleff's conviction and sentence.{{cite court |litigants=People v. Tankleff

|vol=49

|reporter=A.D.3d

|opinion=160

|court= App. Div.

|date=2007

|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=900785246744170654

|accessdate=}}

An appellate court ultimately overturned his conviction in 2008, after Tankleff had served 17 years in prison. Tankleff was represented by attorney Barry Pollack.

Before the Suffolk County District Attorney dropped the charges, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer appointed New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as special prosecutor in the case.{{cite web|url=http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/0112081.html| title=Governor Spitzer Announces Appointment Of Attorney General Cuomo As Special Prosecutor To Investigate Tankleff Murders| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404094955/http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/0112081.html|website=NY.gov|archive-date=2008-04-04|date=2008-01-12}} From his staff, Cuomo selected Chief Trial Counsel Benjamin Rosenberg and veteran homicide prosecutor Thomas Schellhammer to re-investigate the case.{{cite news| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/01/18/2008-01-18_attorney_general_andrew_cuomo_appoints_t-2.html | location=New York | work=Daily News | title=Crime:Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Appoints Team|date=18 January 2008}}

With the investigation completed, on June 16, 2008, Rosenberg said to Justice Doyle, "The issue in this case is not whether there is evidence, but whether there is sufficient evidence." Rosenberg announced: "The people move to dismiss the indictment." In the same motion, prosecutors announced they would not proceed against suspects identified by Tankleff's defense team, revealing that, "on balance, the defense theory does not appear to be supported by clear evidence."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/nyregion/01tankleff.html|newspaper=New York Times|title=No Retrial in '88 Double Killing on Long Island|first=Bruce|last=Lambert|date=2008-07-01|access-date=2019-07-06}}

On July 22, 2008, Justice Doyle concurred with the Attorney General's motion to dismiss. All charges facing Tankleff were dropped; he would not face retrial.{{cite news|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-litank0723,0,4341550.story|newspaper=Newsday|first=Alfonso A.|last=Castillo|title=Charges dismissed in Martin Tankleff murder case|date=2008-07-22|access-date=2019-07-06|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803183435/http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-litank0723,0,4341550.story |archive-date=2008-08-03}}

Tankleff filed a civil suit against the state for his wrongful conviction and emotional distress. On January 7, 2014, Tankleff was awarded $13.4 million from the state as settlement of the lawsuit.

By that time, Tankleff was in his last semester of law school. He graduated from the Touro Law Center on May 25, 2014. In April 2017, he passed the New York State bar exam.{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2017/04/27/man-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-is-becoming-a-lawyer|title=Man wrongfully convicted of murder is becoming a lawyer|newspaper=New York Post| date=27 April 2017|access-date=14 June 2019}}

Tankleff had dismissed one of his New York attorneys over personal differences. This attorney persistently sent demands for money to Tankleff and was eventually convicted of harassment.{{cite news |last1=Shanahan |first1=Ed |title=He Freed an Innocent Man From Prison. It Ruined His Life. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/nyregion/jay-salpeter-martin-tankleff-case.html |work=The New York Times |date=22 May 2023}}

Tankleff and new attorneys appeared before the U.S. District Court, the Eastern District of New York in Central Islip, New York for a hearing on October 30, 2017. He sued Suffolk County, in addition to various people who were police and county employees at the time of his arrest and trial.{{cite web|url=http://libn.com/2017/10/30/tankleff-case-heads-for-trial/?ep=1/ |publisher=Long Island Business News| title=Tankleff case heads for trial|date=October 30, 2017|access-date=October 31, 2017}} Tankleff was represented by Barry Scheck of Innocence Project in Manhattan.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/tankleff-murder-suffolk-lawsuit-1.14687745 |publisher=New York Newsday|date=October 30, 2017| title=Federal judge gives Tankleff, Suffolk time to settle suit|access-date=October 31, 2017}} In April 2018, Tankleff reached a settlement with Suffolk County for $10 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/martin-tankleff-1.18153221 |publisher=New York Newsday|date=April 19, 2018| title=Martin Tankleff awarded $10 million settlement in Suffolk|access-date=April 20, 2018}}

• List of unsolved deaths

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/martin-tankleff-3-3-million-state-article-1.1569119 Martin Tankleff gets more than $3.3 million settlement from New York state]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070721085208/http://www.sic.state.ny.us/ New York State Investigation Commission]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08gs2l1 Wrongfully convicted of murdering my parents] (27 min.) from Outlook (radio programme) on the BBC World Service

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tankleff, Martin}}

Category:1971 births

Category:1988 murders in the United States

Category:False confessions

Category:Overturned convictions in the United States

Category:Living people

Category:People from Long Island

Category:American people wrongfully convicted of murder

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Police misconduct in the United States

Category:Touro Law Center alumni

Category:American lawyers