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A Brooklyn man whose 1995 murder conviction was tossed over concerns about the involvement of since-tainted NYPD Det. Louis Scarcella got teary-eyed and had to be hauled out of court Wednesday when a judge found him guilty of the same crime.

Eliseo DeLeon, 45, stared in disbelief at his lawyer, who shrugged his shoulders after Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas announced the verdict in a non-jury retrial that could put the formerly freed inmate back behind bars for life.

The judge also denied a defense request to let DeLeon remain free on $100,000 bail and instead order him locked up pending sentencing next month.

The move prompted officers to handcuff the twice-convicted killer, grab his arms and bark, “Let’s go!” as his eyes filled with tears.

DeLeon’s wife and mother both wept as they hugged each other in the courtroom gallery.

DeLeon spent more than 23 years in prison for the June 4, 1995 slaying of Fausto Cordero, who was shot during a botched stick-up in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood as he and relatives — including his wife and 7-year-old son — were leaving a religious confirmation party.


  DeLeon will return for sentencing next month.
 DeLeon will return for sentencing next month.

Douglas overturned DeLeon’s conviction in 2019, citing the involvement in the case of former Det. Louis Scarcella, a once-celebrated investigator who’s since come under scrutiny for allegedly framing suspects.

The judge said she didn’t find written testimony from Scarcella “credible,” ruling that he and his former partner, retired Det. Stephen Chmil, “demonstrated a disregard for the law that greatly troubles this court.”

DeLeon became the 15th defendant to have his conviction tossed over the allegedly shady police work of Scarcella, who’s denied any wrongdoing.

Neither Scarcella nor Chmil testified against DeLeon at his first trial; both were called as defense witnesses during his retrial, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.


  The judge said she didn’t find testimony from Scarcella “credible” but still moved to convict. Gregory P. Mango The judge said she didn’t find testimony from Scarcella “credible” but still moved to convict. Gregory P. Mango

In her verdict Wednesday, Douglas acquitted DeLeon of second-degree intentional murder, but convicted him on an equally serious charge of second-degree felony murder, as well as first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

In a prepared statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said “compelling eyewitness accounts” from the victim’s widow and a neighbor who witnessed the shooting and identified DeLeon at his first trial — but not during his retrial — “provided proof beyond reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.”

“The guilty verdict handed down by a judge today, which correctly focused on the eyewitness identifications, validates the approach my office has taken when reexamining cases involving Det. Scarcella: we ask to vacate when we find misconduct or violations of due process rights and stand by convictions when the evidence supports findings of guilt,” Gonzalez said.

The head of the NYPD detectives’ union, Paul DiGiacomo, said in a statement: “The DEA continues to stand by Det. Louis Scarcella and today’s guilty verdict is proof positive of the cases he helped build.”

“A good detective has been dragged through the mud by agenda-driven lawyers only to prove once again that a murderer killed an innocent New Yorker,” DiGiacomo added.

Defense lawyer Cary London said he was “clearly disappointed in the verdict,” calling it “upsetting.”

“That’s the risk we run when you retry cases,” London said.

“I still believe in his innocence. I still believe in Scarcella’s malfeasance and illegal tactics in this case.”


  Defendants accused Scarcella of coercing and inducing false confessions and witness identifications. AP Defendants accused Scarcella of coercing and inducing false confessions and witness identifications. AP

London said that although “I love juries,” DeLeon “wanted to waive a jury because he thought the evidence was so strong.”

“We waived the jury and we got the short end of the stick,” he said.

London also noted that the DA’s Office offered DeLeon a time-served plea deal following the 2019 ruling that sprung him from prison.

London said he would use that offer to argue for leniency at DeLeon’s scheduled sentencing on Sept. 14, when he’ll face a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.

Additional reporting by Tina Moore

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