'Grid Kid Killer' John Giuca's conviction overturned; new trial ordered
06/09/2016 12:19 pm PDT
Crime Watch Daily
UPDATE Feb. 20, 2018: John Giuca's new trial has been set for May 1, 2018. He was denied bail Tuesday.
The Second Judicial Department Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York announced Wednesday that John Giuca's conviction of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon was overturned.
"ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law and the facts, the defendant's motion to vacate the judgment is granted, the judgment is vacated, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Kings County, for a new trial."
READ: The People of the State of New York, respondent, v John Giuca, appellant
WATCH: So-Called 'Grid Kid Killer' Speaks to Childhood Friend Jason Mattera - CWD
June 9, 2016:
Crime Watch Daily has learned John Giuca, the so-called "Grid Kid Killer," was denied a new trial in the 2003 murder of Mark Fisher on Thursday.
John Giuca was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of Mark Fisher. Giuca has always maintained his innocence.
State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun denied Giuca's bid for a new trial.
Giuca, 32, has been dubbed the "Grid Kid Murderer" because he was convicted in 2005 of being one of two young men who killed Fairfield University football player Mark Fisher. It happened in the early morning of October 12, 2003, after both had attended a party in Brooklyn.
John Avitto, a robbery and drug crime convict who had befriended Giuca in jail while Giuca awaited trial, was a witness for the prosecution and testified that Giuca had told him behind bars that he'd gotten the gun to murder Fisher. Avitto recanted his testimony against Giuca in November 2015.
But the prosecution convinced a jury that Giuca had given a gun to fellow Ghetto Mafia member Antonio Russo and ordered him to rob and execute Fisher. Russo was also sentenced to 25 to life as the trigger-man.
Prosecutors in Giuca's original trial have been accused by his attorneys of withholding important evidence and misleading jurors by saying Avitto received nothing in return for his testimony.
Giuca plans to appeal Thursday's decision.
In an exclusive interview, Crime Watch Daily's Jason Mattera went behind bars for Giuca's first-ever in-depth prison interview.
