Lamar Roundtree "A Mile in My Shoes: The Wrong Guy...

Imagine just getting off work on a Friday evening with plans on taking your girlfriend to Canada to celebrate her 23rd birthday. When suddenly you're alarmed by the flashing of police lights behind your vehicle, signaling you to pull over. While instantly being made aware by your three-year-old son that the police were approaching your vehicle with their guns drawn.

Totally unaware of the police motive at the time, I fully complied with every command given to me. "Mr. Roundtree, roll down all of your tinted windows, and exit the car while facing forward with your hands up". Without further incident, I exited my vehicle faced forward, as directed by an officer several feet behind me on Lyell Avenue in the city of Rochester. "Keep your hands up, and begin walking backward starting with your left foot until directed otherwise". It felt as though I back paddled for close to 100 yards before I was met by the sharp fingernails of a police officer in the lower of my back. As he grabbed my right hand placing it in cuffs, and then my left hand doing likewise while screaming "one in custody".

Being 22 years of age at the time I did not fully understand my rights, but I knew enough to ask why was I being ejected from my vehicle, and placed under arrest? The officer told me that I was not under arrest that I was being brought downtown to the 4th floor of the Public Safety Building for questioning.

Upon arriving at interrogation, I was handcuffed to a table and confronted by two detectives CJ Dominick, and Tom Cassidy. They identified themselves as homicide detectives working on behalf of the Monroe County District Attorney Office. At this point, they told me that they wanted to ask me some questions. Instantly I inquired as to the nature of their questions. They stated that my name had come up in a murder investigation. So | asked what murder, and how did my name come up? At that point, they stood to exit the room and told me that they would tell me more once they returned.

Several hours later I was awakened by a different unidentified detective also working on behalf of the Monroe County District Attorney Office. He came in to read me what I now understand, were my rights. At that point I asked to speak to a lawyer, then he advised me that I would not need a lawyer unless I killed the woman Lisa Baker. I told him that I was not responsible for anyone's death, and in fact, I did not know a woman by that name. He insisted that I did, in pursuit of shooting a guy name D.P.

After going back, and forth with this unknown detective. The interview concluded while resuming shortly after only this time I was being interviewed by CJ Dominick & Tom Cassidy again. They wanted to know my whereabouts on the night in question. As I explained to them, on the night in question I had driven around in my car, visited a bar on Jefferson Avenue called Fabulous. At some point before ending my night by going home to my girlfriend's house on Curtis Street. Both detectives just laughed at me. Then asked me if I knew a guy by the name Pee? I told them that I did, and then they asked me when was the last time I saw him? I told them about a month ago, I watched a rap video on TV, and he was in it. They laughed again, and then told me that he had told them something different. I inquired as to what he had told them, and they said he told them that he, and I were at Classic Bar and Grill together on June 25th, 2005. Which was the night Lisa Baker, was shot and killed. I told these detectives that this was not true.

Next, they asked if I knew D.P? They showed me a mug shot-type picture of him. Before I could answer their question, they said that I tried to shoot Parker, missed, and killed Lisa Baker. At this point for the second time, I asked to speak to an attorney. By this time, I had been in interrogation for about several hours. Without further incident, they transported me to Central Booking and charged me with the death of Lisa Baker.

LEADING UP TO MY ARREST July 1, 2005, a week after the death of Lisa Baker. After coming home from Charlotte Beach. Where I was deployed to work hour overtime as a Parking Lot Attended, while employed at Central Parking. During this time the Fairy was new to the city of Rochester, and people would park their vehicles at the beach for two days while enjoying a cruise on the Fairy.

During, what is recognized as a "Felony Stop", I was arrested and booked for the death of Lisa Baker. While in custody it was later determined that the Monroe District Attorney Office was in pursuit of a conviction by all means necessary. My arrest had come even after their star witness had been named on their first witness statement as the Prime Suspect. This statement was never introduced into evidence during the trial nor was it turned over to the defense during the preliminary stages of the trial. This statement was unclothed during an independent investigation after my conviction.

OTHER UNCLOTHED EVIDENCE Not long after my conviction, I begin to learn of a lot of foul play on the behalf of the Monroe County District Attorney Office. Their star witness D.P, had been offered a plea deal for some charges he had pending in exchange for his trial testimony against me. This allowed him to not only cover up the fact that he had been identified as the suspect in the shooting death of Lisa Baker. He was able to get away with a stolen credit card charge, and it was also determined via Private Investigator; that D.P, was responsible for a separate shooting that took place a month before the shooting death of Lisa Baker. How was this determined? At the scene of the crime, there was evidence of two guns being fired. This link was made by the gun expert John Clark working on behalf of the Monroe County District Attorney Office.

So after thoroughly investigating all leads, it was determined that a man had been shot in this prior separate shooting. However, documents show that the suspect fled in a gray 4 door Toyota Camry. How, and why is this relevant to my case? The shell casings discovered at the scene of the crime I'm charged for were linked to the crime scene of this other guy Andre Johnson, being shot too. What does that mean? After reviewing the newly discovered document of D.P’s arrest for the usage of a stolen credit card. Documents in connection with that case showed that he used this stolen credit card to pay for the fixing of a 4-door gray Camry.

Why is this important when several 4-door gray Camry's are sold yearly? Another document from a separate investigation was obtained where an unmarked police officer was following D.P, in a 4-door gray Camry. In this investigation, the license plate number was provided. This immediately led back to the documents obtained from Cole Muffler where D.P, used the stolen credit card to pay for the expenses associated with the fixing of his 4-door gray Camry. The employee working at Cole Muffler wrote down the description of the car and license plate number. Why? Because this credit card had been stolen prior to D.P, attempting to use it for the expenses associated with the car. Therefore, the employee had to report this incident, and provide a statement giving an account of what took place leading up to this illegal transaction.

At this point, it was time to dig deeper into the investigation of the shooting of Andre Johnson. Why? These shell casings discovered at the crime scene of his shooting (where he was the victim) could reveal something alarming. All documents in connection with this case were requested from the Monroe County Clerk’s Office. Upon receipt of them, I immediately discovered that most if not all of them were redacted, blacking out key information. Like what? Andre Johnson had been questioned by Rochester police and asked who had shot him. In the interview, he gave a positive gesture to a mentioned name, but the Monroe County Clerk’s Office, would not provide the original redacted documents.

OK now what? I hired an investigator by the name of Ronald Storm and explained why I was in need of his help. He reviewed the documents and felt that it would be extremely necessary to try locating Andre Johnson. He located Andre Johnson and asked him if he would be willing to talk about what happened on the day he was shot. He explained the situation, and identified D.P, as the person who shot him. He even described the caliber of gun that he was shot by. This information was provided to me via Ronald Storm, in the form of an affidavit.

This clearly showed me three motives D.P, had to point the finger at someone else. Not to mention the first witness (Lena Brock) to call 911 for the victim on the night of the shooting, gave a description of the suspect. She described him as being a male black 5 '9 - 5'10 190 pounds; wearing a red white and blue jersey, with blue shorts, white sneakers, and a white du-rag on his head. This was later confirmed during the trial as D.P, described his description on the night of this shooting as he testified against me.

Lena Brock is the sister of Tasharra Brock, who was the passenger in the car as they drove away from the scene. She sat silent while her sister spoke to the 911 dispatcher. Then three months later while being interviewed by CJ Dominick, and Tom Cassidy, she gave a statement, and identified me as the suspect in the shooting death of Lisa Baker. Since my conviction my lawyer Donald Thompson has employed a private investigator by the name of David Mack, to go out to speak to witnesses in the case. When it came to these two sisters. Tasharra Brock, did everything she could to keep her sister, Lena Brock, from giving her an honest account of the shooting. So did Monroe County District Attorney Office. How? Their office put a protective order on all discovery information in connection with my case. Not allowing access to any witnesses, not just her. A judge allowed their office to only provide redacted statements of their witnesses, but none of their pedigree information. But Tasharra Brock threatened to file harassment charges on anyone trying to seek the truth about their account of the shooting.

David Mack did come in contact with Lena Brock, on one occasion. On this day she explained that she knew D.P was in fact the shooter. When this information was provided to my lawyer Donald Thompson, he sent David Mack, back out to obtain an affidavit. Prior to him locating Lena Brock, he received a phone call from Tasharra Brock, threatening to file harassment charges against David Mack. At that point, Donald Thompson instructed him to abandon the assignment. It was later revealed that Tasharra Brock, was in fact a mental health patient, though none of her mental health history was ever turned over to the defense prior to trial. In fact, they remain undisclosed. It was also discovered that after her trial testimony she strived to changed her legal name. Using the fact that she testified against me as her reasoning.

WHAT ELSE During the trial a witness came in, and testified for the defense. This man knew D.P and actually testified to seeing him shoot the victim by mistake. He even gave a description of the gun. As being a black revolver with a brown handle. He states that he witnesses D.P, pulling this gun from his waistband while trying to turn around after a shot had rung out behind him. In the process of him turning around the gun misfired, and the victim was hit. He explained that D.P, dropped the gun while shaking his hand as if he had hurt himself. Medical records provided by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office reveal that D.P, went to Strong Hospital on the night of the shooting complaining about being shot. After a brief evaluation of his hand, it was determined that his thumb was dislocated, but he did not suffer from a gunshot wound. In fact, prior to being discharged from the hospital, he left without signing out.

THE DOCTOR There was a doctor who also testified for the defense, pertaining to the thumb injury of D.P. He testified that this type of injury was more likely to happen when firing a gun wrong or skying. This shooting was at the end of June.

Darrio Henry This witness also testified during the trial accusing me of being the suspect. However, he was in Federal custody, and it was later determined that he also received a plea deal in exchange for his testimony. He was originally sentenced to 60 months for possession of a gun, and drugs. Then once he testified, he received a Downward Departure, from the US Attorney's Office; in exchange for his trial testimony. Which also was never turned over to the defense before trial.

KANZA WILLIAMS She identified me as a man standing in some bushes across the street from the bar. There were some cups, and bottles obtained from the bushes. They were tested for DNA, I was excluded as a donor, but two twin brothers were identified, but this information was turned over on the eve of trial. Where records show that this information was available before it being turned over.

MOST RECENT D.P, gave an affidavit to a Correctional Officer stating that since the time of his trial testimony. He had been strung out on drugs which caused him to have a stroke. He states that all of this arose after he falsely testified against me. He also states that the first time he was approached by investigators, he was being accused of being the suspect. Before the time of trial, he was picked up from work by investigators again. This time he was taken to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. At that time, he was told that if he did not testify against me, he would be charged with murder.

LET’S LOOK AT THE FACTS Here you have an innocent mom shot, and killed for no reason. Then you have D.P, who could easily be looked at as being the suspect. Not only, because of what witnesses said, but because of the weapons involved. Andre Johnson's, investigation leads possibly to D.P, being in possession of one of the firearms fired at the scene of the crime prior to the shooting in question. Then D.P was identified firing the other firearm used to mistakenly kill this innocent woman, on the night in question. A guy whom D.P, states he was with on the night of the shooting was arrested, and charged with a gun which is the same description of the gun D.P, fired on the night of the shooting. It also shows a strong resemblance to the ballistics of the fatal projectile that struck the victim. Lena Brock gave her account of the shooting to the 911 dispatcher on the night of the shooting (before I was a person of interest). Then later told Private Investigator, that she witnessed him as the suspect on the night of the shooting. He confirms her description of the suspect during the trial. Let's look at D.P's medical records, the charges he had pending, the fact that he was named as the suspect on the first witness statement, and ultimately, he could have been charged with killing Lisa Baker. Instead, he was able to sidestep all of this by simply pointing the finger at me.

CJ DOMINICK & TOM CASSIDY These investigators went out and interviewed all of the witnesses for the District Attorney's Office. There were several different accounts given, and several of these witnesses either identified me as the suspect or their story cooperated with another witness account who identified me as the suspect. We do not know in which form none of their questions were asked. Nor do we know in which form any photos were being presented to any witness who identified me as the suspect.

JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIM. Is real justice served when the actual suspect is walking the streets? Or what is justice when an innocent man is sitting in prison? Or does our justice system care? Science has proven that Eye Witness Testimony, is the most unreliable evidence. However, in this case, the Scientific Ballistic Evidence was sidestepped, and this case was formulated by the Rochester Police helping one of their well-known RATS escape justice. How is that justice? The victim here was an innocent mother who deserves justice, her family deserves justice. She has been deceased for nearly 16 years and has still been abandoned by the city of Rochester's District Attorney Office. While I've rotted in prison for all these years as my kids and family continue to be victims of their messy investigation. When will the proper justice be served?