Shareef Cousin (born 1979) is an African-American man from New Orleans who was convicted of the first-degree murder of Michael Gerardi in 1996 and sentenced to death as a juvenile in Louisiana.
[4] Cousin was convicted almost solely on the basis of one eyewitness identification provided by a woman who was the date of the victim, who said he was one of three black males who accosted them.
A number of other witnesses insisted Cousin had been playing in a youth league basketball game at the time of the murder.
The primary eyewitness initially told police she could not identify the shooter as she wasn't wearing her glasses, but this statement was not disclosed to the defense.
Another prosecution witness testified that he was coerced to falsely implicate Cousin in exchange for a reduced sentence on other charges.
[5][7] On March 2, 1995, Michael Gerardi took a woman named Connie Babin on their first date to the Port of Call restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
[8] Shareef's defense team presented witnesses, including two Parks and Recreation supervisors, who testified that Cousin had played in a basketball game in another part of the city and was being driven home by his coach at the time the crime was committed.
[10] Detective Anthony Small listed two additional witnesses who supposedly positively identified Cousin as the murderer, but they were never called to testify.
Among them was statement made by Connie Babin on the night of the murder where she explained to police that she did not get a good look at the gunman or his accomplices because of the distance and would not be able to identify him.
[2][4] Cousin filed an appeal, which reached the Louisiana Supreme Court, on the basis of the Brady violations, which is the failure of the prosecution to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.
[8][13] A few months later, Harry Connick Sr., the DA at the time, decided to drop the case, citing lack of evidence to pursue it any further.
[7][15][16] In June 2005, prosecutor Roger Jordan was disciplined by the Louisiana Supreme Court for his misconduct in Cousin's case.
[17] Cousin filed a civil suit against a number of employees of the police department and district attorney's office.
He alleged that the prosecution withheld a number of exculpatory statements, coerced and intimidated Rowell, and took steps to prevent his own defense witnesses from testifying on his behalf by illegally detaining them.