OK time out- a witness & interested party was given immunity from prosecution for perjury at what point? Immunity prior to his original (false) testimony or immunity from his prior perjury for the latest testimony, to induce him to take the stand?

Only the prosecution obviously can offer immunity.... why would the prosecution offer immunity that would work against their own case? Why not just drop the charges or go back to the Grand Jury to try for reduced charges?

How did they figure out the guy was lying? Couldn't they threaten him with perjury charges to keep him off the stand to begin with? Why is he being given immunity? He's part of a criminal conspiracy and almost sent a guy to jail for probably 2nd degree murder, when the truth now sounds more like MAYBE a manslaughter charge and arguably no charges at all beyond weapons posession, and maybe not even that.

If it's true that 4 people cut this guy off & trapped him and then assaulted him, why in the world is the trial continuing with the current charges? If the prosecution is offering immunity NOW and believes that the current testimony is accurate, how is the trial going foward?

If the immunity to prosecution for perjury occurred prior to the original (false) testimony, good grief, isn't that just an invitation to perjury, if not subornation of perjury?



I'm totally confused. But what else is new.

NY Post: Fala-full of lies -- Jersey City witness recants slay tale


Chandradat Deodat, 23, of Jersey City


Halal Chicken and Gyro stand at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue

Fala-full of lies

NY Post
By CAROLYN SALAZAR and DAREH GREGORIAN
December 15, 2009

An eyewitness to a falafel-rage killing in Midtown was forced to eat his words on the witness stand yesterday -- admitting that he lied to cops about what happened during the fatal fight.

Chandradat Deodat, 23, of Jersey City, said that -- at the request of the victim's brother -- he cooked up part of his recounting of how Ziad Tayeh killed Tyrone Noel Gibbons, 19.

Deodat had initially told cops that the 2006 confrontation began when Tayeh jumped in front of him, Gibbons and Gibbons' brother, Shannon, at the Halal Chicken and Gyro stand at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue.
FACE-OFF: Accused killer Ziad Tayeh at court yesterday, along with Chandradat Deodat, who admitted lying about what led up to a young man's death near a Midtown falafel stand.

He told cops that Tyrone Gibbons later got behind the wheel of their car and that Tayeh, 26, cut them off at Seventh Avenue.

That was all fiction, Deodat confessed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

"I lied about who drove the car, about who cut the line and which car cut the other one off," he said. "I know I lied. I don't know how many lies I told."

He added that he concocted the story with Shannon, who'd been driving with a suspended license.

"I lied to protect Shannon," said Deodat, who was granted immunity from perjury charges in return for his testimony.

"[Before this] you never gave an accurate portrayal of what happened that day?" Tayeh's lawyer, Daniel Ollen, asked.

"Not until 10 days ago," Deodat replied.

In his new account, he and the Gibbons brothers were on their way home to Jersey from a Queens nightclub when they stopped at the popular stand to get a falafel platter.

They sidled up next to Tayeh in the middle of the long line, he confronted them, and they denied cutting in, Deodat said.

Words were exchanged, and later, after the trio's car cut off Tayeh's SUV, all four got out and Tyrone grabbed Tayeh's hat and punched him, Deodat said.

Tayeh responded by drawing a knife and lunging at Tyrone.

"I looked at Tyrone, and he was holding his chest," Deodat said. "Then he fell to the ground. I thought he was playing. I said, 'What happened?' He said, 'I got stabbed.'

"I lifted his shirt, and blood poured out of his chest. We started doing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth."

Tayeh, meanwhile, got back in his car and drove off. He maintains that it was self-defense and that Shannon Gibbons had menaced him with a knife.

Deodat testified that he didn't see Shannon with a blade.

Testimony is expected to continue today.

dareh.gregorian@nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/ma ... pNfAks9IfsI#ixzz0Zm5h636p
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Gyro Line Cut Stabbing Trial Starts, Self-Defense Claimed

The man accused of fatally stabbing a teenager who cut the line at a popular midtown gyro and chicken cart told the officer who arrested him that he was acting in self-defense. The violent incident took place one night around 4 a.m. in October 2006, after Ziad Tayeh, 26, accused two brothers, Shannon and Tyrone Gibbons, of cutting ahead of him in line. Shannon says, "We just ignored him," but after they drove off with their food, Tayeh allegedly chased them in his white Lexus SUV.

At a red light at 52nd Street, Tayeh jumped out of his SUV and allegedly plunged a blade into Tyrone Gibbons's chest. The 19-year-old college student died at the scene, and Tayeh drove off, only to be pulled over at East 26th Street. Officer Sean Ryan, who arrested Tayeh, testified yesterday that the suspect immediately insisted he was forced to fight. As soon as Ryan pulled him over, Tayeh volunteered, "It's about the fight in 52nd St.' He said it was self-defense."

Indeed, Tayeh's lawyer argues that he was assaulted first by Shannon Gibbons, and forced to defend himself. Whatever the truth is, the tragic incident's a sobering reminder of the dangers of arguing with strangers, as well as the perils of midtown at 4 a.m.

http://gothamist.com/2009/12/11/falaf ... ut_stabbing_trial_sta.php