Murdered social justice activist Ryan Thoresen Carson’s girlfriend did not select the alleged stabber from a series of photos, despite a legal expert saying doing so could have “potentially devastating” consequences for law enforcement.
Carson’s girlfriend Claudia Morales was unable to identify Brian Dowling, the 18-year-old teenager who stabbed her boyfriend to death outside the B46 train in the early hours of Monday morning, which legal experts said could potentially hamper the case, according to The Messenger reported.
Brooklyn District Attorney Jordan Rossman said during Dowling’s arraignment Thursday night in Brooklyn Criminal Court that Carson’s girlfriend, an eyewitness to the murder, “mispicked” his alleged killer when she was shown a series of photos, reported the New York Daily News.
Some of the photos come from surveillance footage that captured the fatal stabbing.
Rossman said: “She chose a person other than the defendant from the photo array.”
The victim, 18-year-old suspect Brian Dowling, holds a knife in his right hand. Ryan Carson tried to defend himself as his horrified girlfriend Claudia Morales stood nearby
Pictured: The couple had attended a wedding just hours before the fatal knife attack
18-year-old Brian Dowling left the 81st Precinct in tears Thursday afternoon
Rossman said two other witnesses picked Dowling out of the photo lineup and investigators seized a knife and clothing that matched the attacker’s attire at Dowling’s home, the New York Post reported.
On Thursday evening, Dowling appeared in court after being charged with first-degree murder, shortly after leaving an NYPD precinct in tears following his murder arraignment.
Several hours after his arrest, police officers also seized a knife believed to have been used in the attack.
Dowling, still wearing the same white T-shirt he was arrested in, looked somber and tilted his head in the air as prosecutors spoke at Thursday’s hearing.
He momentarily glanced at his parents in the courtroom, crying at the sight of their son in custody, before Judge Joshua Glick ordered him held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for October 11.
Former Manhattan District Attorney Mark Bederow, who is not involved in the case, said the girlfriend’s inability to identify Dowling was “potentially devastating and crippling” to the prosecution’s case, but added that it was “by no means means it’s over,” The Messenger reported.
He added: “It’s really too early to say,” said Bederow, now a defense attorney.
Bederow said there appeared to be other evidence in the case that could mitigate potential harm from the misidentification of the photo array.
“If they found a gun in this guy’s apartment and it had the victim’s DNA in it, that’s convincing the other way,” he said.
Bederow also told the news outlet that this means finding as many surveillance cameras as possible to track Dowling’s movements at the crime scene and possibly using cell phone data to locate him at the scene.
Julie Rendelman, a former Brooklyn prosecutor and now a defense attorney, said the botched photo series was “something the defense can use to raise possible reasonable doubt,” but noted that “the stabbing was captured on video and the defendant’s face was captured.” can be seen quite clearly.” according to the news agency.
“The prosecution will likely argue that the witness’s trauma from seeing her boyfriend stabbed to death in front of her affected her ability to identify the defendant,” she said.
Dowling’s defense attorney, Kenneth Jamal Montgomery, said he agreed that the girlfriend’s inability to identify his client could weaken the case against the teen — and potentially prove valuable at trial, The Messenger reported.
Montgomery added: “However, I am waiting to review the discovery and its full context.”
Dowling allegedly stabbed Carson in the heart at 3:50 a.m. Monday in a brutal, unprovoked attack that erupted as he and his girlfriend waited for a bus after a wedding.
His first-degree murder charge could result in him being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty.
The prosecutor argued during Thursday night’s arraignment that Dowling stabbed Carson “without provocation” and claimed that two witnesses identified Dowling as Carson’s killer based on a photo array.
The teenager’s defense attorney, Kenneth Montgomery, told the court it was the first time his client had been arrested.
“This is a difficult case for several reasons, aside from the tragedy of loss of life,” Montgomery told Judge Joshua Glick. “You have an 18-year-old man – a young man who has no criminal record.”
He urged the court to impose a “heavy bail” as there was no flight risk for the teenager, saying: “His parents are here and I assure you there is no flight risk. He was arrested at his home.”
However, the lawyer’s pleas for leniency failed to convince the court, as Judge Glick remanded Dowling in custody “given the nature of the charges and the people’s portrayal.”
Ryan Thoresen Carson, 32, was a champion of social justice and left-wing causes
When police executed a search warrant for his home, a sweatshirt that matched the gun worn by the suspect in the video of Carson’s murder was seized along with the suspected murder weapon.
Dowling’s home is a five-minute walk from where 32-year-old Carson was stabbed.
He had previously been described as “emotionally and mentally disturbed”, but neighbors reacted with surprise to the grisly allegations, telling he was the “sweetest boy” who usually never gets into trouble.
“He’s a nice guy.” “His family are good people … very respectful,” a family friend outside the home added.
The teenager is believed to work at a school in Clinton Hill, and his alleged awkward behavior also led to his own aunt reporting him to the police two months ago after he broke his girlfriend’s clothes in a fight.
His alleged victim was a social justice and left-wing advocate, including leading a campaign to establish drug consumption sites throughout the city, and a passionate environmentalist.
Carson’s girlfriend, according to now-blocked social media profiles, was an avid BLM activist who used the cop-hating acronym ACAB in some posts, among other things.
A day after the murder, friends set up a GoFundMe account to help Carson’s girlfriend. So far they have raised $60,000.
It remains unclear what prompted Dowling to attack. In the video, a suspect, believed to be the 18-year-old, initially walked past Carson and Morales before turning back.
Carson came home from a wedding in a suit – and his girlfriend Claudia posted a picture of them smiling at the wedding hours before the tragedy.
Carson was filmed stabbing the attacker several times in the chest before delivering the first knife blow.
At one point, the suspect asks, “What the hell are you looking at?” before violently stabbing Carson in the chest. At the end of the video, his girlfriend could be heard shockingly screaming “Brian!” as the attacker fled the scene.
On Wednesday, the activist’s friends raised eyebrows when they claimed he felt sorry for the teenager who allegedly stabbed him and wanted his murder to be used to promote left-wing politics.
“I know he would have wanted people to use his death as a tool to talk about structural injustices in the city,” New York State Assembly member Emily Gallagher told The Gothamist.
“I’m absolutely certain that he would immediately recognize that this is an individual who is suffering from a lack of resources in our community and probably needs better mental health support, possibly housing, possibly drug support or drug treatment.”
“To avenge his death, he wants us to fix how broken this city is.”
Ricardo, a neighbor who lived on the block for 15 years, said he felt bad for the victim.
“He walked from Brooklyn to Buffalo to enlist and to be treated like that makes no sense,” he said. “You should be outside at all times. They came from a wedding – you shouldn’t bother anyone.”
“I watched the video. “The man fell, you should have left him alone – immediately.”
Ricardo, who has friends on the block, said Dowling’s family kept to themselves and described them as hard-working people.
“It’s sad,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s a tragedy that just doesn’t make sense.”