Summary & Conclusion	Introduction	The Police Account	The Police Transmissions
The Non-Police Witnesses	The Medical Evidence	The Technical: Assistance of THe F.B.I.	Conclusion

Summary & Conclusion

     Edwin Torres died on the morning of April 20, 1988. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York concluded that the cause of death was accidental drowning. Briefly stated, the circumstances that led to this death were as follows.

     At approximately 11 :00 P.M. on April 19, 1988, two uniformed police officers were on foot patrol in the vicinity of 173rd St. and Hoe Ave. At that time, Mr. Torres -- whose license to drive a motor vehicle was under suspension -- sped by them in a tan automobile. Shortly thereafter, he sped by them again. One officer, noting that this vehicle had just passed them, pointed it out to his partner. At that point, Mr. Torres veered the car toward the officers, who were standing on the sidewalk, and then wheeled, away before striking them. Other officers then pursued him and observed him drive down West Farms Road and leap from the car while it was still in motion. The vehicle jumped the sidewalk and crashed. During the chase it was discovered that an improper license plate had been used to cover one of the plates that actually belonged on the car.

     Meanwhile, Mr. Torres scaled a fence and ran across the Sheridan Expressway into Twilight Park. When one of the officers searching the park spotted him in the darkness - hiding in a bush near the Bronx River -- the officer told him to halt. Instead, Mr. Torres jumped into the water, which was filled with debris, and began to swim to the opposite side. The officers radioed for assistance, summoning police helicopters, Emergency Service trucks, and S.C.U.B.A. divers, as well as Emergency Medical Service technicians. Many officers, on both sides of the river, urged Mr. Torres, who had paused atop a I partially submerged vehicle, to come out. Instead, he lunged back into, the water, went under several times, and finally went down.

     Shortly after midnight, the divers found his submerged body and brought it to shore. Persistent efforts by the E.M.S technicians and the doctors at Jacobi Hospital to resuscitate Mr. Torres were unsuccessful.

     Following the death of Edwin Torres, members of his family and others claimed that he had died as the result of police misconduct. They alleged that he had been hand­cuffed and beaten by the police, that the handcuffing was revealed by marks on the wrist, and that the beating was evident from bruises on the young man's body and blood on his clothing. Furthermore, they claimed that the beating was observed by a witness at the scene. Finally, they alleged that a videotape of the rescue operation, recorded by an independent film company for its possible news value, clearly showed a handcuff on Mr. Torres' wrist.

     These allegations are not supported by the evidence.

     The Office of the Bronx District Attorney commenced an investigation into the death of Edwin Torres just hours after his body was pulled from the water. Pursuant to pre-established protocols applicable when a civilian dies following police action, an Assistant District Attorney proceeded to the 42 Precinct to probe the young man's death. Subsequently, additional investigators were assigned to the case. During the course of this investigation, civilian and police witnesses were interviewed and, when appropriate, reinterviewed; police documents and materials were studied; medical reports were analyzed; records of the Department of Motor Vehicles were reviewed; and, although careful scrutiny of the videotape made by the independent film makers showed no handcuffs - and they themselves stated that no handcuffs were present -- the tape was , sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for enhanced technological analysis.

     As a result of the foregoing, the Bronx District Attorney made the following determinations:

1. On the night of April 19, 1988, Edwin Torres apparently stole a car, and drove it although his operator's license was under suspension.

2. Mr. Torres drove this car at two police officers, and thereby instigated a legitimate pursuit.

3. In an effort to elude the police, Mr. Torres leaped out of his moving vehicle, raced across a highway, went into Twilight Park, hid in some shrubbery, and then entered the Bronx River.

4. Mr. Torres ignored all efforts to coax him out of the water, and thereafter accidentally drowned.

5. 'The New York City Police Department made serious and substantial efforts to rescue Mr. Torres from the water as quickly as possible. Emergency Medical Service technicians and the medical staff at Jacobi Hospital made appropriate efforts to revive him.

6. The evidence adduced during the investigation, supported the Medical Examiner's independent conclusion that the "very superficial abrasions" on Mr. Torres' body were consistent with these resuscitation efforts, and that there was no indication that he had been handcuffed. Although the Torres family allegedly commissioned an independent autopsy, they have steadfastly refused to provide this Office with the results. They have also refused to provide the deceased's clothing for analysis, despite their claim that it bore bloody evidence of his beating.

7. A friend of Edwin Torres, who was with him just before the police chase, stated that the deceased admitting stealing the Chevrolet he was driving that night in order to take its rims. The witness, who saw part of the chase and the rescue efforts, also stated that he did not see handcuffs on Mr. Torres. nor did he see him beaten. Although the Torres family knew about this witness, talked about the case with him, showed him the videotape of the incident, and had him interviewed ny their attorneys, the family specifically declined to provide his name to this Office. His identity was ascertained through independent investigation.

8. The FBI technological analysis of the videotape independently supports the statement of the witnesses that there were no handcuffs on Mr. Torres' body.

9. While no witness claimed to have seen the police throw Mr. Torres into the water, drown him, or do anything improper during the rescue efforts, a single witness alleged that the police beat him earlier as numerous by-standers supposedly looked on. However, the account of this witness was confused, incomplete, internally contradictory and inconsistent with the other evidence.

10. During the course of the investigation, this Office obtained tape recordings of 911 calls and transmissions made over police radio frequencies at the time of chase and rescue attempt. Careful scrutiny of these recordings revealed several remarks od an extremely disturbing character, such as "drown him," "Let him die," and "they did the right thing." These remarks originated from unknown speakers whose identities and whereabouts could not be established. However, the context of the great majority of the material on the tapes confirms the witness accounts of a good-faith and intensive rescue attempt, and indicates that such remarks -- although deplorable, profoundly inappropriate, and if police-generated, completely unprofessional -- are not evidence of improper police conduct directed against Mr. Torres. Their presence on the recordings has been reported to the Police Commissioner for appropriate action. The District Attorney calls up on the Police Commissioner to institute and enforce tough policies for identifying and punishing anyone who misuses a police radio frequency, or who fails to act appropriately against such misuse.

     In conclusion, the Bronx District Attorney finds that there is no credible evidence which contradicts the Medical Examiner's determination that the death of Edwin Torres was accidental, nor any such evidence which suggests that it was the result of police misconduct. Therefore, a presentation of the case to a Grand Jury is not warranted. Accordingly, the Bronx District Attorney's criminal investigation is now closed.

THE DEATH OF EDWIN TORRES: AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

Introduction

     At 12:50 a.m., on April 2O, 1988, Edwin Torres, aged 19, was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital in the County of Bronx. The death of this young man, who drowned in the Bronx River following a police chase, soon generated public concern and controversy. However, in accordance with its established procedures, the Office of the Bronx District Attorney had already commenced an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Torres death within hours of its occurrence.

     As part of the ensuing investigation, this Office interviewed numerous police and civilian witnesses. These included Mr. Torres' companion in the events leading up to the police chase, police officers who encountered Mr. Torres in the course of the chase and the subsequent rescue attempt, the Emergency Medical Service technicians who responded to the scene and attempted to resuscitate him, two newsmen who videotaped a portion of the events in question, the mortician who prepared Mr. Torres' body for burial, and a woman who claimed to have seen Mr. Torres being beaten by police.

     Additionally, in an effort to authenticate the testimony of these witnesses, this Office obtained and examined police reports, the autopsy report and other medical records; the scene of the drowning was visited; records relating to the car driven by Mr. Torres were checked; and the videotape of the events was studied with the technical assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

     The following is a synopsis of the evidence uncovered by the investigation.

The Police Account

     The interviewed police personnel, in an essentially consistent series of statements, gave the following version of the events of April 19, 1988, which began at a few minutes before 11 :00 p.m. At that time, two uniformed police officers, Noel Maloney and William. Sanchirico, were at their assigned locations on East 173rd Street, in the vicinity of the intersections of that Street with Hoe Avenue and Southern Boulevard. The officers, who were standing on the sidewalk, heard a screeching noise and then saw a tan Chevrolet, which passed them, turned, and then came back in their direction. One of the officers pointed towards the car, which veered towards them, forcing them to step back. The officers reported the incident on their radio, including the car's license plate number and the fact that the Chevrolet had narrowly missed striking them.

     At this time, police officers James Gribben and Anthony Figueroa were in a marked patrol car on Boone Avenue, just a few blocks away. These officers heard the call by Maloney and Sanchirico, drove towards the indicated location, and saw the tan Chevrolet turn onto West Farms Road.

     [West Farms Road is adjacent to the Sheridan Expressway, which lies immediately to the east, separated from the street by a fence. Across the four lanes of the Expressway is Twilight Park, which contains such facilities as handball courts and a parking area. Parts of the park are separated from the Expressway by another fence, but the park is accessible via an elevated walkway which also connects to the 174th Street Bridge -- a four lane structure carrying both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Immediately to the east of the park facilities there is a small belt. of ground which is partially overgrown with shrubbery, and which leads down to the Bronx River. At one point, in an area directly under the 174th Street Bridge, this belt is immediately accessible from the Expressway ­ there are no park facilities or fences between the river and the highway. This area is heavily littered with wrecked automobiles and other junk. Several vehicles are in the river itself.]

     With officers Gribben and Figueroa in pursuit, the tan Chevrolet traveled about 150 feet along West Farms Road. Then, when the car was going about 25 miles per hour, the door of the vehicle opened and the driver and sole occupant of the car, Edwin Torres, jumped out. He then scaled the fence separating West Farms Road from the Sheridan Expressway, where the officers lost sight of him. The tan Chevrolet jumped the sidewalk and struck a building or fence. The officers transmitted these events over the police radio and secured the car. A license plate, which had been loosely affixed to the car over the proper plates,' was recovered.

     Numerous police officers responded to the park. These included Officers Joseph Vopat and John De Guilio, who began searching the belt of shrubbery which lies between the park facilities and the Bronx River. In the course of this search, Officer De Guilio located Mr. Torres crouching behind some bushes. The officer ordered him not to move, but Mr. Torres came out from behind the shrubbery and began walking on the shoreline, along the edge of the river. He then went into the river itself and began to cross it, alternately wading and swimming. At one point, he turned back towards the officers and paused atop a half-submerged wrecked vehicle. There were now police on both sides of the river. The officers urged Mr. Torres to come out, but he instead pushed off the vehicle and swam back towards the other. side of the river. He did not say anything to the officers and did not appear to be distressed. However, Mr. Torres then began going under the water, and finally failed to surface. Police estimated that he had been in the water for some three to five minutes, and that these events had taken place about twenty minutes from the initial incident.

     Additional police resources, including a helicopter and a S.c.U.B.A. team, were summoned, and a search of the river and its banks ensued. The body of Mr. Torres was taken from the river shortly after midnight by Police Officers Joseph Hess and Robert Singler, a S.C. U.S.A. team from the Aviation Air-Sea Rescue Unit. The deceased was taken by ambulance to Jacobi Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

     All of the police officers interviewed by this Office denied that there was any handcuffing or other mistreatment of Mr. Torres. Indeed, according to their accounts, they had never succeeded in apprehending him at all.

The Police Transmissions

     As part of the investigation, this Office obtained and reviewed recordings of calls to 911 and transmissions over police radio frequencies during the chase and rescue attempt. Police communications that evening were quite extensive, and involved numerous messages from many different sources. These messages confirm the basic sequence of events described by the police officers. For example, the tapes show that the officers at East 173rd Street reported the near-miss by Mr. Torres' car at 10:58 p.m. on April 19, 1988. Mr. Torres was reported to have abandoned the auto and fled into the wooded area of Twilight park at about 11 :03, and other police units, including those belonging to Emergency Services and Aviation, were summoned to assist. He was reported to be "in the water" about twelve minutes later, and was thereafter reported to be "heading across the Bronx River", but to have then "gone under" just a few minutes later. The tapes also document the, rescue attempts of the Emergency Services, S.C.U.B.A., and Aviation personnel, as well as those of the regular officers.

     However, while the vast majority of the material on the tapes confirms the police description of a near-miss by Torres' car, a legitimate pursuit of him into Twilight park, and a good-faith rescue attempt after Mr. Torres entered the water in an effort to evade that pursuit, the investigation also uncovered a series of very disturbing comments by unknown speakers. These comments, which were all made from about 11:16 - 11:23 p.m., in the moments surrounding the report of Mr. Torres' entry into the water, include repeated references such as "throw him an anchor," "throw rocks at him," "drown him," "let him die," "let him drown," and "they did the right thing."

     The presence of these remarks on the tapes was referred to the Police Commissioner personally. He immediately ordered an analysis of all pertinent transmissions, but the unknown speaker or speakers could not be identified. This Office made an independent attempt to identify the source or sources of these remarks, also without success. We were informed, however, that unauthorized statements of this sort are not unusual in tapes of police communications, despite attempts to prevent them, and may come from anyone - police officer or civilian - with access to the right radio equipment. These comments are deplorable and, if made by police officers, reveal a lack of concern and an absence of professionalism well deserving of police disciplinary action. Moreover, while the rescue efforts obviously had priority, it is still troubling that the police officers sharing these radio frequencies ignored the comments rather than reprimanding the speakers or attempting to identify them. Therefore, the Police Commissioner should institute and enforce tough policies for identifying and punishing anyone who misuses a police radio frequency, or who fails to act appropriately against such misuse.

     Nevertheless, an examination of the context of these remarks indicates that they do not appear to be evidence of actual police misbehavior directed against Mr. Torres. Thus, shortly before the series of comments, there is a similarly irrelevant and irreverent comment about another then-ongoing police problem, the transportation of a woman to Lincoln Hospital: "Give her a dollar and show her where the bus is." And, interspersed with the some of the comments, such as "drowned him" and "drown him," are other remarks, apparently from the same source, such as "And what happened?" which indicates that this speaker may not have been present at the scene. Further, it should be emphasized that these comments come in the midst of many other transmissions which establish that at this time there was an ongoing and frenzied effort by many police officers from many different units on the scene to rescue Mr. Torres. For example, the tapes indicate that during this attempt a police helicopter suggested dropping an inflatable vest into the river, but was warned off because of the prop wash from the rotors.

     Accordingly, the transcript of the police transmissions, taken as a whole and evaluated in context, does not discredit the account of the death of Mr. Torres given by the police officers on the scene.

The Non-Police Witnesses

     In addition to the police, there were seven non-police witnesses who gave information about various portions of the events of April 19, 1988. These were an employee of the Sanitation Department who was working at a nearby facility; two Emergency Medical Service technicians who were summoned to the scene and drove the ambulance which transported Mr. Torres' body to Jacobi Hospital; two newsmen employed by a Manhattan'-based independent news organization, who were attracted to evening; and two other witnesses -- a man who accompanied Mr. Torres during part of the evening in question, and a woman who claimed to have witnessed a police beating.

     On April 19, 1988, the Sanitation Department employee was working at a facility on West Farms Road near 173rd Street, when he heard a commotion and saw a tan Chevrolet stopped on a sidewalk. He also saw officers looking through the grass, and then overheard a police radio report that someone had been spotted running along the water. He later saw a police helicopter, and police officers searching the area.

     That evening, the E.M.S technicians were operating an ambulance and monitoring radio transmissions. They overheard the reports concerning Mr. Torres' near-miss of Officers Maloney and Sanchirico, the pursuit, and Mr. Torres' flight into the park and entry into the Bronx River. They drove the ambulance to the park, and walked down to the river bank, arriving at the point when the S.C.U.B.A. team was searching the river. They saw the team remove the body from the water. As the team surfaced with the body, the technicians could see that Mr. Torres' arms were unrestrained. The E.M.S technicians did not see any handcuffs on the body and did not see the police remove anything from the body.

     Mr. Torres was placed on top of the E.M.S stretcher, where the technicians attempted treatment. They saw no bruises or odd markings on the body when it was delivered to them, and they also saw no blood. They administered CPR, oxygen, and chest compression.

     The free-lance video camera team was en route from another job in the Bronx when they overheard the police calls, and pulled off the Sheridan Expressway in the vicinity of the incident. They arrived when Mr. Torres was swimming in the water, about ten feet south of the 174th Street Bridge and about ten feet from the shore. They saw him use his arms freely, raising them alternately into the air while swimming, and specifically noted that there were no restraints on his arms. They also heard police calling to Mr. Torres to swim back to shore: However, Mr. Torres disregarded this and tried to swim away, appearing to struggle as he did so. At this point, the newsmen returned to their vehicle to get their camera equipment, returning after Mr. Torres had disappeared under the water. They witnessed the removal of the body from the river and its placement on a stretcher. There were no handcuffs or other restraints on the body, and Mr. Torres was never in the custody of the police during the events observed by these witnesses.

     The sole evidence of police mistreatment of Mr. Torres came from a single witness, a 67 year-old resident of East 165th Street in the Bronx, who was acquainted with Mr. Torres from having seen him at her church. Essentially, she stated that on the day in question, she had returned to the City from Long Island, where she had visited relatives, taken a subway to the Bronx, and become disoriented when she left the subway system at an unfamiliar station. In search of a bus home, she found herself on a bridge near a park, in the middle of a commotion involving the police. Looking out, she saw Mr. Torres being beaten in the park by two uniformed police officers. Mr. Torres was handcuffed, and the officers were striking him with a stick or club in the presence of numerous by­standers. She yelled out to the police, telling them that Mr. Torres was "a Christian," but they ignored her complaint. She then took the bus home. Near her apartment, she told some other police officers about the incident. When she saw the television reports of Mr. Torres' death, she contacted the Torres family.

     The allegations made by this witness cannot be credited, for the following reasons.

     First, she gave two different accounts containing numerous fundamental omissions and inconsistencies. For example, in her first statement this witness indicated that one of the two attacking police officers was tall and blonde and the other was short and black. However, in her second statement she insisted that both police officers were "white men." At one point, she. indicated that she had never seen the face of the victim, who was beaten for some ten or fifteen minutes, yet she claimed to know that it was Mr. Torres because she had seen him on two or three prior occasions. She also claimed that the lights of nearby cars allowed her to see the area under the bridge where the attack took place. However, the construction of the 174th Street Bridge makes this claim very unlikely.

     This witness was also entirely confused about matters of time and place and her other activities on the day in question. She could not remember the family name of her relatives on Long Island, or where they lived. She was not sure of how she had gotten back to the Bronx, and could not recall what bus, train or subway routes she had employed. At one point, she indicated that she had taken the Long Island Railroad to "Grand Central Station," and had then taken the subway from there. At another, she indicated that she had left the subway at 125th Street, and had taken a number 15 bus. Although that bus goes near her apartment, it does not go near the bridge, which is considerably north-east of her apartment. At other points in her story she gave erroneous or contradictory responses concerning street names, could not describe her vantage point on the bridge, and even was confused about the location of the bridge itself.

     In an attempt to clarify some of these questions, representatives of this Office drove this witness to the area, accompanied by a clergyman who was assisting her. Upon arrival at the subway station at 174th Street and Southern Boulevard, she was taken to the 174th Street Bridge. She then stated that this was not the bridge from which she had viewed the beating, since that bridge did not have a fence or the sort of superstructure which the 174th Street Bridge possesses. Subsequently, she was taken to other area bridges, which she also indicated were not the bridge in question. Upon returning to the 174th Street Bridge, she then stated that this was indeed the bridge from which she had seen the beating, but then identified two separate places as the point where she had stood while watching it. She also now stated that she could see the area of the beating because of lights from the park -- although they. do not illuminate this area -- and from nearby factories -- although these are separated from the area by the six lanes of the Sheridan Expressway, a fence and a local street.

     Thus, the character of this witness's statements, which are the sole support for the allegation of police misconduct, seem to bring them within the rule of such precedent as People v. Jackson. 65 N.Y. 2d 265, 270 (1985) "...the testimony of a single witness which is involved in hopeless contradiction cannot establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt... " Further, her account is also contradicted by the entirety of the remainder of the evidence uncovered by this investigation. For example, neither the E.M.S technician.) nor the Medical Examiner found anything indicative of a police beating. Moreover, her allegation that Mr. Torres was handcuffed is inconsistent with the evidence. Accordingly, her account cannot be credited.

     The remaining witness, who accompanied Edwin Torres on April 19, 1988, had known him for about three years prior to that date. According to the witness, they had been to each other's home and had "hung out a lot" together. The witness also knew the parents of the. deceased, and had done work for his father. In short, the witness considered Edwin Torres to be his friend. His account of the events is essentially as follows.

     On the evening in question, Mr. Torres came to the home of the witness at about 6:00 p.m. After talking for a while, Mr. Torres said he had to go somewhere, but would return. He came back with a tan Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Mr. Torres then said that he wanted to take the rims off the car to sell it because the car was stolen. The witness agreed to help.

     Thereafter, Mr. Torres drove off in the Chevrolet, while the witness followed behind in another car. They stopped between 172nd and 173rd Streets at Southern Boulevard to check the car's wheels. Mr. Torres left in the Caprice to get a jack. He was gone about fifteen minutes. When he returned, police cars were following, and then pulled in behind him. Mr. Torres got out of the car, jumped over the fence and ran across the highway, as the car rolled driverless into a wall.

     The area quickly filled with police officers looking for Mr. Torres. Some of the officers went up on the 174th Street Bridge in cars and shone their lights down below. Other officers went on to an adjacent bridge. Helicopters carrying frogmen joined the search. One helicopter landed on a bridge and turned on its spotlight.

     The witness parked his car and went up on the 174th Street Bridge as the officers combed the area. He asked someone whom he knew to go to Mr. Torres' home to see if he had gotten away. Meanwhile, the witness continued to watch the search below. As he did so, he noticed an officer take a ladder and place it in the water. He then saw divers go to that spot and pull Mr. Torres up. Mr. Torres appeared to have a "knot" on the left side of his head. The witness then went to inform Mr. Torres' parents about their son's apparent death.

     Although the Torres family obviously knew about this witness and his importance, they specifically declined to provide his name to this Office. His identify was ascertained through independent investigation, and an interview was arranged.

     Prior to this interview, it appears that the witness had been shown several videotapes by the Torres family. Moreover, in conversations with the witness, the family apparently had raised the possibility that Mr. Torres had been handcuffed. Nevertheless, during the interview the witness was emphatic that he never saw handcuffs on Mr. Torres -- at the scene or on the videotape -- but noted that the deceased's hands "weren't swinging, either." The witness also remarked that the family had shown him "a couple of different tapes" and "they all showed different things." Furthermore, he volunteered during the interview that his own recollection of the events differed from what was in the tapes. Specifically, he remembered one frogman carrying the deceased by himself from the water to the ambulance, but noted that the tape showed two men bringing him up on a stretcher.

     Three other aspects of the witness's statement should be noted.

     First, on the night in question the witness met another friend -- whose full name and whereabouts are unknown -- who told him that Edwin Torres must be "bugging." When the witness asked why, the other replied that he tried to "run a cop over."

     Second, the witness said that he and the deceased used to do some "silly stuff." By way of elaboration he said" We'll have our cars and we'll race up and down the street. We'll race down the street, and the cops will go to pull us over, and we'll keep going. We were known for that."

     Lastly, the witness said he never saw any police officers strike Edwin Torres.

     An investigation by this Office concerning the Chevrolet driven by Edwin Torres on April 19, 1988, revealed the following.

     The automobile was a 1977 tan Caprice Classic, and had license plates bearing New York Registration PYD 529. Additionally, another license plate, bearing New York Registration V8R 120, was loosely attached to the automobile on that evening, but came off during the police chase.

     Photographs of the car taken after Mr. Torres abandoned it show that the dashboard had been ripped open and the wiring exposed. However, the two plates bearing N.Y. Reg. PYD 529 properly belonged to the vehicle and neither the vehicle nor the plates were reported stolen. Oddly enough, though, neither the owner nor the registrant of the vehicle was known at the addresses listed for them on the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Application for Registration, and neither the name of the registered owner nor the address bore any apparent relationship to Mr. Torres. Furtherm.ore, no one ever attempted to claim the vehicle. In an effort to confirm the registered owner's existence and whereabouts, a number of sources of information were checked, including the company insuring the motor vehicle, the insurance broker, Con Edison, the United States Postal Service, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the New. York State Police Information Network. Despite these efforts, neither the existence nor the whereabouts of either the owner or the registrant could be confirmed.

     The loosely affixed additional plate, bearing N.Y. Reg. V8R 120, has no apparent connection to Mr. Torres or the Chevrolet Caprice he was driving. It was last registered to a 1984 Renault, which had been sold two months prior to the incident. The disposition of the plates is unknown because efforts to establish the existence or whereabouts of the registrant were unsuccessfuL

     However, the records of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles do establish that Edwin Torres' license to operate a motor vehicle was under suspension on the date in question.

The Medical Evidence

     When the S.C.U.B.A. team brought Mr. Torres out of the water, the E.M.S. team on the spot assessed him as being "in cardiac arrest ...no vital signs in field." They administered CPR, oxygen, and chest compressions en route to Jacobi hospital, where he was admitted to the emergency room and further treatment was attempted. Hospital records show that at this point Mr. Torres had no pulse, his pupils were fixed and dilated, and his condition was "unresponsive." Those records further indicate that "[p]atient did not respond to comprehensive ALS [Advanced Life Support], including opening of the chest and warm water lavage." The death certificate issued by the hospital indicates that Mr. Torres, who was pronounced dead on arrival at 12:50 a.m. April 20, 1988, had died as the result of "asphyxia by drowning. Pending further study."

     Some ten hours later, at 11:20 a.m., an autopsy was performed by the medical examiner's office. The cause of death was confirmed as "asphyxia by drowning. [Accident]." Among other things, the autopsy report also indicates "neck and back unremarkable. Chest unremarkable except as below. No perivenous or wrist scars seen on upper extremities. No acute injuries seen on the hands, knuckles or fingers."

     In the following section of the autopsy report, the examining physician details his findings of "Evidence of Medical Intervention." In addition to indicia of the hospital treatment, which included an endotracheal tube and EKG electropads, these remarks about the chest area were included: "Abrasions on the upper chest: 2 1/2" linear very superficial abrasion is present on the right subclavian area, similar abrasions are also scattered around the chest near the right nipple where it measures 3/4" in length. Another one is present on the right lower neck where it measures 1" and 1/8" in length another one is present on the anterior medial left chest it measures 1\4" in length. Still another one is present on the left side of the chest where it measures 1\4 in length. On the left upper flexor arm there is 1" in greatest dimension abrasion which is brown yellow color..." In other words, the Medical Examiner's Office found no evidence which would indicate that Mr. Torres had been subjected to a beating, handcuffed, or otherwise mistreated, and found that the minor abrasions on his chest were "Evidence of Medical Intervention."

     The funeral director who prepared the body of Torres for burial, and who had been quoted in a press account as observing marks that looked like the imprint of handcuffs on the body, was also interviewed by this Office. He indicated that when he viewed the body he noticed that Mr. Torres' wrists bore the sort of cuts which are normally made by . the Medical Examiner's Office when examining the body of a person who has died in police custody or after a pursuit. Accordingly, he told a press representative that the presence of these cuts had indicated to him that the Medical Examiner's Office had been looking for handcuff marks. However, he himself saw no evidence of handcuff marks on the body. Subsequently, in the course of preparing the body for burial, he tied Mr. Torres' hands together so that they would remain crossed on the chest during the funeral rites. That procedure normally marks the wrists, a result which morticians try -- though not always successfully -- to minimize through massage.

     After the official autopsy, the Torres family allegedly had an additional autopsy performed' on the body. However, they have refused to furnish this Office with a copy of any such autopsy report.

     In sum, there is no medical evidence which in any way contradicts the Medical Examiner's conclusion that Mr. Torres' death was accidental, and nothing in that evidence which indicates that the deceased was either beaten or handcuffed.

The Technical Assistance of the F.B.I.

     As detailed above, a videotape was made by two free-lance video technicians showing the removal of Edwin Torres from the Bronx River on April 19, 1988. Based on their own observations, both of the technicians who made the tape were certain that Edwin Torres' arms were free of handcuffs or other restraints during the time that he was in the water.

     Nevertheless, some who viewed the videotape seemed to believe that one portion of that tape, which shows a bright area at Mr. Torres' wrist, depicted handcuffs. In some media broadcasts, this portion of the tape was shown circled.

     In order to resolve the controversy, this Office submitted the original videotape to the Technical Services Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Moreover, a tape of a media broadcast with circled portions purporting to show handcuffs was submitted as well. For purposes of analysis, the F.B.I. termed the original tape "01", and the media tape "Also Submitted."

     In a report dated June 8, 1989, the F.B.I. made the following official finding:

Conclusion

     In conclusion, the Bronx District Attorney finds that there is no credible evidence which contradicts the Medical Examiner's determination that the death of Edwin Torres was accidental, nor any such evidence which suggests that it was the result of police misconduct. Therefore, a presentation of the case to a Grand Jury is not warranted. Accordingly, the Bronx District Attorney's criminal investigation is now closed.