Scott Lewis took the stand on Monday in a civil-rights trial focused on a wrongful conviction — not his own, but that of his alleged co-conspirator, Stefon Morant. Both were convicted of the same 1990 double homicide. Both spent two decades in prison. Both have long claimed they were framed by the same crooked cop.  “For Stefon to sacrifice his life just to stand by the truth — he didn’t have to do that,” Lewis said through tears in a Hartford federal courtroom. “It cost him 20 years just to stand by me.” For a few moments, the room fell silent as Lewis and Morant cried. As many similarities as there are between Lewis’s and Morant’s cases, there is at least one key difference: Lewis got the city to settle his wrongful-conviction claim for $9.5 million, and Morant is taking New Haven to trial.  That ongoing trial is taking place in U.S. Judge Sarala Nagala’s federal courtroom in Hartford. In the case Stefon Morant v. City of New Haven, Morant has alleged that former city police Det. Vincent Raucci framed him and Lewis for the murders of former alder Ricardo Turner and his partner Lamont Fields in 1990 in the Hill. After his original criminal trial in 1994, Morant spent 21 years behind bars before receiving a sentence reduction and pardon. He eventually won a $5.84 million wrongful-conviction award from the state. (Lewis’s conviction was overturned in 2013; he received a $9.5 million payment from the city in 2017.) Read more about the case… A 1998 New Haven Advocate expose The FBI’s report on Vincent Raucci The Independent’s coverage of Lewis’ habeas victory, his exit from prison, his lawsuit against the city, Morant’s sentence reduction, and their adjustments to freedom The National Exoneration Registry’s synthesis of Lewis and Morant‘s stories An update on Raucci’s life since he left the police force (he was not convicted for the charges described in this story) An overview of the 2026 trial In court on Monday, Lewis articulated the clearest reasoning so far this trial for why Raucci might have framed him for the Turner-Fields murders. According to his testimony, Lewis had been dealing cocaine supplied by Frank Parise, a notorious drug kingpin, since 1988. In December 1990, two months after the double homicide, Parise scheduled a face-to-face meeting.  “Parise asked me to take over his drug operation because he had gotten busted by the federal government,” Lewis told the 10-person jury. “I told him that I wasn’t interested.” Around that time, Lewis said he was “in the process of being done with selling drugs” because he saw the tragic effects of addiction on his cousin. “I saw how it was affecting him, and it made me realize that the things I was doing to make a living and the way it was affecting other people,” he said. He paused, tearing up. “It just wasn’t for me anymore.” After telling Parise that he did not want to take over the operation, Lewis said Parise told him that he needed to pay his debt, which was between $10,000 and $15,000. Lewis owed that money because the police confiscated the cocaine that Parise had fronted him. “[Parise] said, ‘Vinny wants that money,” Lewis told the jury. In hindsight, Lewis believes that “Vinny” was a reference to Vincent Raucci. Lewis’s testimony on Monday comes after Raucci’s ex-wife, Donna Desai, testified earlier in the trial that she saw Raucci using cocaine and suspected he was dealing. Ovil Ruiz, a key witness whose original interview with Raucci helped secure Morant’s and Lewis’s convictions, has testified that Raucci coerced him into providing false information to implicate men who did not commit the murders. Ruiz also told the court that he used to do drugs and get high with Raucci. Raucci, meanwhile, has denied all wrongdoing, and has said that he has never done drugs. Lewis continued his testimony by stating that, a few months after his meeting with Parise, he learned from Morant that his name was being mentioned in connection to the double homicide. He recalled Morant “rambling” about how the police were “implicating” him in the murders.  “I decided to go down to the police department myself and figure out what was going on,” Lewis said. He remembered meeting with Raucci and another detective to provide a voluntary statement. He told them, “I didn’t know anything about [the murders]: I didn’t know the individuals involved, nor did I know the victims.”  “So what happened after you gave that interview?” asked Amelia Greene, one of the attorneys representing Morant.  “I was under the impression that it would be over and done with. I knew they were kind of lying to me about talking to Stefon. I went about my life,” replied Lewis.  “I Was A Drug Dealer … But I Wasn’t A Murderer” In April 1991, Lewis said he was arrested during what seemed to be a traffic stop. He expected to get a ticket for making a left on red. Instead, he looked out of his rearview window and saw police officers approaching with their guns drawn.  “They basically put the guns to my head and told me to get out of the car and that I was being arrested for murder,” he said.  One of the cops told Lewis that the arresting officer on his warrant was Raucci. At that point, Lewis came to believe he was being framed. Lewis said Raucci picked him up from the Milford Police Department and drove him to the New Haven Police Department. At some point during that trip, he told Lewis, “You never should have stopped selling drugs in Fair Haven.” Lewis had limited knowledge about the form of Raucci’s involvement with Parise’s drug operation. What he did recall was that Raucci would warn them about upcoming raids. When he did so, said Lewis, “We would close down shop.” Lewis said he called the FBI after being convicted in May 1995. “I figured that the best shot I had, given that I had no money, was to call the FBI,” he explained. He told them that he was framed by Raucci and Parise over a drug debt.  “Did you report to the FBI the statement Raucci made to you on the day of your arrest that you never should have stopped selling drugs in Fair Haven?” asked Greene.  “I did,” replied Lewis. “I think at that point, I was facing 240 years [in prison], and I needed somebody to look at the investigation.” “I was a drug dealer,” he continued. “I can admit to being in jail for selling drugs, but I wasn’t a murderer—I couldn’t tolerate that.” After submitting his complaint to the FBI, Lewis said the city’s then-police chief, Nick Pastore, visited him on his birthday in 1995. Lewis recalled telling Pastore the same story he told the FBI, in the hopes of getting help to overturn his conviction.  “He basically walked away saying, ‘I don’t believe you. I don’t have a dirty cop on my force,’” said Lewis.  “We Stand On The Truth” After Monday’s hearing in court, Lewis told the Independent that the court case has strengthened the bonds between him and Morant. “We’ve always been good friends,” having both spent years in Fair Haven, he said. “And sometimes things like this can destroy friends. But this has made our friendship a lot stronger, and it’s because we stand on the truth.” Lewis said he feels angry and frustrated by the city’s decision to take the case to trial. When asked if the NHPD had reckoned with its history of wrongful convictions, Lewis said, “No, of course not. Look what the city’s trying to do right now.”  While he was not shocked that the city declined to settle with Morant, he is surprised by what he called the city’s “continued trickery” and “deceitfulness” in this case. “If you’re supposed to protect the integrity and safety of the community, then why don’t you just deal with the truth?”  He said no one but Det. Michael Sweeney had ever reached out to him to apologize, even after his conviction was vacated.  Even today, during this ongoing trial, the attorney representing the City of New Haven, Thomas Gerarde, has argued that Lewis was guilty, and that he pressured the FBI to overturn a rightful conviction. (To that allegation, Lewis responded, “I simply called the FBI and reported what I had been told…I don’t think I got that kind of power” to pressure the FBI into doing anything.) He hopes the jury will sent a “real strong message” to the city. He said, “I think they should award [Morant] $100 million.” The post Lewis Stands With Morant appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less