YOU BE THE JUDGE
written April 21, 2021
#FACTS
August 27, 1999
Shots were fired into the Zone 6 Police station on Northumberland Street in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh where four officers were working. Of the four, one, Steven Mescan sustained a bullet wound to the foot. None of the officers were able to identify the perpetrators. However, someone ice titled a dark colored SUV which was recovered from a post office parking lot. Written on the ceiling of the SUV were the words "Fucc the Piggz."
August 31, 1999
Two armed men entered the QuiCash check cashing store on Frankstown Avenue in the Home wood section of Pittsburgh. After failing to gain entry to the rear of the store one of the men opened fire on the bullet proof glass. Unsuccessful, one of the men robbed a patron doing business at the store.
September 1, 1999
According to a police report submitted by Officer A. Mitchell (Badge#2691) of the Pittsburgh Police Department, an eyewitness Ms. Carolyn Rector indicated that she observed two black males flee the crime scene in a "beige Cadillac."
For weeks the city of Pittsburgh's Police Department scoured the area for suspects in the police shooting. The city's mayor assured the public that the culprits would be brought to justice.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
2:37am
Detectives P. Anderson (Badge#2175) and Sergeant D. McQuaide (Badge#2597) were notified that two police officers had been chasing a gold Cadillac stolen in a house burglary. A police report submitted by the detectives explains that "three actors" fled the stolen 1997 4 door Cadillac Deville. The detectives did not state the names of those actors or if they were apprehended. SEE EXHIBIT C
4:30pm
At a homicide unit meeting officers were informed that Michael Snowden and John Carter were arrested by the robbery unit and mentioned to detective Rob White that "Ricky" and "P" had done the Zone 6 Police Station shooting. Snowden and Carter positively identified Ricky Boyer and Pierre Pinson as the perpetrators.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
A man named Leroy Collington entered the robbery office for purposes of viewing a photo array. Detectives Rob White (Badge#2878) and O. Coleman (Badge# 2624) indicate that Collington identified Pierre Pinson through photo array. (The photo array bears no identifying marks or initials made by Mr. Collington).
Ricky Boyer was arrested and taken to the Zone 5 Police station. Under the duress of violence Boyer was coerced into confessing and writing a letter of apology to the police and the victims in the QuiCash robbery. His apology made note that he was only trying to go along with Pierre.
September 19, 1999
Pierre Pinson was arrested and taken to the Zone 5 Police Station for interrogation. At the station Pierre was interrogated by three detectives, the last being detective Dennis Logan. By the end of the four hour interrogation the detective had, in his own handwriting, fabricated a confession which he attributed to Pierre.
September 20, 1999
Police remove Pierre from the county jail in order to photograph the tattoo on his right arm that reads, "Fuc the Pigs."
October 5, 1999
Pierre, Ricky, and Michael Snowden were named as codefendants in the August 31, 1999 QuiCash robbery. The charges against Snowden were dropped.
October 29, 1999
The D.A. dismisses a carjacking at which Pierre and Snowden were named codefendants.
May 1, 2000 (Pierre's Birthday)
Clyde Mann's files a lawsuit (2:00-cv-838) against Detective Dennis Logan, his partner Richard McDonald and the City of Pittsburgh Police Department for violating his civil rights. Manns alleged that during an interrogation the two detectives attempted to have him sign a prewritten statement, falsified an affidavit of probable cause, denied him access to medication and the bathroom, and threatened him in order to make him confess. (The Prosecution did not reveal this information at trial).
July 19, 2000
Represented by attorney Jack Conflenti and alongside his codefendant Ricky Boyer, Pierre proceeded to a trial by jury for the Zone 6 police station shooting. Without physical evidence linking Pierre to the crime the sole evidence against him was the confession fabricated by detective Dennis Logan. The trial concluded in a guilty verdict.
July 26, 2000
Represented by attorney Michelle Collins and alongside his codefendant Ricky Boyer, Pierre proceeded to a trial by jury for the QuiCash robbery. Again, the sole evidence against him was the confession attributed to him by detective Dennis Logan resulting in a guilty verdict.
September 12, 2000
Pierre was sentenced to 15-60 years for the QuiCash robbery and 35-90 years for the Zone 6 police station shooting, for a total sentence of 50-150 years.
October 29, 2000
Michael Fuoco, Staff writer at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette publishes an article entitled, "THE CONFESSOR: Dennis Logan is the unassuming detective who gets murder suspects to speak the unspeakable." The extensive article celebrated the detective's uncanny ability to procure confessions from criminal suspects.
June 28, 2002
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette published a brief article revealing that Detective Dennis Logan and his partner Richard McDonald were found liable for violating Clyde Mann's civil rights during the 1999 interrogation.
Dates unknown:
Soon after, the two detectives were forced out of the Pittsburgh Police. Detective Logan landed a position as District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala's Chief Investigator and Richard McDonald found himself working for the PA Attorney General.
November 14, 2019
Michael Snowden provided a signed and notarized affidavit admitting that he and John Carter were apprehended in the stolen gold Cadillac used in the QuiCash robbery, that the two implicated Pierre and Ricky in order to go free, and that Logan assured Snowden he would not have to testify when he was "done" with Pierre and Ricky.
Present day....