Rodolfo Taylor, whose robbery convictions were overturned, reaches $12.8M settlement with Suffolk

A former Central Islip man who spent nearly 26 years incarcerated for a string of gas stations robberies and later had his conviction overturned has reached a $12.8 million settlement with Suffolk County.

In July 2022, Rodolfo Taylor, 63, filed a $55 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Suffolk County and 10 former police officers, citing evidence pointing to other suspects that was never turned over to the defense during his 1984 trials. Earlier that year, a Suffolk judge vacated Taylor’s robbery convictions after an investigation by the Suffolk District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit found several witnesses had originally identified other suspects.

Taylor, who was released from prison in February 2010, said he is pleased with the settlement, but it does not make up for the quarter-century he spent behind bars.

“There is no amount of money that could compensate for the experience, which was more or less a hell-on-earth experience,” he said. “I can't be compensated for it. But I'm looking forward to the rest of my life — what’s left of it — to enjoy my family and go from there.”

Additionally, Taylor reached a $1 million settlement with New York State to resolve a separate but related lawsuit filed in March, according to his attorney, Bruce Barket, of Garden City.

Both settlements were reached Dec. 14. Legis. Leslie Kennedy (R-Smithtown) publicly disclosed the county settlement that day during a meeting of the county legislature's Ways and Means Committee, which signs off on legal settlements.

“There was no choice,” said Kennedy, noting the county could be liable for much more if the case went to trial. “The evidence presented clearly put the county at fault.”

Experts have said successful lawsuits usually cost about $1 million for every year of wrongful imprisonment.

“There is a significant cost to the culture of corruption that existed here, which is one reason why we fought so hard against it," County Executive Steve Bellone said. 

Representatives for the state Attorney General’s Office did not immediately comment.

Taylor, who is married and has five grandchildren, said he lives in the metropolitan area.

“I don’t think there is a person who would trade 26 years of their life for $14 million,” Barket said. “Think about all the events you participated in that if you were incarcerated in you would have missed. Your family’s weddings, birthdays — you’re deprived of all of that.”

He has been steadfast in maintaining his innocence and was denied parole after refusing to express remorse.

The Conviction Integrity Unit investigation began under former District Attorney Tim Sini, who served from 2018 until 2021, and found prosecutors withheld crucial evidence. The Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County filed a motion to dismiss the conviction with support from the district attorney’s office. It was overturned by state Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro in January 2022, shortly after Sini’s successor, Ray Tierney, took office.

Sini noted the unit did not make a determination of innocence, but found no evidence linking Taylor to the crimes.

“There's just insufficient evidence to know one way or the other,” Sini told Newsday Friday. “But that's not how the criminal justice system works. This person was denied a fair trial. And the evidence that was used to convict him was woefully insufficient.”

Tierney in a statement said he stood by the unit's findings.

"Prosecutions must be undertaken with integrity to prevent unfair convictions," he said.

In 1984, Suffolk police began to investigate a series of gas station robberies that were reportedly committed by the same individual between Feb. 22 and June 10.

Witnesses and gas station employees initially identified different suspects from a photo lineup and provided varying descriptions of the perpetrator.

The suit alleged that Suffolk detectives, anxious to close the case, showed a witness — who previously told police he could not identify anyone — photos of Taylor and "used suggestive techniques" to direct the blame at him.

Authorities later gathered all five eyewitnesses and secured a positive lineup identification of Taylor, the suit contended.

It was only after Taylor, who has no legal background, requested case documents from Suffolk police while still behind bars in 2004 that he discovered critical information had not been shared with the defense.

He noted he received help from others including Suffolk County Legal Aid Society attorneys Louis Mazzola and Kirk Brandt.

“The world is actually not devoid of good folk,” Taylor said.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.