NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Brooklyn district attorney is seeking to toss 378 criminal convictions, mostly misdemeanors, that were directly based on the work of 13 former NYPD officers who were later convicted of crimes that were committed while on duty.
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"These former police officers were found to have committed serious misconduct that directly relates to their official job duties, calling into question the integrity of every arrest they have made," D.A. Eric Gonzalez said in a statement Wednesday.
His office's Conviction Review Unit did not uncover misconduct, but Gonzalez said he lost confidence in cases where these officers served as essential witnesses because these cases could not have been prosecuted without them.
"A thorough review by my Conviction Review Unit identified those cases in which their testimony was essential to proving guilt, and I will now move to dismiss those convictions as I no longer have confidence in the integrity of the evidence that underpinned them," he added. "Credibility and honesty are at the heart of the justice system, and we cannot improve community trust without adhering to the highest ethical standards."
According to data compiled by the National Registry of Exonerations, the dismissal of 378 convictions — 47 felonies and 331 misdemeanors — is the sixth largest mass dismissal of convictions in U.S. history.
Gonzalez was scheduled to appear before a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Matthew D'Emic Wednesday afternoon to seek the felony dismissals. The misdemeanor conviction dismissals are expected to begin in Brooklyn Criminal Court later this month.
The Brooklyn investigation followed Gonzalez's decision last year to dismiss 90 convictions that relied on the work of former Detective Joseph Franco, who served in Brooklyn from 2004 to 2011. Franco was indicted in 2019 in Manhattan on perjury and other charges alleging he framed innocent people there. Franco has pleaded not guilty.
That decision not only led other city district attorneys to follow suit, but also sparked a review of past cases that were handled by other police officers who were similarly charged and convicted of misconduct that directly related to their job duties.
The bulk of these 378 cases are misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and other drug offenses, with the second largest category being vehicular and traffic law violations, according to the district attorney's office. The cases originated from arrests that took place between 1999 and 2017, and no one is currently incarcerated as a result of these convictions.
More than 130 cases were tied to former officer Jerry Bowens, who was charged with supplying drugs to an informant and later shot and killed his ex-girlfriend while his criminal case was pending, according to Gonzalez.
Another 60 cases were connected to Eddie Martins, who pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe and official misconduct for releasing a woman from custody in exchange for sexual favors.
Elizabeth Felber, director of the Legal Aid Society's Wrongful Conviction Unit, applauded the district attorney's office's decision on Wednesday, but added that it doesn't change the reality that hundreds "suffered collateral harm" "because of the words of these corrupt police officers."
"Some individuals lost years of their lives serving prison sentences and many suffered collateral harm including housing instability, loss of employment, and severed access to critical services, all because of the words of these corrupt police officers," she said in a statement.
"We urge DA Gonzalez and all of the other New York City District Attorneys to conduct these reviews on an ongoing basis and with full transparency, not just in response to public pressure, but as their duty to 'do justice,'" the director said. "To do otherwise erodes the public's trust in law enforcement and the criminal legal system."
1010 WINS has reached out to the NYPD for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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