NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A Manhattan court is vacating 316 convictions that hinged on work done by NYPD officers convicted of misconduct, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Tuesday.
This is the second wave of vacated Manhattan convictions. Courts vacated 188 in November 2022 as part of a project by Bragg’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit, which has reviewed or is reviewing more than 1,100 cases connected to 22 crooked cops.
The project is a collaboration between the DA’s office and the Legal Aid Society, New York County Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and the Assigned Counsel Plan.
“Today’s announcement makes clear that we are continuing to prioritize investigating and clearing convictions that undermine trust in the criminal justice system,” said Bragg. “This work is essential for improving public safety and achieving fundamental fairness. We cannot stand by convictions that are built on cases brought by members of law enforcement who have violated the law.”
The convictions, which occurred between 1996 and 2017, were overturned on the basis of due process violations.
The misdemeanors were vacated Tuesday, and the felonies are slated for Wednesday.
All of the cases included in this batch were tied to nine former NYPD officers.
-Jason Arbeeny (24 cases) was convicted of falsifying documents and planting drugs on two people. He was sentenced to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service in 2012.
-Johnny Diaz (129 cases) was convicted of accepting bribes and helping to transport cocaine. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018.
-Michael Arenella (21 cases) was convicted of falsifying documents and accepting bribes. He was sentenced to 160 hours of community service in 2009.
-Michael Carsey (26 cases) was convicted of lying under oath and falsifying documents. He was sentenced to 36 days of community service in 2012.
-Nicholas Mina (12 cases) was convicted of selling drugs and guns which he stole from a precinct house. He was sentenced to 15-and-a-half years in prison in 2012.
-Richard Hall (27 cases) was convicted for releasing an 18-year-old woman from custody in exchange for sexual favors. He was sentenced to five years of probation in 2019.
-William Eiseman (56 cases) was convicted of lying under oath and conducting unlawful searches. He was sentenced to three months in jail and five years of probation in 2011.
-Michael Foder (2 cases) was convicted of lying under oath. He was sentenced to three months in jail in 2019.
-Oscar Sandino (19 cases) was convicted for coercing two women in custody to have sex with him. He was sentenced to two years in prison and one year of supervised release in 2011.
“We applaud District Attorney Alvin Bragg for taking further action to vacate convictions involving discredited NYPD officers,” said Elizabeth Felber, supervising attorney of the Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “While we hope that this moment delivers some justice and closure to the New Yorkers impacted by these tactics, the sad reality is that many were forced to suffer incarceration, hefty legal fees, loss of employment, housing instability, severed access to critical benefits and other collateral consequences."
"The Legal Aid Society urges DA Bragg and other local prosecutors to continue to conduct these reviews on a rolling basis with full transparency,” she continued.
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