NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz petitioned the court to vacate over 40 convictions on Thursday due to the involvement of a detective later convicted of perjury.
After former NYPD Detective James Donovan pleaded guilty in 2023 to perjury before a Queens grand jury, the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit conducted an extensive review of his previous cases.
“We cannot stand behind a conviction where the essential witness was a law enforcement officer convicted of a crime that irreparably impaired his credibility,” Katz said. “After an unflinching review proactively conducted by my Conviction Integrity Unit, I believe it is necessary to take this step to protect the public’s confidence in the justice system.”
The Conviction Integrity Unit identified 46 cases and contacted the Legal Aid Wrongful Conviction Unit to file joint motions to overturn the convictions. These are part of 148 convictions dismissed after the unit's reviews since 2020. Of these, 132 were dismissed due to the unreliable police work of former detectives later convicted of job-related crimes that undermined their credibility.
In May 2023, Donovan pleaded guilty to perjury. According to the motion, on Aug. 11, 2021, Donovan testified under oath that he arrested a wanted individual in November 2020, claiming he found the person sleeping in a car and discovered a loaded firearm during the arrest.
However, Donovan later admitted his testimony was false during an interview with a prosecutor preparing the case for a hearing. Subsequent interviews confirmed that while Donovan was at the address, another detective made the arrest outside of Donovan’s presence. Due to Donovan’s false testimony, the District Attorney’s Office had to dismiss the gun charges against the individual.