There might be welcome home parties soon for as many as 60 people currently locked up in New York because of an investigation into police misconduct. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has asked the New York Supreme Court to vacate the questionable convictions, which involved lying and other misconduct by three members of NY’s “finest”, according to a Fox 5 report.
The former cops have since been tried and convicted for crimes—ranging from perjury to sexually assaulting people they had in custody—that they committed while on-duty.
From Fox 5:
The following three former detectives were the essential witnesses in these initial 60 cases:
● Former NYPD Detective Kevin Desormeau was convicted of perjury after lying about witnessing a drug sale that videotaped evidence showed did not take place. He also pleaded guilty after he fabricated the facts of a gun possession arrest. Desormeau was terminated by the NYPD and there are 34 cases the district attorney says should be dismissed based on his role as the essential witness.
● Former NYPD Detective Sasha Cordoba pled guilty in Manhattan to perjury relating to her fabricating the facts of a gun possession arrest. Cordoba was terminated by the NYPD. 20 cases will be requested to be dismissed based on Cordoba’s role as the essential witness.
● Former NYPD Detective Oscar Sandino pled guilty to federal charges related to the sexual assault and other sexual misconduct involving arrestees while working as an NYPD detective. In one case he sexually abused an arrestee in the bathroom of the 110th precinct in Queens County. Sandino was terminated by the NYPD and six cases are being asked to be dismissed based on Sandino’s role as the essential witness.
You won’t be surprised that this isn’t the first time New York cops’ (and let’s face it, cops in lots of other places) behavior has led to problems with convictions. This past April, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez punted more than 50 drug convictions because of just one former cop, Joseph Franco. Franco’s perjury conviction involved another case but he had apparently lied so much that the Brooklyn DA didn’t trust any case he’d testified in, according to ABC News.
In fact, problems with convictions and the high cost of misconduct settlements are part of the ethos of the police reform movement. Police departments in 31 major cities paid out more than $3 billion over the last decade to settle up for cop misconduct, according to a report from FiveThirtyEight.
There’s something that sounds like it’s worth defunding.