Were you arrested and wrongly convicted of a crime in Brooklyn? Was your conviction overturned in the recent mass exoneration by the Brooklyn District Attorney? If so, you might have a civil rights claim against the City of New York. The New York civil rights attorneys at Hach & Rose, LLP are investigating allegations of civil rights violations by those wrongly convicted of felonies due to police misconduct. We’ll be ready to fight for you.
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez recently announced that his office would overturn 378 convictions in one of U.S. history’s largest mass case dismissals. All 378 convictions were based on testimony from NYPD officers implicated in serious crimes related to their job duties. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time in recent memory that the Brooklyn DA’s office has tossed out convictions due to police misconduct.
Recent Examples of Police Misconduct in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn DA’s Conviction Review Unit found that 13 dirty cops had provided essential evidence in 378 cases that led to convictions. Of the 378 convictions, 331 were for misdemeanor offenses. While 47 were felonies. Most arrests involved drug or traffic-related offenses. None of the alleged offenders are still incarcerated. The DA’s office didn’t uncover evidence of misconduct in any of the 378 cases. They did find that all the cases centered around testimony supplied by officers who committed crimes such as perjury, disorderly conduct, deprivation of civil rights, conspiracy, and in one case, murder.
Bad cops
Four 13 officers were implicated in the Brooklyn South Narcotics corruption scandal in the late 2010s. Those four officers made nearly half of the 378 arrests (191). Two officers, who performed 78 of the arrests, pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe and releasing a female detainee from custody in exchange for sexual favors in 2017. Because these officers had committed misconduct on the job, DA Eric Gonzalez said that he had lost confidence in the integrity of the convictions.
This latest review was prompted by another wave of exonerations in April 2021. That’s when the Brooklyn DA’s office dismissed 90 convictions that former Detective Joseph Franco contributed to. Franco was indicted on multiple counts of perjury in Manhattan.
From January 1 to July 26, 2022, the City paid out $68 million in lawsuits over police misconduct, according to a Brooklyn Daily Eagle report published in early August. According to the report, the amount of money paid to victims of police misconduct in 2022 could eclipse the total the city paid out in 2021 ($87,535,727) by the end of the year. It may potentially exceed $115 million. In 2022, one of the biggest payouts involved two NYPD officers who were sued by a young New Yorker who was left paralyzed due to police misconduct.
Were You a Victim of Police Misconduct in Brooklyn?
If law enforcement officers violated your civil rights or you were wrongfully convicted due to police misconduct, you could be entitled to seek compensation. Common types of police misconduct include:
- Miranda rights violations
- Use of excessive force
- Illegal search and seizure of your home or vehicle
- Police brutality/assault (including inmates assaulted by police)
- Racial profiling
- Falsifying evidence to secure a conviction
While some police officers take the oath to protect and serve and do so responsibly. Those who commit crimes or violate the rights of others need to be held accountable.
Contact Hach & Rose, LLP
If you’ve been the victim of police misconduct in Brooklyn, contact a New York civil rights attorney at Hach & Rose, LLP today for a free, confidential case review to discuss your legal options. You can reach our office at (212) 779-0057 or via a contact form.