Drug Possession Conviction Vacated and Dismissed Due to Brady Violation
In this Queens County case, the prosecutor never disclosed to the defense that the police officer who allegedly saw a hand-to-hand drug sale and recovered the drugs was on an internal “do not call list” and was being actively investigated in Manhattan and Queens for perjury and planting evidence (the officer was eventually convicted of both). Rather than disclosing the officer’s pattern of misconduct, the prosecutor did not call him as a witness at the suppression hearing or at trial, and instead relied on the testimony of his partner. But, in an attempt to shield the absent officer, the partner told an entirely different account at the suppression hearing and at trial than what he had testified to before the grand jury, claimed that he had witnessed the entire incident, and maintained the grand jury stenographer had erroneously transcribed his testimony. After our office reached out to the Conviction Integrity Unit, which investigated the matter, the Queens County District Attorney consented to vacatur and dismissal.
David Fitzmaurice represented Mr. Stuckey
