NEW YORK (AP) — A perjury case against a former Recent York City narcotics detective was thrown out mid-trial Tuesday after prosecutors acknowledged failing to show over evidence as required to his defense.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office also said it was demoting the prosecutor who handled the case, which had accused ex-detective Joseph Franco of lying about witnessing drug deals. Due to the charges, tons of of drug cases he’d worked were dismissed in the previous few years because prosecutors disavowed them.
“Recent Yorkers must know that law enforcement, including prosecutors, are acting with the utmost integrity. We hold ourselves accountable to that standard,” Manhattan DA’s office spokesperson Douglas Cohen said in an announcement.
It said evidence disclosure within the case “violated our discovery requirements.” Discovery is a legal term for documents and other material that prosecutors are legally certain to share with defendants’ attorneys so that they can prepare their clients’ response.
The statement didn’t detail what evidence had been improperly held back, and the case was sealed upon dismissal. A request for comment was sent to Franco’s attorney, Howard Tanner, who told local media in statements that the DA’s office had engaged in “repeated withholding and destruction of evidence, misrepresentations on the record and other ethical violations.”
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“But how does he get his popularity back?” asked Tanner, who said his client had never done anything mistaken during his decorated 20-year police profession.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors said video contradicted Franco’s claims to have seen illegal drug sales on several occasions. Tanner said the previous detective might need flubbed some location details but didn’t deliberately lie and was “on trial for doing his job.”
A judge dismissed the fees Tuesday at Tanner’s request and with prosecutors’ consent.
The fees involved a handful of cases but spurred prosecutors in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx to disavow a complete of tons of of other convictions in cases involving Franco. The prosecutors didn’t say they’d found evidence of alleged perjury in those cases, but they said they couldn’t stand behind his work.
The Manhattan DA’s office said it was continuing to review Franco’s cases. The Brooklyn DA’s office declined to comment; a message was sent to Bronx prosecutors.
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