DA seeks to vacate convictions for 27 people after officers' "secret recordings" revealed
A New York district attorney said that she will seek to vacate the convictions and charges of over two dozen people who allegedly sold drugs to undercover officers in her region after a conviction review unit found a "pattern of inconsistencies, errors and disclosure issues" in the operation.
Miriam E. Rocah, the district attorney for Westchester County, about an hour outside of New York City, said in a news release Wednesday that a criminal investigation into the Mount Vernon Police Department's Narcotics Division had begun after "secretly-recorded conversations among various" officers and complaints from the public came to light. Mount Vernon is part of Westchester County. The district's Conviction Review Unit, which Rocah established, also examined the cases in a seperate investigation.
"My Conviction Review Unit conducted an exhaustive examination into certain Mount Vernon police narcotics prosecutions," Rocah said. "The Conviction Review Unit's review uncovered inconsistencies, reliability concerns, and significant disclosure issues that leave me unable to stand by the prosecutions connected to the Mount Vernon Police Department's 2017 undercover narcotics operation. As a result, I will seek to vacate these convictions and dismiss the charges. Though rare, wrongful convictions erode community trust and the public's faith in the criminal justice system."
In 2017, the Mount Vernon Police Department conducted an undercover narcotics operation that involved officers purchasing narcotics from suspects. Thirty-two people were charged. Five cases were dismissed before the review unit's investigation: Three had "significant issues with the evidence," Rocah's office said. In the other two cases, the individuals completed diversion programs.
Of the 27 cases that were not dismissed, 26 were resolved by pleas. Eleven cases involved felony charges, while 16 were misdemeanor cases. One case remains open. Sixteen individuals spent time in jail or state prison, and the other 10 received "non-custodial sentences," including probation or conditional discharges. None of those 16 individuals are still incarcerated, the district attorney's office said.
The case report from the Conviction Review Unit described the cases against the 32 people charged as "unreliable."
"Indeed, a review of the prosecution files stemming from the Operation revealed that many of the cases had either no corroboration, or no sufficiently reliable corroboration, of the reported drug sale, such as a report or other indication that a narcotics transaction was actually observed by anyone other than the undercover, or, in certain cases, a confidential informant," the report said.
The criminal investigation into the department's Narcotics Division did not result in criminal charges because the secret recordings are not admissible in court and key witnesses would not cooperate. An integrity report conducted by the Law Enforcement Integrity Bureau of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office outlined those challenges, but stated that the investigation looked at allegations of excessive force, unlawful searches, misidentification of suspects and more.
The report said that in addition to the vacation of convictions, Rocah had referred the allegations to the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the police department for potential civil rights violations. In 2021, the Department of Justice announced it would conduct an investigation, which is ongoing.
The report also said that there will be "structural and systemic changes" in the Westchester County District Attorney's Office to have "robust, centralized, supervisory oversight for large-scale operations and investigations." The office also established a Discovery Bureau, which will coordinate the disclosure of materials to defense attorneys. These steps, the officer said, will "increase prosecutorial accountability and efficient communication in order to prevent disclosure issues in the first place."
"I understand that people may be confused and possibly even disappointed by the lack of criminal charges after hearing the secretly-recorded conversations among certain Mount Vernon police officers. We could not rely on the allegations contained on the recordings as evidence in a court of law. Additionally, our criminal investigation was hampered by significant hurdles, such as recantations by an officer who was heard on the recordings alleging corruption, and lack of cooperation by some law enforcement and key witnesses," Rocah said. "As a result of this investigation, and the findings by my Conviction Review Unit, I am proud of the subsequent actions we have taken to help restore even a measure of public faith in our justice system."