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The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office botched the case of a former NYPD detective. Joseph Franco was on trial for allegedly “framing innocent people by lying about seeing drug deals go down.” The prosecutor dropped the action suddenly on Tuesday. That means an allegedly crooked cop walks free because of evidence that “violated” discovery requirements. DA Alvin Bragg isn’t saying much more.
Case dismissed for mistakes
Without specifying exactly “what violations had occurred or what evidence was involved,” the Manhattan District Attorney dropped the perjury and official misconduct case against Joseph Franco.
It was being handled by assistant district attorney Stephanie Minogue. She’s now been “removed from her role as the Deputy Chief of the Police Accountability Unit.”
Franco was a 20-year NYPD veteran accused of “falsely claiming he saw drug deals go down in three separate cases in 2017 and 2018, claims which led to criminal convictions.” Those convictions were thrown right back out. Along with practically every other case he ever worked on.
Former NYPD officer Joseph Franco of NYPD was charged with faking evidence of crimes, causing the DA to reverse hundreds of convictions. Then, in prosecution of Franco, the prosecutor failed to turn over evidence to defense, resulting in dismissal of case. https://t.co/S83jsYSpeS pic.twitter.com/rY6XZAygTm
— Dr. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) February 1, 2023
“His indictment in 2019 has led to dozens of other cases being tossed in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx that relied on him to get a conviction.” His attorney is thrilled but still not satisfied.
Defense lawyer Howard Tanner relates that his client was “relieved at the outcome.” He would have won the case anyway, the attorney declares.
“The dismissal of all charges against Joe due to the DA’s repeated withholding and destruction of evidence, misrepresentations on the record and other ethical violations only accelerated an inevitable acquittal by the jury, who stated after they were released, that they intended to acquit my client due to the lack of credible evidence.”
Reputation still tarnished
Because the case got dismissed over legal technicalities, rather than the merits, that leaves a shadow hanging over the head of officer Franco.
Tanner ponders to reporters, “but how does he get his reputation back? A decorated police officer who honorably served this city for 20 years, he never did anything wrong.” Legally, he can get away with saying that because the prosecutor totally blew it.
Franco was canned by the NYPD “in 2020 after he was found guilty of lying during an administrative trial, which has a lower threshold of guilt.” Citizens of New York need reassurance that “law enforcement, including prosecutors, are acting with the utmost integrity.” The DA’s office claims they try to “hold ourselves accountable to that standard.”
Rogue Manhattan DA's perjury case against NYPD Detective Joseph Franco dismissed. ADA withheld Franco’s defense team with evidence, cell data reports connected to perps arrested for drug sales & other discovery violations. ADA was removed from her post. https://t.co/jFnS308K2m
— Blue Lives Matter 💎 (@RetiredNYCPD) January 31, 2023
It doesn’t make the job of law enforcement any easier when the cops aren’t held accountable for their crimes. At the same time, this case underscores the need for more cops, so the ones we have aren’t stretched so thin they’re forced to cut corners.
According to an official press release, “the Assistant District Attorney handling the prosecution has been removed from her post as Deputy Unit Chief. The General Counsel’s Office will also conduct a root-cause analysis.”
Now that this case is over, it just uprooted the convictions of a bunch more. “The Post-Conviction Justice Unit will continue its ongoing review of cases affected by former Detective Franco’s misconduct, which has thus far resulted in the vacatur of more than 100 Manhattan convictions.“
