Prosecutors asked the judge in Herring’s case to dismiss the charges after a Brooklyn judge had given the police an entire month to produce this mystery informant and nothing happened.
“The case is dismissed and sealed,” said Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo.
Herring said he was happy he wouldn’t be going to jail for 15 years.
“I have a beautiful dog to take care of,” he said afterwards.
“We will investigate the arrest of Mr. Herring and other arrests by these officers because of the serious questions raised by this case,” District Attorney Ken Thompson said in a statement.
In one case, a man was jailed for a year awaiting trial and pled guilty in exchange for time served, but the judge in that case said the police’s version of events was hard to believe and that one of the detectives was evasive on the stand. In another case, a judge went as far as saying that they believe the cops lied under oath. Several other men arrested by that group of accused cops have already been cleared.
New York’s Legal Aid Society and the Brooklyn Defenders Services, both who represent people who can’t afford an attorney, are also reviewing their cases of illegal gun possessions to see if they pass muster after the allegations against the police officers came to light last year. That means many more convictions could be up in the air.
The New York Police Department’s Internal Affairs division is also conducting its own investigation.
