Your Weekly Update – December 30, 2020

Dear Friends and Neighbors, As we come to the end of a year that has been unlike any other in the modern times of Queens County (and, indeed, of our city, our country and the world), I want to take this opportunity to offer my best wishes…(Continued)

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TWO BUSINESS OWNERS CHARGED WITH $2.6 MILLION FRAUD AGAINST NEW YORK STATE INSURANCE FUND

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell and New York State Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro, today announced that Manuel Sanchez and his business Lagos Construction have been charged with grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly failing to pay insurance premiums of…

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TWO MEN INDICTED BY QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY ON KIDNAPPING CHARGES IN BOTCHED HOME INVASION IN RICHMOND HILL

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that defendants Tex Ortiz and Wilbert Wilson have been indicted and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on a 15-count indictment charging them with  kidnapping, burglary and other crimes for allegedly taking five people hostage at gunpoint – including a nine-month-old infant – during a botched home invasion in…

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WOMAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME IN REGO PARK ASSAULT

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Giselle DeJesus has been charged with assault as a hate crime and other charges for allegedly attacking a couple outside of their Rego Park home in front of their two children on November 6. District Attorney Katz said, “Hate crimes are unacceptable. The defendant allegedly took part…

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TWO DRIVERS CHARGED IN SEPARATE DEADLY CRASHES

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Christian Carrion-Rivera, 26, has been charged with possessing stolen property and fleeing the scene of an incident without reporting a death for a 9 a.m. car crash on Tuesday. The DA also announced that Jason Bical, 34, has been charged with vehicular assault, drunk driving and other…

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STATEMENT BY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ

Today, in court, this Office joined in a motion to vacate two significant convictions from over twenty years ago. This decision is based on clear evidence of unconstitutional discrimination in jury selection.  Specifically, a set of notes found in the trial files of a single ADA, who resigned from the office in the late 1990s,…

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CITING EVIDENCE OF IMPROPER DISCRIMINATION IN JURY SELECTION BY AN ADA IN THE 1990S, QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY FILES JOINT MOTION WITH DEFENSE TO REVERSE TWO CONVICTIONS

Citing decades-old evidence of improper discrimination based on race, sex, religion, and ethnicity in jury selection, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that she has filed a joint motion with the defense counsel at the law firm Covington & Burling, LLP, to vacate the convictions of Santiago Valdez and Paul Morant.  Both men were…

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DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN STABBING DEATH OF LONG ISLAND MAN

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that John Daves, 34, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the September 2018 stabbing death of a 25-year-old Long Island man, who was patronizing a food cart in Jackson Heights, Queens when he was attacked. District Attorney Katz said, “A minor dispute while ordering at a food cart escalated…

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QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY INDICTS HOMELESS MAN IN SHOOTING DEATH OF DELI WORKER

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Steven Cohen, 63, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder, attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and other charges for allegedly shooting and killing a 26-year-old deli worker on October 26, 2020. District Attorney Katz said, “The…

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LONG ISLAND MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER IN DEATH OF PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND WHOSE BODY WAS PULLED FROM AUTO AND DUMPED ON QUEENS EXPRESSWAY

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Goey Charles, 30, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and was arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges in the October death of his pregnant girlfriend. District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant is accused of committing a despicable, irreparable act of domestic violence –…

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