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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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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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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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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QUEENS GRAND JURY INDICTS MAN IN STABBING DEATH OF HIS WIFE

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Manuel Villar, 50, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes for fatally stabbing to death his wife in the apartment they shared with their sons. The slaying occurred early in the morning in…

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TWO MEN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING FOLLOWING HOME INVASION

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that defendants Tex Ortiz and Wilbert Wilson have been charged with kidnapping, burglary and other crimes for allegedly taking five people hostage – including a nine-month-old infant and a 92-year-old woman. The defendants are accused of bursting into a Richmond Hill home this past Tuesday and demanding money…

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QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ FILES JOINT MOTION WITH DEFENSE TO VACATE MURDER CONVICTION AND RELEASE A MAN INCARCERATED FOR NEARLY 26 YEARS

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that she has filed a joint motion with the defense to vacate the murder conviction of Ernest “Jaythan” Kendrick, who has been incarcerated for nearly 26 years. This motion is based on newly discovered witnesses and the results of agreed-upon DNA analysis, which contradict significant aspects of the…

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DA Katz Photo Kendrick Case

QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ with a team of investigators and staff from the Office’s Conviction Integrity Unit visiting the crime scene where a 70-year-old woman was stabbed to death in 1995 on the grounds of the Ravenswood Houses.

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