12 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 4, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
police beat COMPILED BY BILL PARRY AND JENNA BAGCAL
101st Precinct
Far Rockaway and Bayswater
Far Rockaway man
released from prison after
armed robbery conviction
was vacated: DA
With his harrowing 26-year odyssey
through the New York criminal
justice system now behind him, Chad
Breland was home with his family in Far
Rockaway aft er spending more than half
his life behind bars for crimes he did not
commit.
Breland was released from prison
Friday, Oct. 15, aft er Queens District
Attorney Melinda Katz fi led a joint
motion with the defense to vacate his
conviction and 15-year sentence in a
1995 armed home invasion.
Queens Supreme Court Justice
Michelle Johnson granted the motion
and dismissed the indictment “at the
People’s request,” and hours later, Breland
walked out of prison a free man.
Th e motion cited newly discovered evidence
uncovered by the DA’s Conviction
Integrity Unit (CIU) that both implicates
another man in the crime and undermines
the identifi cations relied on at trial
to convict Breland.
Th e CIU’s investigation stemmed from
the discovery of an April 2000 fi ngerprint
report connecting another man to
the crime scene. Other evidence developed
in the CIU’s investigation further
implicated the man, and not Breland, to
the crime.
Although the April 2000 fi ngerprint
report was forwarded to the 101st
Precinct in Far Rockaway and other
NYPD offi cials at the time, the Queens
district attorney’s offi ce was never notifi
ed of the fi ngerprint identifi cation.
Th e Conviction Integrity Unit has now
vacated nine convictions since it was
formed by Katz aft er she took offi ce in
2020.
“Th e discovery of new forensic evidence
has raised serious questions about
the conviction of Mr. Breland more than
two decades ago,” Katz said. “Th e fi ngerprint
report at issue did not exist at
the time of Mr. Breland’s trial and was
never forwarded to the district attorney’s
offi ce. In light of the new evidence, justice
requires vacating Breland’s conviction.
Our offi ce has also taken steps to
ensure that, in the future, similar fi ngerprint
evidence developed by the NYPD
Latent Print Section aft er a case is closed
is forwarded to our offi ce in a timely
manner.”
At a consolidated trial in September
1997, Breland was also convicted of a second
robbery under a separate indictment
number. He was sentenced to a consecutive
15-year term for the second robbery
under that indictment which is not
the subject of the joint motion. Th e CIU
also determined that Breland’s alibi was
supported by the mother of his children
and another witness, neither of whom
were called by the defense of his trial,
and that the fi ngerprints found at the
crime scene belonged to the same confi -
dential informer who implicated Breland
to investigators from the 101st Precinct.
Th e snitch had been indicted for a serious
felony at the time he implicated Breland,
and he was under pressure “to produce
results,” according to court documents.
Because Breland has completed his
15-year term on the remaining indictment,
he was released from prison
on Oct. 15 from the Woodbourne
Correctional Facility in upstate Sullivan
County, according to his attorney Justin
Bonus, who picked up Breland’s case in
2016.
“While we commend the actions of
Melinda Katz and the Conviction
Integrity Unit for the work they have
done in Chad’s case, this is a prime example
of how the unchecked discretion of
the police leads to a wrongful conviction,”
Bonus said. “Here, there was no
oversight with regard to the NYPD’s use
of a confi dential informant, who framed
Chad Breland. Once the police had Mr.
Breland’s name, which was supplied by
the informant, they immediately arrested
and continued on with the case even
aft er the fi ngerprints found at the scene
eliminated Chad. Ultimately, those fi ngerprints
were found to be a match to the
informant.”
Bonus added that his client had studied
law during his incarceration and will
now work to help win the release of other
individuals who have been wrongly convicted
of crimes they did not commit.
105th Precinct
Queens Village, Cambria Heights,
Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfi eld
Gardens, Bellerose, Glen Oaks,
New Hyde Park and Floral Park
Rosedale couple facing 20
years in prison after weapons
stockpile found in home
A Rosedale couple was charged with
illegal possession and sale of fi rearms,
according to Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz.
Lisette Espinal, 32, and Ricardi Kiem,
31, both of Hook Creek Boulevard, were
arraigned Friday, Oct. 15, before Queens
Criminal Court Judge Eugene Guarino on
a 39-count criminal complaint charging
them with criminal possession of a weapon,
criminal sale of a fi rearm, endangering
the welfare of a child and other crimes
for allegedly having a stockpile of illegal
weapons in their home.
Kiem was allegedly assembling
“untraceable ghost guns” in their basement
shared with their child, prosecutors
said. As alleged, the NYPD was conducting
an ongoing investigation and requested
a search warrant on Oct. 12 for the
home of Kiem.
On Th ursday, Oct. 14, law enforcement
executed the court-authorized warrant
on the Hook Creek home where both
defendants were present, along with their
10-year-old daughter. Tools and contraband
were allegedly recovered from the
couple’s bedroom and there were also fi rearms
and components of fi rearms found
in the dresser drawer of the youngster’s
bedroom, according to prosecutors.
Police seized fi ve fully assembled 9mm
pistols, a fully assembled .22-caliber pistol,
parts required to assemble three additional
9mm pistols, four large-capacity
magazines and approximately 650 rounds
of ammunition of various calibers and
other fi rearm-related components in the
couple’s basement, according to the charges.
Katz said assembly and storage of the
fi rearms were allegedly in plain view of
the child in the home they all shared. Th e
city’s License and Permit database showed
that Kiem does not have a license to possess
or own fi rearms in New York City and
he is also not licensed to carry a fi rearm.
“Ghost guns are essentially homemade
weapons that can be assembled by anyone
without background checks or any other
oversight,” Katz said. “Th ose who seek to
enrich themselves by selling these deadly
fi rearms are literally lining their pockets
with blood money. Take this warning
seriously: We will continue to relentlessly
go aft er backstreet gun dealers to keep our
neighborhoods safe.”
Judge Guarino ordered the defendants
to return to court on Nov. 3. Espinal and
Kiem face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
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