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QUEENS WEEKLY, JANUARY 5, 2020
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz is set to begin her tenure as Queens District Attorney. Photo by Mark Hallum
Incoming Queens DA Katz seeks to
fulfi ll vows of ‘sweeping changes’
BY MARK HALLUM
As we enter the new
year, Melinda Katz is moving
from her borough president’s
office to the district
attorney’s office.
Katz is the first new
Queens DA in 28 years; the
late Richard Brown held
the office from 1991 until
his death in May of this
year. Since Brown’s demise,
John Ryan has served as
the borough’s acting chief
prosecutor.
But what policy changes
is Katz planning for her
new role?
A conviction integrity
unit was one policy she
said she would still implement
on a recent episode of
the Brian Lehrer Show on
WNYC – an apparatus she
plans to wield in big cases
where public doubt around
decisions has been made
clear.
“There is such a thing
as justice for defendants
and justice for victims. I
think during the campaign
it became such a misnomer;
people thought it was one or
the other,” Katz said. “But
it’s also the attitude of the
assistant district attorneys
and district attorney who
heads the office.”
Lehrer asked if the proposed
conviction integrity
unit would consider the
case of Chanel Lewis, who
was found guilty in the
spring of murdering Howard
Beach jogger Karina
Vetrano in August 2016.
Exculpatory evidence
revealed in the late stages
of Lewis’ trial claimed DNA
swabs and other evidence
suggested to some that Lewis
did not fit the description
of the perp.
Deputy Chief Michael
Kemper said at several
meetings that the perps
initially sought for the Vetrano
murder were two
“jacked up” white men from
Howard Beach, and another
police official repeatedly
called for the DNA swabbing
of all white men in the
area, according to an anonymous
letter from an NYPD
source.
But Lewis, whose DNA
was linked nearly six
months after the murder to
evidence found at the crime
scene, was convicted, and is
now serving a sentence of
life without parole.
“I believe we’re going to
look at this and see how the
conviction integrity unit
feels about this case as well,
but it is ongoing,” Katz said.
Amid rumors, reported
by Lehrer, that many of
Katz’ new chief assistants
have been sourced from
Brown’s old staff, the incoming
DA brushed off
suspicion that Brown’s lessthan
progressive approach
to criminal justice would
live on.
“At the end of the day, it’s
ultimately my policies or no
policy – or the highway,”
Katz said.
With new discovery laws
going into effect in 2020,
DA’s will no longer be able
to withhold evidence from
the defense while building
a case. This was a reform
pushed by many of the candidates
in the seven person
field in the Democratic primary,
including Tiffany
Cabán who nearly upset
Katz’ presumptive victory
as the county party choice.
Katz announced that she
will implement a policy in
the Queens DA’s office that
only gave defendants five
days to waive their right
to a grand jury, taking the
opportunity to plea bargain
out of the equation after
that period.
“Defendants won’t
have to waive their 180.80
rights. The constitutional
rights to make sure that you
have speedy grand jury to
make sure you are indicted
in a timely fashion,” Katz
said. “When you get arrested
for a felony and you
couldn’t get the grand jury
within five days and you
waived your right to have
that, it really tied the hands
of the attorneys to be able to
plea, to be able to negotiate
and to be able to talk about
how we end up in a fair and
just way.”
Bail reform also takes effect
on Jan. 1 and Katz said
the office is already prepared
for the change which
will no longer require defendants
to pay up.
Pre-charge diversion
and other jail alternatives
will be offered, Katz said,
eliminating the need detentions
and bail.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4564.
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