‘Murder’ moniker mars latest DA debate
Attorney uses nickname against judge in criticizing conviction record as race gets vitrolic
(Right to left) Mina Malik, Betty Lugo, Gregory Lasak, Councilman Rory Lancman, Melinda Katz and Tiffany Caban at a Monday forum. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
BY MARK HALLUM
Retired Judge Gregory
Lasak was confronted
by a fellow Democrat for
his reputation under the
unofficial appellation of
“Mr. Murder” during some
of his tenure serving in the
Queens district attorney’s
office at a Monday
night candidates forum
in Sunnyside.
Mina Malik squared
off against Lasak near
the end of the forum at
Sunnyside Community
Services not only regarding
his nickname but also in
challenging Lasak’s claim
that he created a unit
for identifying wrongly
convicted individuals.
“Judge Lasak, you were
the number three in the
office of the Queens district
attorney. Your nickname
was ‘Mr. Murder,’” Malik
said followed by murmurs
throughout the auditorium.
“Your nickname was Mr.
Murder, it’s in the newspaper
I believe, and you said that
you started a ‘wrong man
unit.’ I was in the office for
15 years, I never heard of
the ‘wrong man unit.’ So my
question is, that with your
record, why are you talking
about progressive criminal
justice reform when you
were in the office for 25
years, as the number three,
nicknamed Mr. Murder
and supposedly the head
of the ‘wrong man unit,’
how can the public to trust
you to implement criminal
justice reform?”
Lasak said the first time
he had ever heard himself
referred to by that name
was in the headline of a
New York Times Sunday
special spread.
“I’ve been called other
things, but not Mr. Murder,”
Lasak responded. “You can
trust me because when it was
not popular, before anyone
had ever thought of the
term ‘conviction integrity
unit,’ I was working on
wrongfully convicted, or
arrested and indicted men’s
cases for a long, long time.
I didn’t start any unit, as
you know late District
Attorney Richard Brown
never wanted to form a unit.
You know that, you know
that. I never said I started a
unit. You were there, I was
your boss. We worked in the
Special Victims Unit.”
Lasak further argued that
he had worked on wrongful
convictions quietly with 20
other men and that there
was no official unit.
Lasak boasts over 40
years of experience, a
f lex none of his six other
opponents in the primary
race can match, but has
recently challenged
Borough President Melinda
Katz’s ability to lead
the large office having
no prosecutorial experience
apart from being
an attorney.
Challenges against one
another’s track record has
not been solely confined to
Lasak, Malik and Katz.
Jose Nieves, who has
worked as a prosecutor
for 18 years, has twice
questioned Tiffany Cabán’s
seemingly humble seven
years in the court room as
a public defender.
Lasak, Malik, Katz,
Rory, Cabán and Nieves
all made the June 25 ballot
alongside Councilman Rory
Lancman and prosecutor
Betty Lugo.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4564.
TIMESLEDGER is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 41-02 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY. 11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2018. All rights reserved. The newspaper will not be
liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y.. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the TimesLedger C/O News Queens
CNG LLC. 41-02 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.
2 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 7-13, 2019 QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
link
