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Woke DA Darcel Clark’s worst


conviction, dismissal rates reason
Bronx burns
By Jacob Geanous April 29, 2023 12:26pm Updated

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DA Darcel Clark has had the worst conviction and dismissal rates in nearly every major crime category in New York City
over the past half-decade, according to reports.
Robert Miller

No wonder the Bronx is burning.


More On:
the bronx The borough’s woke District Attorney Darcel Clark has the Loni Willison's fall from grace: ex-
itness model-turned-addict
worst conviction and dismissal rates in nearly every major rummages dumpster
NYC home invaders net $40K crime category in New York City over the past half-decade.
after threatening to shoot boy, 5,
pistol-whipping grandma
Clark, 61, also turned down more attempted murder and sex- 68,992
Cop probed for trying to stop ssault arrests over the last five years than every other
bust of alleged drug dealer — prosecutor in the city combined, according to data from the
her boyfriend: sources
state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

NYC sicko who forced 68-year- She declined to prosecute at least 101 attempted-murder
ld woman to perform sex act is
busted: cops arrests of varying degrees since 2018, while the other four
district attorneys refused to take a total of 80 attempted
Young Meghan Markle revealed in
Fordham students claim ‘scary’ homicide arrests among them. secret photos she 'never wanted
wild campus goose causing world to see'
mental anguish: ‘It’s a serious
problem’ Queens was second behind the Bronx, with 37, according to
state data. 49,788

The Bronx prosecutor also rejected 172 rape and 51 sex-


buse arrests of varying degrees during that time period — more than the 166 alleged rapes and equal to
the 51 abuse arrests declined in the four other boroughs combined.

Meanwhile, Clark has the ignominious distinction of being the prosecutor with the lowest conviction rate
for first and second-degree murder arrests, as well as attempted murder, since 2018, according to state
data on closed cases. BLM activist ruined white college
student's life over 'misheard' remark:
report
Clark’s office has secured guilty verdicts in just 60% of murder arrests by law enforcement, compared to
62% in Brooklyn, 66% in both Queens and Staten Island, and 76% in Manhattan, according to the data.

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DA Clark has declined to prosecute more attempted murder cases opened and shut since 2018 than every other district
attorney combined. Daily Front Row
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The Bronx District Attorney was only able to secure convictions in 39% of attempted murder arrests since
2018 that have so far been closed, compared to 54% in Brooklyn, 61% in Manhattan and Queens, and All of Taylor Swift’s
65% in Staten Island, the data. Eras Tour outfits

“I’ve had a number of cases dismissed in Bronx County based on a confluence of events, none of which
involved the merits of the case,” criminal defense lawyer Todd Spodek told The Post. “They were
dismissed based on prosecutors being unable to file certificates of compliance on time, based
Now on
on prosecutors having uncooperative witnesses. It’s never one thing, it’s always a lot of things combined.”

Spodek added that the issue has been worsened by the fraught relationship between the community and
police.

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Steven Mendez was charged with murdering Saikou Koma in October 2021, but the case was tossed due to a
“technicality.”

Saikou Koma’s mother previously told The Post that the fact that Mendez’s case was tossed compounded the pain of
losing her son.

“The Bronx has a population inherently suspect of police, who know people firsthand who have been
victimized by police, and that’s going to play a role,” he said.

Clark’s office considers its conviction rate much higher than state data indicates — 90% for first-degree
murder and 73% for second-degree murder.

That’s because it uses a different definition of an arrest than the


state, which considers it to be when someone is collared and
fingerprinted by cops. Start your day with all
you need to know
The Bronx District Attorney begins tracking cases once they are Morning Report delivers
formally charged in court in an arraignment — not arrested by the latest news, videos,
police. photos and more.

“We dismiss cases or decline prosecutions in situations where Enter your email address
there is not enough evidence to sustain charges, a critical
witness refuses to participate in the process, or new evidence
comes to light,” Patrice O’Shaughnessy, a spokesperson for
Clark’s office said. “It is ultimately a case-by-case exercise of By clicking above you agree to the
justice, fairness, and integrity.” Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Late last month, Clark told the City Council that 2019 discovery
reforms — which she backed at the time — were in part to blame for high dismissal rates in her office.

But data shows that she won convictions in less than a combined quarter of 2018 murder and attempted
murder arrests by her office in that year before the new laws went into effect.

“That’s the problem with all progressive prosecutors … they are backing and advocating for all these
social justice initiatives and they’re using them as a scapegoat to not do their jobs,” Jennifer Harrison,
founder of Victims Rights NY, told The Post.

“What people don’t realize is there’s a correlation between conviction numbers, dismissal numbers, and
the amount of cold-blooded killers walking amongst us,” Harrison said. “That’s why people don’t feel safe
working in a bodega or walking down the streets in the Bronx.”

The Bronx DA’s office also botched the case against a Rikers Island doctor accused of sexually assaulting inmates.
J.C.Rice for NY Post

Rape and attempted rape arrests in the Bronx since 2018 led to convictions in only 26% of cases — less
than half of the rate in Queens and Staten Island, where 60% resulted in guilty verdicts, according to state
data.

The data does not include pending cases that have yet to be adjudicated.

“This issue is beyond party or ideology,” Tess Cohen, a criminal


defense attorney and former prosecutor in New York’s Office of the
see also Special Narcotics Prosecutor who is running to unseat Clark for Bronx
DA, told The Post. “No matter who you are, New Yorkers believe that
anyone committing murder, rape, and sexual assault must be held
accountable. There are many reasons to disagree with DA Clark, on a
number of issues and on her approach, but this is beyond
unacceptable.”

Bronx prosecutors The half-decade of prosecutorial shortcomings culminated in a mutiny


threaten walkout over within Clark’s office last year that was capped off with threats of a
work complaints — but
DA warns of ‘strike’ law “GREAT RESIGNATION” by an anonymous group of rank-and-file
assistant district attorneys.

Clark told the Council last month that she lost 79 attorneys since July
2022 and 152 attorneys in the previous fiscal year — which she called “another collateral impact of the
expanded discovery obligation.”

Clark — who heralded the reforms as necessary in 2019 — reportedly joined other city district attorneys to
push the state legislature to roll back the changes, which were enacted after Bronx teenager Kalief
Browder killed himself in June 2015 after languishing on Rikers Island for three years without a trial for
allegedly stealing a backpack in May 2010.

Clark, who presided over Browder’s case as a judge before becoming the Bronx’s top prosecutor, has
since faced backlash for backpedaling on her push for progressive reforms in early 2019 in the lead-up to
her reelection that November.

“Darcel Clark was the judge that made sure my brother, Kalief Browder, was locked on Rikers Island with
unaffordable bail for three years without a trial and without seeing the evidence in his case,” said Akeem
Browder, Kalief’s brother.

217 What do you think? Post a comment.

Other troubling cases on her resume include:

The murder case against Steven Mendez, an alleged gang member who was 17 when he was
accused of gunning down Saikou Koma, a 21-year-old college student, in Fordham Heights in
October 2021. Mendez and other alleged gang members had reportedly been seeking payback
for a beating one of their members suffered earlier that month. Mendez allegedly shot Koma in the
head in what police sources believed at the time to be a case of mistaken identity. The murder
case against Mendez was tossed on a “technicality” in April 2022 after Clark’s office presented
“improper” and “problematic” testimony from a pair of detectives before a grand jury.
“Technicality?! That is crazy!” Koma’s mother Haja Kaira told The Post after the ruling. “This just
hurts us more.” The Bronx district attorney re-presented their case to a grand jury after the
decision and charges were taken back up against him.
The Bronx district attorney was unable to get a conviction in the high-profile murder of a teen
gunned down at a Sweet 16 birthday party in December 2017. Kameron Wallace, 19, was
arrested in January 2018 and charged with the murder of 16-year-old Sincear Williams outside
Maestro’s Catering Hall. Wallace was accused of opening fire after crashing the party. “I literally
watched my son die and there was nothing I could do about it,” mom Stephanie Garcia said after
her dying son Facetimed her. The case dragged on for years and eventually, Wallace’s fate fell in
the hands of a jury, who did not buy the case Clark’s office presented, and acquitted Wallace of all
charges in October 2021.
Clark’s office botched a 43-count rape and sexual abuse case against Rikers Island physician’s
assistant Sidney Wilson, who was indicted in April 2017 for allegedly assaulting female inmates
seeking medical attention. Clark touted the indictment in a press release , alleging Wilson offered
fast food and gum in exchange for sexual acts from four inmates. The case dragged on for years
and crumbled in June 2021, with all charges dismissed. In a statement following the dismissal, a
spokesperson from Clark’s office said the case “could not be brought into compliance” with
discovery reforms, which require prosecutors to hand over all evidence within 20 to 35 days.

Filed under Darcel Clark district attorneys murders the bronx 4/29/23

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2 People typing

Stevis82
3 hours ago
New Yorkers keep voting for this as a way to tell the rest of the country how open-minded they
re. That's OK since they seem to want it as they keep doing it over and over. What's bad is that
also foist people like Chuck Schumer and AOC upon the rest of us.
Reply 36 Share
1 reply

Ralph 1492
6 hours ago
Unfortunately this will not change, so many Bronx residents don't know any better or different.
hey have accepted this. If you put a white tough on crime DA on a ballot and he promised to
up the streets and put criminals in Jail and turn the Bronx around, he would loose the
by a landslide. It's just a lost cause. It's not changing.
Reply 186 Share

1 replying

the honest locksmith


6 hours ago
It can change. its all the voters fault.
Reply 46 Share

John Doe2022
2 hours ago
Then let them live with it. Why would I care. This is the type of city they want.
Reply 11 Share

Chilli Palmer
5 hours ago
Racism at play, easy to see. The folks that denounce 'racism' the loudest, and point it out
verywhere, are generally the biggest racists. Until Blacks get tired of being crime victims,
played for suckers by the white progressive power brokers, nothing will change.
Reply 113 Share

david lopolito
3 hours ago
Amen. Amen to that !

Reply 14 Share

Marge
1 hour ago
I used to care. Now I just think of it as a thinning of the herd.
Reply 10 Share

Buck Truth
4 hours ago
True, but a big part of the problem is the radical billionaires pouring levels of cash that
re impossible to compete with into these races. It takes cash to win and Republicans
in the same league.

That said, these pro-criminal lunatics have blood on their hands as their crazy criminal-
onsequence-free policies fuel a revolving door of bloodshed. The "reforms" and DAs
efusing to do their jobs don't care how many minorities are killed by the animals they
set free again and again. Until their taxpayer-funded security is revoked, or they
forced to live in these neighborhoods (or voters wake up, or the radical left's cash train
stopped), they will continue to willfully destroy the cities they purport to champion
Reply 14 Share

Mary Beth Teresi


3 hours ago
https://nypost.com/2018/04/10/cuomo-parole-board-appointee-married-to-
onvicted-murderer/
Reply 5 Share

John Doe2022
4 hours ago
As long as they have to live with it. I don’t care.
Reply 15 Share

KJM
3 hours ago
Should read "only they" but yes
Reply 4 Share

undefined undefined
3 hours ago
The Bronx isn't Staten Island or vice-versa. It is, however, the lowest income population
nd portions have always been the arm pit of NYC. Fix this and maybe things might start
get better.
Reply 3 Share

Trekker2
2 hours ago
Same situation in Chicago!
Reply 10 Share

Jimmy Mahon
2 hours ago
Nothing will change it’s a accepted way of life in these communities NYC and Chicago had
chance for change not a chance
Reply 6 Share

Common Sense New Yorker


1 hour ago
Agreed. It's one lost generation after another. It is a doomed cause no matter how much
oney government spends, no matter how loud BLM is, no matter how loud Sharpton is,
matter how loud the progressives left is, no matter how loud...... whatever liberal
you want to fill in, is.
Reply 5 Share

Dale Griffin
5 hours ago
The globalist parasites who back these progressive judges are intentionally trying to
their host country like they always do.
Reply 30 Share

John Doe2022
4 hours ago
Yup. Story goes back thousands of years. The behavior is so hard to explain.
Reply 13 Share

GMoney
26 minutes ago
As long as the black criminals continue to outnumber the law-abiding blacks, this won’t

Reply Share

R Valera
4 hours ago
The only way this works is by breaking the power of the NYC central government as it is. I
ould argue that even 1 million people are too many for one municipality to govern. The city is
divided that a centralized system works for no one. Split- Up the City. Let each Boro run
own budget and fund their own services. Remember Brooklyn was it's own city once.
Reply 10 Share

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