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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
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
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.
Columnists
Steve Cuozzo
Michael Starr
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.
“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.
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.
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
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
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
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
43 People Reacted
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