Action Brings to 324 the Convictions Reliant on Joseph Franco That Have Been Dismissed After Review by Bronx DA’s Conviction Integrity Bureau
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx judge has dismissed the last of 324 Bronx cases connected to former NYPD Detective Joseph Franco, whose termination from the force over making false statements about narcotics arrests spurred a longterm investigation by the Conviction Integrity Bureau.
District Attorney Clark said, “This is Justice with Integrity. After the detective was fired by the NYPD in April 2020, my Conviction Integrity Bureau did an exhaustive review of Bronx cases hinging on the former detective’s testimony and sworn statements. Prosecutors had relied on evidence from someone with compromised credibility, and the District Attorney cannot stand behind these convictions.”
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Margaret Martin on September 6, 2023 granted the motion by defense attorneys and joined by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office to dismiss 67 cases against defendants who were charged between 2011 and 2015, when Franco was an undercover narcotics detective in the Bronx. Thirty-three of those convictions were for fourth-degree Criminal Facilitation, 24 were for seventh- degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, nine were for marijuana offenses that are no longer considered crimes, and one conviction was for second-degree Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia.
Franco was indicted in New York County in 2019 on perjury and other charges. That case was dismissed.
The review of Franco’s cases was conducted by Assistant District Attorney Risa Gerson, Chief of the Conviction Integrity Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Russell of the Conviction Integrity Bureau. District Attorney Clark thanked Trial Preparation Assistant Kayla Santiago of the Conviction Integrity Bureau for her assistance in the case.
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