The lawyer for a man suing the Brooklyn District Attorney's
Office for damages connected to a wrongful-murder conviction requested that a
federal judge sanction the prosecutor's office for failing to turn over emails
its officials exchanged with producers of the television show "Brooklyn
DA."
Attorney Joel Rudin, filed a letter Tuesday to Brooklyn U.S.
Magistrate Judge Robert Levy, asking he order the district attorney's office to
produce all requested emails and impose "monetary sanctions" on the
prosecutor's office for "falsely denying" it possessed the requested
emails.
Mr. Rudin is the attorney for Jabbar Collins, who served 16
years in prison for a conviction in the 1994 murder of a rabbi and landlord in
Brooklyn.
The conviction was overturned in 2010. In a lawsuit seeking $150
million, Mr. Collins contended the investigation led by Michael Vecchione, head
of the district attorney's rackets division, included the coercion of
witnesses, failure to turn over exculpatory documents and other allegations of
prosecutorial misconduct. The office denied all wrongdoing.
The Brooklyn District Attorney referred questions to city
attorneys. Arthur Larkin, senior council with the law department, said in a
statement, "The e-mails do not concern, or even mention, the Jabbar
Collins case in any way. In addition, the e-mails to and from Mr. Veccione are
not substantive and merely relate to lunch appointments. As a result, we do not
believe that sanctions are merited."
Mr. Rudin filed a motion in April seeking emails and other
documents pertaining to the CBS show, which was set to debut Tuesday night,
that mention Mr. Vecchione and those referencing Mr. Collins and his case.
On May 13, the district attorney's office replied saying
they "are not in possession, custody or control of any document
responsive" to the request.
Earlier this month, Abe George, one of two candidate running
against Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, who is seeking re-election,
sought a court injunction seeking to stop the airing of the show on the grounds
that it was campaign propaganda that violated the state's laws on corporate
donation limits.
Over the past two weeks, at least two defense attorneys of clients whose cases were potentially going to be part of the program also requested injunctions from judges to stop the show.
Over the past two weeks, at least two defense attorneys of clients whose cases were potentially going to be part of the program also requested injunctions from judges to stop the show.
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge denied Mr. George's motion
Friday, but not before hearing testimony from two CBS executives who produced
emails they exchanged with Mr. Vecchione and other staffers regarding the show.
The Wall Street Journal was given a copy of the show' s debut episode, and Mr. Vecchione provides the voice over to start the show and is featured prominently in it.
The Wall Street Journal was given a copy of the show' s debut episode, and Mr. Vecchione provides the voice over to start the show and is featured prominently in it.
One email to CBS from an employee of the district attorney's
press office states, "Mike and I met with the DA. Things went well. We
sold him on it…"
Mr. Rudin said his letter seeks the emails to support one
claim in Mr. Collins' lawsuit alleging that Mr. Hynes was "deliberately
indifferent" to misconduct by his office.
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