Subject: NYPD detective found guilty of planting drugs on innocent people Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:27 pm
Quote :
The New York Police Department, already saddled with corruption scandals, saw its image further tainted on Tuesday with the conviction of a detective for planting drugs on a woman and her boyfriend.
The bench verdict from Justice Gustin L. Reichbach in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn stemmed from acts committed in 2007 by the defendant, Jason Arbeeny, a 14-year veteran of the department who worked in the Brooklyn South unit.
Before announcing the verdict, Justice Reichbach scolded the department for what he described as a widespread culture of corruption endemic in its drug units.
“I thought I was not naïve,” he said. “But even this court was shocked, not only by the seeming pervasive scope of misconduct but even more distressingly by the seeming casualness by which such conduct is employed.”
The case against Detective Arbeeny was rooted in a far larger tale of corruption in Police Department drug units: several narcotics officers in Brooklyn have been caught mishandling drugs they seized as evidence, and hundreds of potentially tainted drug cases have been dismissed. The city has made payments to settle civil suits over wrongful incarcerations.
During the trial, prosecutors described the corruption in the drug units that Detective Arbeeny worked for. One former detective, Stephen Anderson, who did not know the defendant, testified that officers in those units often planted drugs on innocent people. Mr. Anderson has pleaded guilty to official misconduct over a 2008 episode involving drug evidence and now faces two to four years in prison.
Detective Arbeeny was convicted of official misconduct, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records. Charles Guria, a prosecutor, described this latest case of police corruption as an abuse of power.
“It’s a sad day when a police officer misuses his authority,” Mr. Guria said.
On Jan. 25, 2007, prosecutors said, Detective Arbeeny planted a small bag of crack cocaine on two innocent people.
The detective’s lawyer, Michael Elbaz, tried to discredit the most important prosecution witnesses, Yvelisse DeLeon and her boyfriend, Juan Figueroa. Ms. DeLeon had testified that the couple drove up to their apartment building in Coney Island and were approached by two plainclothes police officers. She said she then saw Detective Arbeeny remove a bag of powder from his pocket and place it in the vehicle.
“He brought out his pocket,” Ms. DeLeon told the court. “He said, ‘Look what I find.’ It looked like little powder in a little bag.”
Later in 2007, the detective was accused of stealing multiple bags of cocaine from the prisoner van to which he had been assigned; Justice Reichbach found Detective Arbeeny not guilty of those charges.
Though there had been conflicting testimony during the trial about the existence of quotas in the department’s drug units, Justice Reichbach said, a system of flawed procedures in part led to the charges against Detective Arbeeny.
In the department’s Brooklyn South narcotics unit, for instance, drugs seized as evidence are not counted or sealed until they reach the precinct and can be handled by multiple officers along the way, Justice Reichbach said, adding that such unacceptable practices “pale in significance” to the “cowboy culture” of the drug units.
“Anything goes in the never-ending war on drugs,” he said, “and a refusal to go along with questionable practices raise the specter of blacklisting and isolation.”
Sentencing is scheduled for January. Detective Arbeeny faces up to four years in prison.
Hello! to all you on aw.
And especially "hola!" to all those who remember a fragment of me; tonyflow.
im looking forward to be a little active again after all these years, take good care of me!
Hello, all! As you may see, I am new to the new forum, but I was a part of the previous ones. I wasn't very active then, but this time around, I will change that! *insert inspirational baby fist pump picture here*
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You may or may not have heard of me on the other forum, but I am no longer the super unfamous Rejected, but the incredibly noobish RetardLover. The new name fits more of my …
Anyway, my anime preferences are cyberpunk, horror and supernatural based, but i'm also a typical 90's kid who grew up on Akira, Bebop, Ghosts in Shells, Gundam Wing, DBZ and most anime shown on Toonami and Adult Swim. I enjoy a generous amount of anime outside of those years so take me as open minded in terms of anime discussion.
My Name is Kakalicious and its nice to meet you!
Some of you may know be by a different username and thats cool too
but I decided this was a better name for a forum
I don't see many of my old AW friends around so I hope that they show up and I make new friends as well! oh if you have any questions for me please ask I try to be as kind as possible <3
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Hi! Iam new! Nice to meet all of you, i havent been on a forum in like 3 years o.o so iam a litle rusty on my....forum skillz kyaaa ahahaha xD *shuts up now* ^-^ Oh and my name is Ana! ~~~~~Thats all you will get outa me mwahahaha!
Nah jk its only me well i was a dummie and forgot my password yadda yadda
been creepin around the internet and i finally ended up here so Hello im Pup if you don't already know me or forgot since ive been gone...
I like rainbows and ponies and the sweet blood of my enemies
well i think i'll go to bed though its like 1am and i have school
well i was a dummie and forgot my password yadda yadda
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