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By Forum Staff
On Wednesday morning, nine in a potential avalanche of wrongfully convicted New Yorkers sued two convicted NYPD officers for framing them, along with New York City for condoning their massive corruption.
“For well over a decade, former NYPD Officers Kevin Desormeau and Sasha Cordoba abused their power to frame innocent people for crimes they did not commit, uprooting their lives and, at times, severing them from their families for years at a time,” said Danielle Hamilton of the civil rights firm Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law. “The NYPD was well aware that Desormeau and Cordoba had a history of fabricating and concealing evidence yet allowed them to continue their unconstitutional tactics unabated. Though the City knew of their misconduct for years, it was only after Desormeau and Cordoba were finally convicted and sentenced for their crimes that they left the force.”
The Queens DA’s Office has vacated 54 convictions tied to these disgraced former police officers.
“We cannot stand behind a criminal conviction where the essential law enforcement witness has been convicted of crimes which irreparably impair their credibility,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said. “Vacating and dismissing these cases is both constitutionally required and necessary to ensure public confidence in our justice system.”
Taron Parkinson, Michael Suber, Keith Garlin, Davon Armstrong, Audrey Brown, Vaughn Payne, Dennis Smith, Ramona Jacquez, and Barry Sease-Bey came forward today in an attempt to repair the wrongs inflicted against them. Convicted for crimes they did not commit, many of them suffered devastating losses, ranging from losing employment to losing custody of their children.
“The NYPD is rife with many more officers just like Desormeau and Cordoba who violated the constitutional rights of innocent people in the course of their duties,” said Renee Spence, also of Loevy & Loevy. “NYPD has done little, if anything, to aid the process of exonerating New Yorkers who were victims of their officers’ crimes of dishonesty. Instead, the NYPD had repeatedly lied about the information it has access to and has done its best to obstruct efforts to uncover the corruption that exists within its ranks. Simply put, the NYPD has no interest in policing itself.”
According to today’s suit, the NYPD refused to oversee and punish cops who were well-known to withhold evidence and/or fabricate testimonies in order to secure convictions. These officers were aware that they could act with impunity and were even rewarded for their ruthless tactics to close cases at all costs.
“While NYPD allows its officers to exist above the law, countless New Yorkers are suffering under the weight of their unjust, baseless convictions. The consequences of even one single day spent behind bars can destabilize a person’s life for years,” said Kelly Jo Popkin of Loevy & Loevy. “This case illustrates how everyday citizens have been powerless against the enormous power of the NYPD, which all too often treats innocent individuals as nothing more than collateral damage in pursuit of its own agenda. This suit seeks to finally hold those in power accountable and ensure these abuses never happen again.”
