The Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace admitted Tuesday that it pursued simply two of practically two dozen separate instances in opposition to a serial shoplifter, as a result of it might have been “a waste of sources” to hit him with all the fees.
Ex-con Wilfredo Ocasio, who stays free regardless of his Nov. 16 arrest on 23 separate thefts, would solely should serve a most of two years behind bars below state legislation, even when he was charged with and convicted of all of the raps, a spokesman for DA Alvin Bragg famous.
However whereas Bragg’s workplace contended that limiting the fees spared workers what they deemed to be pointless authorized grunt work, authorized specialists informed The Submit that charging Ocasio, 44, with all 23 of the alleged thefts might have had ramifications past jail time for the repeat offender.
“It might be a waste of sources within the sense that it couldn’t end in any extra jail time — however jail time shouldn't be the one consequence of a legal conviction,” mentioned protection lawyer Samuel Coe, a former prosecutor and adjunct professor at Bloomfield School.
“The conviction itself can produce other collateral penalties,” Coe mentioned. “Simply having 20 misdemeanors in your document versus two is a giant deal.”
It might have an effect on plea bargains in future instances, and “employers may look the opposite manner with two convictions however not 20,” he famous.
“All that being mentioned, I might perceive a prosecutor placing their sources into different instances with extra tangible penalties, implications.”
Ocasio’s title surfaced this week when NYPD Chief of Division Kenneth Corey cited his case as an instance of the state’s failed legal justice and bail reforms on NY1.
However Coe, in addition to a spokesman for the state Workplace of Courtroom Administration, mentioned that prosecutors might have requested a choose to carry Ocasio on bail — though the petit larceny fees in opposition to him don’t qualify for bail individually below the state’s controversial 2019 legal justice reforms.
A loophole within the reforms referred to as the “hurt on hurt” clause stipulates that a repeat offender who will get nabbed on a class-A misdemeanor or a felony whereas going through fees in one other case can get held on bail in the event that they symbolize “hurt” to an individual or property.
“Beneath the revised ‘harm-plus’ statute the court docket can repair bail for Mr. Ocasio as he has dedicated plenty of crimes whereas out on the discharge that concerned ‘hurt to an identifiable property’ and definitely rises above the negligible threshold required by legislation,” mentioned Todd Spodek, managing accomplice of Manhattan-based Spodek Regulation Group.
The Manhattan DA’s workplace made that very same argument final month in opposition to Darin Mickens, a reputed and prolific pickpocket who was a part of the NYPD’s “Nifty Fifty” deck of playing cards of the Large Apple’s most persistent transit recidivists.
The choose dominated in opposition to the workplace in that case and Mickens remained free.
However Bragg’s workplace contends that they don’t have grounds to make the same movement in Ocasio’s case, partially as a result of he had no pending case when he was final busted.
One authorized skilled agreed it might be a tough promote in Ocasio’s case.
“The ‘hurt on hurt’ pertains to crimes in opposition to people,” mentioned famous legal protection lawyer Jason Goldman. “A string of petty larcenies in opposition to a Duane Reade gained’t fall into that carve-out.”
Ocasio — who has served two stints in state jail on rape and theft convictions — has been busted on petit-larceny fees 33 occasions since-mid August, together with the Nov. 16 arrest for the 23 separate thefts from two Duane Reade shops in Manhattan.
“Oh, we all know that title right here,” one employee on the Duane Reade outlet on Broadway mentioned of Ocasio on Tuesday.
An worker at one other Duane Reade outlet on Wall Avenue informed The Submit when proven a photograph of Ocasio, “I've seen him right here a number of occasions.”
“They'll simply get away with every thing,” one other employee on the retailer mentioned. “They'll steal no matter on the shelf weren't locked up. They discover a method to do every thing.”
Ocasio’s arrest got here after one other petit-larceny arrest Oct. 14, six fees on Oct. 11, two others on Sept. 30 and yet one more on Aug. 19, the sources mentioned.
The DA’s Workplace mentioned particulars on these instances are usually not obtainable as a result of they have been disposed of or in any other case sealed.
Ocasio’s lawyer declined to touch upon his instances on Tuesday.
Mayor Eric Adams mentioned Tuesday that he desires to proceed to push state lawmakers to extend funding for prosecutors and tweak the controversial legal justice reforms to carry recidivists extra accountable.
“The legal justice system is damaged,” the mayor mentioned throughout a Metropolis Corridor press convention.
“I do know bail reform is a buzz time period, however I’ve been saying this over and over,” he mentioned. “The method is damaged and we have to have a look at the complete course of that features giving judges the discretion with these with [an] imminent risk.
“They’re repeated offenders, and now we have to begin preserving harmful folks in jail.”
Extra reporting by Mingmei Li
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