November 17, 2009
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Brill Legal Group, P.C. -
www.brill-legal.com
Peter E. Brill of the Brill Legal Group, P.C. has achieved a victory in the face of difficult odds in the prosecution of a veteran New York City Police Detective charged with improperly dealing with his confidential informants.
On November 12, 2009 at 5:00 PM, after a three-week trial, a jury sitting in Manhattan Supreme Court acquitted New York City Police Department second grade Detective Earl Williams of all charges. Williams, an investigator and former undercover with the Manhattan North Narcotics Major Case Squad, is a United States Navy veteran who joined the NYPD in 1989.
His case began when agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Manhattan Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNC) opened a wiretap on Williams' personal cell phone. At the behest of the Manhattan District Attorney's Official Corruption Unit, members of the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) arrested Williams 18 months ago and charged him with two counts of hindering prosecution, five counts of official misconduct, and one count of divulging an eavesdropping warrant. Two counts of official misconduct were dismissed during the trial, and the jury acquitted on all remaining charges.
According to the New York Times, "Prosecutors said that investigators for the Drug Enforcement Administration had told the narcotics detective that two informers, identified as Batman and Robin, were the subjects of a federal investigation and that their telephones were tapped.
"In fact, prosecutors have said, Detective Williams knew that the informers were selling drugs outside their sphere of work for him. But instead of trying to stop them, the prosecutors said, he continued to use them as informers, even leaking crucial information to the two men, including tips about wiretaps and search warrants.
"But Detective Williams testified on Thursday that the federal drug agents were uncooperative and had given him no specifics about their investigation. He added that he had not been told that the men's phones were tapped."
The jury clearly believed Det. Williams.
Det. Williams' trial started October 26, 2009 and on November 11th at around 4:00 PM, the jury began deliberations. Within approximately eight hours, the jury concluded that Det. Williams was innocent of all charges.
Numerous members of the NYPD testified on behalf of Det. Williams and appeared in court in support. In its own press release, The Detectives' Endowment Association commended the jury on distinguishing the difference between criminal behavior and good faith hard work by Detective Williams.
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