Many terrible crimes in New York in 2021 could have been prevented: too lenient judges and laws get in the way

Under condescending judges and the state's liberal bail reform laws, scores of violent criminals have returned to the streets once again - only to reopen the crime. The Mild Crimes Act, passed by state legislators in 2019 and amended in 2020, stripped judges of discretionary power, banning bail for virtually all misdemeanors and non-violent crimes. Other lawyers just went wild, nominating defendants in serious cases, reports The New York Post.

Some of the most stunning cases include:

Freedom to “kill”

Steven Mendes, 18, already had at least three charges on file. He was on probation when he shot and killed 21-year-old college student Saiko Koma in October.

Judge Bronx Denis Boyle released Mendes on a five-year suspended sentence in May after he pleaded guilty to violent armed robbery in 2020. In the list of accusations of the troubled teenager, there is an item that he allegedly pointed a gun at his own mother. He could have been behind bars for up to four years in a robbery case.

Instead, a prominent gang member, then 17 years old, allegedly shot Coma in Fordham Heights. This happened after the police said that he mistook the victim for a member of a rival gang.

Last week, Mendes was prosecuted on murder charges and sentenced to unbail, court records show.

"What's wrong with this judge?" Coma's father complained last month.

Sir Isaac Lutin

This year alone, serial thief Isaac Rodriguez was caught almost 50 times, but released again.

Rodriguez, 22, currently has 23 open cases in Queens. This is just part of a staggering list of charges, which lists 74 arrests dating from 2015.

He allegedly robbed one Walgreens in Jackson Heights 37 times during the year. He also targeted dozens of other stores, stealing various goods.

Because of the state revolving door criminal justice system, criminals are not subject to bail for petty theft and stolen property.

“I don’t know how these [cases] were handled, but obviously there were no consequences,” one police source said at the time.

It was only after Rodriguez was detained for the June 7 attack on a 39-year-old man from Jackson Heights that he was finally imprisoned.

Records show that he is currently being held on Rikers Island with a $ 10 bond.

Burglar teflon

The accused serial robber Juan Del Valle was so adept at dodging jail that police called the 32-year-old professional criminal "Teflon."

Del Valle has already had over 30 arrests and five open cases in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A Manhattan judge ordered his release without bail on August 15 in the latest burglary case.

Prosecutors demanded that Del Valle be held with the right to be released on $ 10 bail.

For 10 days, police said Del Valle was wanted for more than a dozen other robberies after investigators found 20 laptops, a stolen 9mm pistol and drugs in his Brooklyn apartment complex.

In late August, police caught Del Valle and charged him with burglary. Records show that he is finally behind bars on $ 10 bail.

The freed criminal molested the girl

The 31-year-old homeless man was at large while the robbery was investigated. But the police said that on June 12, he burst into the bedroom of a 10-year-old girl and rubbed his genitals against her.

Raymond Wilson has been arrested on burglary charges at least a dozen times.

“The victim felt something slimy on her feet and noticed that the accused was rubbing his penis against her toes,” Manhattan attorney Megan McNulty said in court.

“The victim screamed and called out to her parents, but no one was at home except her little sister, who was sleeping in another room,” McNulty said.

Just a month before the alleged assault on the girl, Wilson was charged with third-degree burglary in another case. Then he had to be released because government reform measures on bail prevent judges from posting bail on the charge.

Detectives later tracked down Wilson using DNA from a water bottle he had left behind. He is currently being held in a $ 500000 bail prison on Rikers Island on charges of sexual assault.

Reduced Bail Release

Prominent teenage gunman Alberto Ramirez was given a hiatus when Bronx judge Denis Boyle lowered the bail in a gun case that was then used to allegedly kill the father of two.

Ramirez, 17, was released on March 2 after Boyle - the same attorney in the Mendes case - cut his bail from $ 75 to $ 000, despite objections from the Bronx attorney's office.

On May 16, police reported that Ramirez fired randomly into a crowd in a rival gang's territory. Then one bullet hit and killed a bystander, 34-year-old Eric Velasquez.

The teenager was arrested on June 7; He is being held without bail on charges of murder, manslaughter and possession of weapons.

My hands are tied

Ricardo Hernandez was released after being charged with three hate crimes. On April 17, he allegedly pushed a New York Asian police officer on the Queens subway track.

And the prosecutor's office - or the judge - no one could do anything about it.

“My hands are tied because under the new bail rules, I have absolutely no authority to imprison this accused for this alleged crime,” said High Court Justice Louis Knock during the indictment of Hernandez. ...

On the subject: Important laws that will enter into force in New York in 2022

The 32-year-old suspect has had at least a dozen previous arrests under his belt. However, according to new state laws he could not be detained on bail.

The police reported that Hernandez walked up to an undercover police officer on Platform N in Dutch Kills and told the officer, “I'll fuck you. This is my home.

The policeman was not seriously injured, and Hernandez left the courtroom, saying he did not want to talk about the charges.

Hernandez later pleaded guilty to breaking the law. The case was then dropped, a spokeswoman for the Queens District Attorney's Office said.

Гринч

Even The Post felt the prick of the state's failed bail laws.

Craig Tamanaha, 49, was charged with arson and criminal injury for setting fire to a Christmas tree outside the News Corp building in Midtown on December 8 - but was released without bail.

Although Tamanakhi has a long list of charges, the charges do not qualify him for bail under government criminal justice reforms.

He is due to return to court next week.

And what's next?

New Mayor Eric Adams has raised concerns about the impact of government bail reform measures. But as a local government official, there is probably little he can do about it.

State legislators did not respond to inquiries from The Post about this last week, and the Governor of New York Katie Hockool mostly refused to discuss this issue in detail.

Meanwhile, state court officials have repeatedly defended judges' discretion in bail decisions - when the law allows them to do so at all.