NYPD Detective Charged With Perjured Trial Testimony

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a New York City Police Detective has been arrested and charged with lying while under oath at the trial of a Bronx man who was charged with attempted murder, a felony.

The alleged crimes occurred on Thursday, April 12, 2007 and Friday, April 13, 2007 when Detective Perino testified at the trial of Erik Crespo who was charged with attempted murder and other offenses, including criminal possession of a weapon.

The charges concern Perino’s testimony about an interview with Crespo that was conducted on December 31, 2005 at the 44th Precinct. Crespo, who was 17 years old at the time, was a suspect in a shooting on Christmas Day 2005.

According to the indictment Perino perjured himself at least once in response to a question under direct examination by the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case and at least eleven times under cross examination by Crespo’s defense attorney. It is alleged that Perino testified falsely in denying that he had questioned Crespo during a particular time period when in fact the interview had lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes and included a series of questions about the gun that was used in the shooting. The alleged perjury came to light because Crespo recorded the entire interview on an MP3 player that he had been listening to when he was brought into the precinct.

Commenting on the initial case involving Erik Crespo Mr. Johnson said; "Fortunately in this case, the person at the center of Perino’s alleged wrong-doing is no innocent victim. Although the allegations of perjury undermined the attempted murder case against him, Erik Crespo ultimately pled guilty to the illegal gun charge and is currently serving a sentence of seven years in prison."

Commentary:  Its bizarre that the "bad guy" taped the interview and that the detective didn't notice.  From the above Bronx District Attorney press release it's not clear what advantage the prosecution gained from the detective's lies or why the detective felt the need to lie.  It's a shame that the detective pissed away his career on a criminal who was "guilty, guilty, guilty" anyway.

From: Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx)