A judge today nixed a bid to drop the sweeping NYPD Bronx ticket-fixing case.
Lawyers for 14 of the 18 cops busted in the scandal argued that the wiretaps that snared them shouldn’t have been used because they were outside the scope of the law. But Bronx Supreme Court judge Steven Barrett – who signed the warrant for the recordings – denied the motion at a Wednesday morning hearing.
“Secrecy was of paramount importance [to the probe,]” Barrett said in his decision. “This goal could only be achieved by the use of eavesdropping…the crime being investigated [could] only be understood by listening to the conversations.”
Outside court, Andrew Quinn, a lawyer for two of the cops, slammed the ruling, saying, “They have successfully investigated and prosecuted serious corruption, the buddy boys and the ‘Dirty 30’ without wiretaps. The fact that it’s not justified is also evidenced by the sitting DAs in the four other boroughs who received information about ticket fixing and chose to ignore it.”
During the probe, NYPD Internal Affairs recorded conversations of more than 400 cops, listening to more than 10,000 hours of conversation.
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association boss Pat Lynch showed up outside court with about 200 cops and union officials and slammed Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson and Internal Affairs.
Johnson and prosecutors, he said, “were tripping on each other and didn’t even know their own case…we do not believe this was a proper investigation.”
Internal Affairs, Lynch declared, is a “white socks entity” that “is constantly on a witch hunt.”
“They’re unprofessional, they never prove a case. They don’t go after real corruption, they go out where the police officers are, wearing white socks, and then they fabricate from there. They’re not real professionals.”
“When the truth comes out these wrongfully accused police officers will be vindicated.”