Judge Dismisses Case Against Eric Adams, Bars DOJ From Resurrecting Case
Dismissing with prejudice means the DOJ cannot resurrect the case using the “charges against Adams based on the same evidence used in the case, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.”
***This is breaking news. I will continue to update.
District Court Judge Dale Ho dismissed the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as the Department of Justice requested.
In February, President Donald Trump’s DOJ asked Ho to dismiss the charges against Adams, claiming the case “‘would interfere with’ the Mayor’s ability to govern, thereby threatening ‘federal immigration initiatives and policies.’”
The DOJ asked Ho to allow the department to keep the door open to bring up the case again in the future.
Ho did not grant the DOJ the request by dismissing the case with prejudice.
That means the DOJ cannot resurrect the case using the “charges against Adams based on the same evidence used in the case, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.”
“In light of DOJ’s rationales, dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents,” wrote Ho. “That appearance is inevitable, and it counsels in favor of dismissal with prejudice.”
Adams faced five federal charges concerning an investigation into corruption in his mayoral campaign.
- Count One: Conspiracy to Commit WireFraud, Federal Program Bribery, and to Receive Campaign Contributions By Foreign Nationals
- Count Two: Wire Fraud
- Count Three: Solicitation of a Contribution by a Foreign National (action from 2021)
- Count Four: Solicitation of a Contribution by a Foreign National (action from 2023)
- Count Five: Bribery
It’s all tied to the Turkish consulate building in Manhattan. Despite its low standards, Adams was accused of bribing people to approve the building.
Adams allegedly did this if the Turkish groups donated to his mayoral campaign.
Adams pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
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Comments
That’s fine. Doesn’t cover any future bribery Adams may participate in.
Heh, Adams thinks he is skipping away.
Methinks he has waltzed into a spider web.
As a general rule, a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial should require that charges be quickly either brought to trial or dismissed with prejudice. Perhaps exceptions can be made when a witness dies, flees, or changes his story. (If physical evidence goes missing, oh well, the government should have been more careful.) Or when the defense wants more time to gather evidence — the right to a speedy trial belongs to the defendant, not to the prosecution.
The courts have not enforced the “speedy” provision of the Sixth Amendment in my lifetime, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s there. If the prosecution can’t, or chooses not to, bring the defendant to trial in six months after it has besmirched the defendant’s reputation with a formal charges and/or a public accusation, the charges should be thrown out irrevocably.
Is the right to speedy trial ever not waived by the defendant’s attorney?
You’d also need to enforce the right to counsel, instead of it being taken over by the Bar Association — if you want Your Cousin Vinny to represent you, that’s your Sixth Amendment right.
Only if appeals for inadequate consul are not allowed.
I have no problem waiving right to appeal for inadequate consul if you choose Vinny — you’re relying on your own personal experience, whereas when you’re choosing a stranger, you’re relying on an institution for quality control.
But we run into the problem where we have sovereign citizens representing sovereign citizens. Both client and counsel live in a make believe world that has no bearing on how to actually proceed in a courtroom. And considering a sovereign citizen is often a dupe one can reasonably argue that he was duped by a so called sovereign citizen expert.
I think there needs to be a test by any judge in such a case. Does legal counsel understand the proceedings and are willing to abide by them? If not legal counsel is disqualified.
It’s the same issue with pro per. You want to get rid of that?
Nope. At that point all layers are removed, and only the defendant can be blamed.
I agree. I’ve always said 30 days unless they’re waiting for tests to come back or something like that. If the government can’t come up with a case in 30 days it doesn’t have much of a case. The defense should be able to request extensions if they feel they need more time to prepare with the knowledge that it will give the prosecution more time to prepare too. A truly speedy trial will also help by keeping memories and evidence fresh and witnesses available.
You would limit criminal (and civil?) liability to only simple crimes?
Feels like the right decision for several reasons including the one posited by the judge. If the federal government is going to start prosecuting politicians (or anyone in business) for accepting class upgrades on international flights, they’re going to need to build much, much bigger prisons.
“If the federal government is going to start prosecuting politicians (or anyone in business) for accepting class upgrades on international flights, they’re going to need to build much, much bigger prisons.”
If, instead, Elon Musk offered to reward each one with a dollar bill, his fortune would be gone before everyone got paid.
Currently reading a HFY SciFi ebook that’s an amusing if lite read, The protagonist accidentally gets upgraded by alien invaders instead of the intended zombification – and proceeds to ruin all their plans. Among his hijinks he proceeds to use nanites to build several dozen Bolo Mark XXV Stupendous class Ogres (aka Keith Laumer) to handle the heavy lifting. OC, the aliens manage to buy all the corrupt politicians to try to succeed in their nefarious plans, promising money, power, and “We’ll eat you last”, all the usual.
One Ogre offers to fire a barrage of rail-gun pellets into the local nation’s legislative HQ, promising to target only the corrupt officials and aides. The protagonist says “no”, “the capital building will become so full of holes it’ll collapse, killing the remainding 6 or so officials as well”.
That is very interesting.
adams immediately jumped on the word prejudice screaming
I knew you cr akers were against me and I have a ho to prove it
Judge Ho is right. When the prosecutors blatantly admit that the charges are being dropped for advancing a political agenda they shouldn’t be able to refile if he becomes a barrier to the agenda.
I understand the bribery charges against Adams were terribly weak, and only brought after he opposed certain Biden administration demands. To dismiss *without* prejudice would be to hold that threat over his head, knowing that any time he objects to the current administration, he can be charged all over again… Ho is right. That’s blackmail. Dismissed with prejudice was certainly the way to go.
Love that lead photo. It’s like Where’s Waldo for diversity Karens.