Brooklyn DA asks to be relieved from NYPD cops rape case after it is revealed his assistant had an affair with one of the defendants
- Eddie Martins and Richard Hall are accused of raping Anna Chambers in 2017
- She was 18 at the time and had been caught smoking marijuana in a parked car
- Within 30 minutes of her arrest, she had had sex with one cop and performed oral sex on another
- The cops insist it was consensual but she maintains she was forced into it
- Now, the Brooklyn DA wants to step back from the case, claiming it cannot ethically pursue it
- Eric Gonzalez said in a letter on Thursday that Chambers had lied repeatedly during the course of the investigation
- He also said her distrust of the prosecution made it impossible for him to carry on
The Brooklyn District Attorney wants a special prosecutor to take over the case of two NYPD officers accused of raping a female suspect because it has become so messy.
Eric Gonzalez’s office had been tasked with prosecuting former cops Eddie Martins and Richard Hall who are accused of raping the alleged victim, who calls herself Anna Chambers, in September 2017 after arresting her for drug possession.
Chambers was 18 at the time. The cops claim the sex was consensual but she says it was not.
She has since waived her anonymity as a potential victim of sexual assault to speak out against the police department and prosecutor’s office.
Eddie Martins and Richard Hall are accused of raping an 18-year-old girl after arresting her in 2017
The alleged victim calls herself Anna Chambers and has waived her anonymity to speak out multiple times over the last year and a half
Their case has gone back and forth ever since and last year it emerged that Hall had been having an affair with an assistant DA who worked in Gonzalez’s office.
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said in his letter he feels he cannot pursue the case ethically
Because of that and the many ties the DA’s office has to the two cops, Gonzalez filed a letter to the judge on Thursday asking to be relieved.
In it, he blamed the alleged victim for his inability to prosecute the case and accused her of making ‘false’ and ‘misleading statements’ both under oath and in the public domain.
‘We regret that our continuing to pursue the case might well create an appearance of impropriety and discourage public confidence in our Office and the Kings County criminal justice system.
‘In the end, we want to see justice done on AP’s behalf and we want to maintain community trust in the criminal justice system.
‘For [her] interests and the public interests, and in the interests of justice, we believe that the appointment of a special prosecutor is appropriate in this case,’ it read.
‘We may not be bale to proceed in an ethical fashion on some counts now contained in the indictment.
Among the conflicts of interest is the fact that assistant district attorney Nicole Manini had an affair with one of the defendants
‘If we decide to drop certain counts against the defendant, this decision will surely be perceived by [her], and we now fear by the public, as evidence that we are, in fact, unfairly disfavoring [her] and favoring the defendants because of our damaged relationship with [her], because of her public criticisms of our office and/or because of the prior relationship between defendant Hall and an employee of our office,’ it read in other parts.
Chambers was outraged by the claims and tweeted afterwards: ‘The DA is dropping my case and is letting these cops get away with raping me.
‘Nothing has changed in the last 16 months from the fact that I was kidnapped, handcuffed and raped in a police van by 2 Narcotics detectives.’
Hall had an affair with Nicole Manini. It was discovered by investigators as they looked into the allegations against him.
The office insisted that she had no exposure or influence over the case.
The judge has not yet responded to the letter.
Chambers, the Brooklyn DA said, has made a series of ‘false and misleading statements’ over the last year