A Queens man was declared innocent in a retrial over the murder of his pregnant girlfriend but lost a suit against NYPD for getting arrested wrongfully.
Queens Man Loses Suit Against NYPD
Derrick Redd, 49, submitted the false-arrest and malicious prosecution suit against the city and the NYPD after becoming exonerated of killing in a new trial in Queens in 2018, reported NY Daily News.
Nonetheless, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Raymond Dearie ruled that police must have reasonable suspicion before detaining him after accusing him of fatally stabbing his girlfriend, Niasha DeLain, at her Lefferts Blvd. residence on October 25, 2008, the very day she had been scheduled to give birth, noted Daily Mail UK.
Redd stayed in jail for nine years after an earlier conviction and was given 25 years.
Sources indicate the guilty verdict was rescinded because the trial prosecuting attorney, Assistant District Attorney Eugene Reibstein, made too many provocative and speculative remarks to the jurors and misrepresented the evidence of a crime, as shown in a 2016 judgment by the Appellate Division, Second Department.
In the December 30 decision, Judge Dearie convinced the city, and the police department had due cause to arrest the accused then.
Evidence of Pregnant Girlfriend's Death
The judge mentioned one of the cops' presumptions as one of two components of corroborating evidence sufficient to warrant detention; DeLain's upstairs neighbor heard a woman holler for the man to stand down. And in the early hours of the murder, a cell tower was close to the crime scene with Redd's phone. Around two hours before his neighbor's comment about him.
Dearie also noted substantiation that, while still not adequate for an arrest, reinforced the specific instance.
There weren't signs of entry in DeLain's flat, despite Redd having a key, the odor of cleaning solution, open containers of bleach in Redd's car, and three minor cuts on his hand. It included his irrational behavior in following the crime and misleading investigators.
Dearie noted there was no proof for arrest but reinforced the charge. Lack of forced entry into the woman's flat, Redd having a key, stench of cleaning solution, bottles of bleach in the car, and three suspicious cuts. This included his erratic behavior after the murder and misleading statements to detectives. Judge Dearie said the case against Redd was still far from convincing, per Queens Chronicle.
Given the absence of forensic evidence connecting Redd or anyone else with the violent act, along with doubts about witness credibility, the time of death, and Redd's exact location even during the period covered, it is not remarkable that Redd's retrial did result in a dismissal. Also, probable cause can be done without sure proof or guarantee of conviction.
Furthermore, the judge remarked a reasonable officer could have concluded, based on the totality of the information available at the time of the arrest, that Redd killed DeLain.
Redd did not confess to the horrible crime, but he made a few shocking declarations the night of the crime. After the first trial, he claimed innocence, but DeLain's mother, Towanda Wimms, always assumed he was the murderer. Having lost the suit is a favorable result.
A Queens man is innocent of his pregnant girlfriend's death, but he loses suit against NYPD as a downside.
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