Press Releases
UPDATE FROM QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON EXPEDITING DISPOSITIONS OF CRIMINAL CASES TO AVOID KEEPING DEFENDANTS AT RIKERS ISLAND DURING PANDEMIC
The Queens District Attorney’s Office had its first pre-indictment felony plea this week during this on-going health crisis. The Office has taken other felony pleas in Supreme Court, post-indictment during the current pandemic. However, this pre-indictment case was moved up from its scheduled June 4, 2020 court date and the defendant appeared virtually in Queens…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ INTRODUCES THE OFFICE’S CONVICTION INTEGRITY UNIT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that the new Conviction Integrity Unit she established on January 1, 2020, has been actively working to make sure that no one has been wrongfully convicted of a crime in Queens County. This Unit is the District Attorney’s signature initiative and one of the first promises she made…
TWO CREWS OF DRUG DEALERS AND GUN TRAFFICKERS DISMANTLED IN QUEENS FOLLOWING LONG-TERM INVESTIGATIONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, today announced that two interconnected dangerous and complex illegal enterprises selling drugs and firearms throughout Jamaica, Queens have been dismantled with the arrests of 7 defendants Wednesday and Thursday, and 1 previously arrested in March. Two long-term investigations led to a…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STABBING DEATH OF MOTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 48-year-old Woodside, Queens resident has been charged with murder for slashing his elderly mother in head with a kitchen knife early Friday, April 24, 2020. The defendant allegedly said he didn’t know why he did this – but that he woke up, grabbed a butcher knife…
CORONA TEEN CHARGED WITH ASSAULT IN CRASH THAT INJURED NASSAU COUNTY POLICE DETECTIVE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a Corona, Queens resident has been charged with first-degree assault and other crimes for allegedly crashing the car he was driving at the moment a Nassau County Police Detective was gaining access through the passenger side door. The vehicle slammed into another car with the detective between…
QUEENS RESIDENT CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STABBING DEATH OF MAN WHO TRIED TO BREAK UP FIGHT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a Queens resident has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing death of a 43-year-old man, who intervened when the defendant became embroiled in a fight with a property owner on April 13, 2020. District Attorney Katz said, “The victim in this case was allegedly stabbed…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON TODAY’S COURT PROCEEDINGS TO RELEASE RIKERS INMATES
As the highly-contagious coronavirus spreads throughout our City and communities, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and the Office’s senior staff are carefully reviewing many requests for defendants to be immediately released from the City’s jails. The Office collaborates with defense attorneys, the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Corrections to identify those whose release would…
STATEMENT OF QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON CORONAVIRUS-INSPIRED HATE CRIMES
Queens is arguably the most diverse county in the world and home to the largest immigrant population in New York City. This diversity is our strength and makes Queens County an amazing place to live, work and visit. We are the World’s Borough and hate crimes have no place here. Crimes motivated by hate are…
STATEMENT OF QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ
This morning, I was informed that I have tested positive for COVID-19. I had been exposed on Wednesday, March 17th and informed of the exposure on Saturday March 21st. I have been sheltering in place before and since that exposure, and while I was mildly symptomatic for a time I have not experienced any symptoms…
QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY INDICTS NYPD HIGHWAY OFFICER CHARGING HIM WITH POSSESSING AND PROMOTING A SEXUAL PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, with New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, announced today that a 35-year-old former highway officer with the NYPD has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child. The officer allegedly used…
BP LEE, DA KATZ MESSAGE TO SURVIVORS DURING “STAY AT HOME” URGE
QUEENS, NY – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee affirmed the borough’s unwavering commitment to protecting and serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child and elder abuse, in light of the urge for all non- essential workers and their families to “Stay At Home” during the rapidly-developing COVID-19…
HOUSE HUNTER HELPER WHO RAPED WOMAN LOOKING FOR HOME SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS IN PRISON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a Pennsylvania resident has been sentenced to 7 years in prison after a jury found the defendant guilty of rape. The defendant helped the victim find a place to live, aided her in moving in and then forcibly raped her in a Richmond Hill basement apartment in…
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR TRYING TO KILL TRANSGENDER GIRLFRIEND WHEN SHE REFUSED TO CONTINUE TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 30-year-old Cambria Heights man has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for trying to kill his transgender girlfriend whom he was pimping out. The victim refused to continue selling sex to strangers to fill his wallet with cash when he beat and slashed her in April of…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ CO-HOSTS BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION WITH AWARDS FOR NOTABLE QUEENS LEADERS AND A TRIBUTE TO THE OFFICE’S FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN ASSISTANT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee, hosted a celebration of Black History Month yesterday evening in the Helen Marshall Cultural Center in Borough Hall with music, dances and awards to several outstanding individuals who exemplify the best of Queens, including Karlton Jarrett, an assistant district attorney with the…
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ABUSE FOR PLACING AUTISTIC STUDENT’S HANDS ON HIS GENITALS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a 48-year-old social studies teacher at an elementary school in Oakland Gardens, Queens has been charged with sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly physically directing a child with autism to touch his genitals and buttocks in class on Wednesday, February 26, 2020….
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR POSSESSING CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES OF BOYS AS YOUNG AS 6
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a 57-year-old Queens resident has been sentenced to 6 months in jail after pleading guilty to possessing a sexual performance by a child. The defendant stored numerous images of boys – as young as 6 – engaging in various sexual acts with other underage children. The images…
ESTRANGED HUSBAND SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STABBING WIFE TO DEATH IN JACKSON HEIGHTS NAIL SALON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a Queens man has been sentenced to prison for manslaughter in the stabbing death of his estranged wife inside of a Jackson Heights nail salon during the early evening hours in August of 2019. The defendant entered the salon – where the victim worked – and repeatedly…
ST. ALBANS BIKER SENTENCED TO PRISON TERM IN 2018 ROAD RAGE SHOOTING DEATH OF OFF-DUTY CORRECTIONS OFFICER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a 31-year-old St. Albans man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the first degree for a road rage shooting that killed a 27-year-old off-duty correction officer in South Richmond Hill, Queens in September 2018. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz…
FAR ROCKAWAY MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUAL CONTACT WITH 10-YEAR-OLD CHILD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 40-year-old Far Rockaway man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted at trial for course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree. This law was authored by then-Assemblywoman Melinda Katz in 1996, who wanted to make sure pedophiles were…
BAR-HOPPING BROOKLYN RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON FOR KILLING MAN WHO INSULTED FEMALE FRIENDS IN 2016
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 27-year-old Brooklyn resident has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter and other crimes for shooting and killing a man following a dispute on Steinway Street in July of 2016. The early morning dust up was sparked when someone slung insults…
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