Ex-Queens prosecutor sought to strike Black, Latino and Jewish jurors, prompting conviction reversals: Katz
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Photo by David Brand
By David Brand
Evidence of racist courtroom practices by a former Queens prosecutor who sought to eliminate Black, Latino and Jewish residents from jury pools has prompted the reversal of two 1996 convictions for murder and the close-range shooting of a police officer, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Thursday.
Queens’ Conviction Integrity Unit determined that ex-Assistant District Attorney Chris McGrath kept notes reminding him to favor white jurors during jury selection and to use his limited number of “peremptory strikes” to eliminate Black, Hispanic, Jewish and Italian residents, as well as mothers and grandmothers, from jury selection, Katz said. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are allowed some peremptory strikes to automatically eliminate jurors from the pool of potential panelists.
Photocopies of the notes were found in case files for Santiago Valdez and Paul Morant, two men convicted of murder in 1996, Katz said. McGrath, who left the office in 1997, prosecuted both men and referred to the racist guidance during jury selection, the CIU found during a months-long review of the cases.
The notes specifically instructed McGrath to choose only Black jurors from certain neighborhoods identified as “good B neighborhoods.” The handwritten notes identified the “Good B neighborhoods” as Cambria Heights, Hollis, St. Albans, Laurelton and Springfield Gardens — largely middle class communities.
Another note said to “Get white jurors that are like Ws.” CIU Director Bryce Benjet said “Ws” likely referred to “witnesses.”
The notes further instructed McGrath to pick “established whites,” “no Jews,” “No hispanics” and “No Italians if the [defendant] is Italian.”
Other notes said, “Don’t want to [sic] many females” and “stay away from … mother types [and] grandmotherly types.”
In addition, the document ranks dozens of Queens neighborhoods on a scale of 0 to 5 based on their perceived friendliness to the prosecution. The neighborhoods that received a 5 include Glendale, Woodhaven and Sunnyside, which came with a special instruction to “take old timers.” Corona and Flushing got a 0.
“Bryerwood” — a misspelling of Briarwood — was rated a 2 and listed as “Iffy.”
Katz’s office did not initially name McGrath in a pre-hearing press release announcing that she would consent to vacate the two convictions, but multiple people familiar with the cases said McGrath’s prosecutions are under review. Contemporary news accounts of the two murder convictions identify McGrath as the prosecutor.
Valdez was found guilty of the 1993 killing of nightclub patrons Danny Velez and Arley Zapata. Morant was convicted of attempted murder for shooting NYPD Officer Keith Schweers during a stop in 1995. A bulletproof vest saved Schweers’ life.
Presiding Judge Joseph Zayas said the notes were a “smoking gun” demonstrating discrimination by the prosecutor.
“What is disturbing to me is that this discrimination is being used in Queens County,” he said.
“What’s more troubling is ADA McGrath may not have been the only ADA using these discriminatory practices to select juries,” he added.
Katz said her office would prosecute Valdez and Morant again.
“Although the evidence of discrimination in jury selection does not raise any question about the defendants’ guilt, the law is clear,” she said. “A conviction obtained through these discriminatory practices cannot be permitted to stand.”
“We will not tolerate discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin,” she added.
Katz said the CIU would also review every other case handled by McGrath, including eight criminal convictions.
“Our office does not seek to overturn a conviction lightly, and we acknowledge the emotional pain revisiting these cases will cause for Officer Schweers and the families of Mr. Velez and Mr. Zapata. However, the unconstitutional exclusion of qualified jurors based on race, religion, ethnicity or sex imposes real harm to our community and diminishes confidence in our system of justice,” said DA Katz.
McGrath did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
