He wears diamond earrings the size of Skittles and a trimmed, barbershop beard. Custom Air Jordans. He's forty-seven, a few inches shy of six feet, and his body is slim and taut. He's not much bigger than he was at nineteen, when he was sent to Rikers Island for a double homicide, and when he got there some of the inmates used to slap him on the back when he walked by.
The trial court incorrectly allowed Idrissa Reaves' song to be admitted into evidence and analyzed by a court-qualified "expert in slang" hired by the Kings County District Attorney's Office, Justice Barry E. Warhit of the New York Supreme Court Second Appellate Department said. The expert's "initial interpretations of the lyrics were often varied and reflected the lyrics' inherent ambiguity," yet "precisely and remarkably mirrored the People's exact factual theory of the case," Warhit wrote.
Rikers doesn't rehabilitate. It destabilizes. According to the Blueprint to Close Rikers report released by the Independent Rikers Commission earlier this year, 84 percent of people in Rikers are held pre-trial, waiting for their court date, presumed innocent under the law. This number includes over 500 people who have been held in Rikers for over two years. And yet, whether detained pre-trial or serving a sentence, people leave Rikers worse off than when they entered. That alone makes our city less safe.
The Sept. 3 death follows the case of 44-year-old Jimmy Avila, who died last week after an apparent medical emergency at the West Facility on Rikers Island. Another person incarcerated at Rikers died in custody on Aug. 23. On Aug. 29, a 46-year-old man being held at Brooklyn Criminal Court was discovered unresponsive and later pronounced dead. A pedicab driver also died that day while in custody at the Midtown South Precinct.
Every elected official should ensure corrections officers have necessary tools to do their jobs. Zeldin vows to support union members and repeal HALT Act if elected.
