In the instant case, the complainant is one Jabbar Collins, who served 16 years for a murder though he had always claimed his innocence. After his release in 2011, Collins filed a $150 million federal lawsuit.
Collins was freed after a court found compelling evidence that the prosecutors of Hynes' office had threatened a witness to secure conviction and had relied on false testimony. Hynes defended the prosecutors including the prosecutor who Collins accused of arranging to obtain false testimony.
In a statement, city lawyer Arthur Larkin said, "We are disappointed in this ruling, but we feel that DA Hynes will confirm that the city acted in good faith in this case."
Hynes, who is running for the seventh four-year term for the office of Brooklyn DA is troubled by a series of wrongful convictions which took place during his tenure. The wrongful convictions have become a campaign issue as Hynes gears up to face former Manhattan assistant district attorney Abe George and former federal prosecutor Kenneth Thompson in the September Democratic Primary.
Both Thompson and George have publicly criticized Hynes' office for allowing the alleged misconduct in his office to continue unabated and without checks.
Hynes' office is currently reviewing at least 50 murder case convictions involving a detective whose actions and behavior in securing convictions was found questionable.
Joel Rudin, Collins's lawyer, claims that the pattern of misconduct in Hynes' office was repeated in numerous other prosecutions besides that of Collins and Hynes needed to answer why he did not take steps to address the alleged misconduct.
