Crime Brooklyn Boro

Rape accuser’s admission may lead to dismissal of charges against ex cops

January 3, 2019 By Christina Carrega Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Detective Eddie Martins is escorted into Brooklyn Supreme Court in handcuffs after being arraigned on rape and kidnapping charges. Eagle file photo by Paul Frangipane
Detective Eddie Martins is escorted into Brooklyn Supreme Court in handcuffs after being arraigned on rape and kidnapping charges. Eagle file photo by Paul Frangipane
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A Brooklyn woman who reported that two former cops sexually assaulted her while she was under arrest may face perjury charges if she testifies during trial, said lawyers for the alleged rapists.

On New Year’s Eve, attorneys for ex-NYPD Detectives Eddie Martins and Richard Hall filed their final request to Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to dismiss the indictment against their clients and present “truthful and accurate evidence” to another grand jury.

Hall, 34, and Martins, 38, are each facing up to 25 years in prison for allegedly abusing their position as detectives with Brooklyn South Narcotics Anti-Drug Unit while arresting a 18-year-old woman on suspicion of possessing drugs. The woman, who is using the pseudonym “Anna Chambers” — alleges the men took turns raping her in the back of a police van while driving through Bay Ridge and Coney Island.

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Both officers claimed the sex was consensual, and they resigned from NYPD in November 2017. In March, city lawmakers passed a bill banning NYPD officers from having sexual contact with people in custody.

Since the Sept. 15, 2017 attack, Chambers denied having any drugs when Hall approached her and her friends in a parked car. Prosecutors said Chambers was adjusting a nipple ring when Hall, a married father of two at the time, told her to expose her breast, and when she did, Martins arrested her.

During testimony in the $50 million federal civil rights lawsuit Chambers filed against the city and the former officers in November, she “finally admitted under oath that she was stashing cocaine in her bra when Hall approached her so that he wouldn’t discover it,” according to the motion.

Defense attorneys Mark A. Bederow and Daniel L. Bibb, representing Martins, and Peter Guadagnino, representing Hall, filed the court documents despite Justice Chun’s orders to seize motions and prepare for jury selection on Jan. 22.

Chambers’ civil attorney Michael David said this filing was “another attack” to silence Chambers.

“As far as I’m concerned, this has nothing to do anything to do with whether she had drugs or not. What does that have to do with their clients raping my client?” asked David. “They are continuing to smear my client. She is being honest; she’s been honest from day one. This is just another attack. The defense attorneys should focus on their clients.”

Against the judge’s orders, the attorneys say they were compelled to file the motion after learning about Chambers’ admission and are requesting that the judge hit the restart button.

“If the grand jury had known this, they would have appreciated that Hall had a legitimate law-enforcement basis to question [Chambers] about her actions, to order her out of the car and to arrest her. If the grand jury also know that [Chambers] deliberately lied about her encounter with Hall, it might have discredited her testimony entirely,” according to the motion.

The attorneys provided footnotes in the motion that suggest that if Chambers testifies during the trial, she’ll possibly be exposed to possible perjury charges.

Bederow, Bibb and Guadagnino also charge that a prosecutor, who “expressed concern” after interviewing Chambers, may have to testify as a defense witness to prove there was no knowledge about the cocaine, the motion read.

“We will respond to the motion in court,” said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.


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