Rape conviction overturned due to dementia diagnosis
The Brooklyn DA threw out the conviction of a man who pleaded guilty in 2012 to raping an acquaintance who had a mental disability – after an investigation found that the man also had a mental disability, and that he likely did not receive effective legal assistance.
Livingston Broomes, 70, pleaded guilty in 2012 to second-degree rape, after a mentally disabled acquaintance accused him of repeatedly forcing her to have sex. He served out his four-year sentence, but was scheduled to be on post-release supervision through 2024 and also had to register as a sex offender. The Brooklyn DA’s Conviction Review Unit – started in 2014 under the late DA Ken Thompson – moved to vacate the case.
“Expert analysis of his mental capacity and an examination of the rest of the evidence reveal that the case was prosecuted as if an intellectually able individual had sexual relations with a person incapable of consent,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “The CRU investigation, however, revealed that he also likely suffered mental disabilities and likely did not receive effective legal assistance.”
Broomes was arrested in May 2011 and pleaded guilty to the charge of “engaging in sexual intercourse with someone who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally disabled or mentally incapacitated.” But the CRU found that because of Broomes’ own mental disabilities, he may have pleaded guilty to a crime of which, legally, he was not guilty.