Corruption Wins The Day, Again

Former Bronx ADA found not guilty on DWI charges in trial that exposed cop ticket fix
The New York Post by Vinita Singla   -  June 2, 2011

Jurors rejected testimony from cops accused of corruptly fixing traffic tickets when they delivered a not guilty verdict in a Bronx drunk driving case today.  Stephen Lopresti, a lawyer charged with felony DWI after a 2006 accident on the Grand Concourse, was found not guilty on all counts today by a jury in Bronx Supreme Court.  Jurors said they simply didn’t believe the testimony of two cops, Julia Goris and Harrington Marshall, who admitted they’d fixed traffic tickets.  Goris had arrested Lopresti, and Marshall administered his Breathalyzer test.  "They have no integrity. They really don’t deserve a badge. They should retire, pick another profession," said juror Isaac Johnson, 20.  The officers’ involvement in fixing tickets "shows how crooked they are," said Guadalupe Torres, 58. "They’ve probably done that so many times, but they say they did it once or twice. We reached a verdict immediately because it was a clean cut case."  Defense lawyer Steven Epstein said the jurors’ verdict shows the police need to stop fixing traffic tickets.  "The NYPD and the district attorneys in New York City need to seriously consider the conduct of police officers and how they go about acting as public servants," Epstein said.  The verdict lets Lopresti keep his law license. He’s been convicted three other times of DWI, but this would have been a felony conviction, which would have led to his disbarment. "One thing I’m going to do is I’m going to go to church and thank my lawyers," Lopresti said outside the courthouse.  Lopresti is a former Bronx assistant district attorney and has practiced law in the borough since 1978.  As many as 400 cops could face departmental or even criminal charges for fixing tickets by losing paperwork or missing court dates in a probe now being heard by a Bronx grand jury.