Woke Bronx DA with worst conviction rates in NYC refused to prosecute 101 attempted murder cases

The Bronx has a “woke” district attorney named Darcel Clark, a black woman, and she “has the worst conviction and dismissal rates in nearly every major crime category in New York City over the past half-decade,” according to the New York Post.

“Clark, 61, also turned down more attempted murder and sex-assault arrests over the last five years than every other prosecutor in the city combined,” the Post reported Saturday.

She’s refused to prosecute at least 101 attempted-murder charges, a whopping huge amount compared to the 80 TOTAL attempted homicide cases that her four other colleagues (DAs for Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island) have refused.

Clark, a Democrat who was elected to her position in 2016 and is up for re-election this cycle, has also reportedly rejected 172 rape and 51 sex-abuse cases, versus the 166 rape and 51 abuse cases rejected by her four colleagues combined.

This isn’t to say her colleagues are that much better than her:

All the while, she reportedly is known for having the lowest conviction rate for first  and second-degree murder, in addition to attempted murder, surprise, surprise.

“Clark’s office has secured guilty verdicts in just 60% of murder arrests by law enforcement, compared to 62% in Brooklyn, 66% in both Queens and Staten Island, and 76% in Manhattan,” the Post notes.

“The Bronx District Attorney was only able to secure convictions in 39% of attempted murder arrests since 2018 that have so far been closed, compared to 54% in Brooklyn, 61% in Manhattan and Queens, and 65% in Staten Island.”

In a statement to the Post, local criminal defense attorney Todd Spodek said he’s had a number of cases dismissed over things unrelated to “the merits of the case.”

“They were dismissed based on prosecutors being unable to file certificates of compliance on time, based on prosecutors having uncooperative witnesses. It’s never one thing, it’s always a lot of things combined,” he said.

The ironic part of it all is that Clark claims her conviction rates are 90 percent for first-degree murder and 73 percent for second-degree murder. But her office bases this on a wholly different (and wrong) way of classification.

“The Bronx District Attorney begins tracking cases once they are formally charged in court in an arraignment — not arrested by police,” the Post notes.

Her office also doesn’t seem to be concerned about all the declined prosecutions.

“We dismiss cases or decline prosecutions in situations where there is not enough evidence to sustain charges, a critical witness refuses to participate in the process, or new evidence comes to light. It is ultimately a case-by-case exercise of justice, fairness, and integrity,” a spokesperson told the Post.

Yet last month, she reportedly told the New York City Council that her office’s high dismissal rates were a result of sweeping criminal justice reform legislation that was passed in 2019. But there are a couple problems with this narrative.

One, Clark reportedly supported the reforms. And number two, her conviction rate prior to 2019 was just as bad.

“That’s the problem with all progressive prosecutors … they are backing and advocating for all these social justice initiatives and they’re using them as a scapegoat to not do their jobs,” Jennifer Harrison, the founder of Victims Rights NY, told The Post.

“What people don’t realize is there’s a correlation between conviction numbers, dismissal numbers, and the amount of cold-blooded killers walking amongst us. That’s why people don’t feel safe working in a bodega or walking down the streets in the Bronx.”

According to Tess Cohen, a criminal defense attorney who’s running for Clark’s seat, this issue extends beyond political ideology.

“No matter who you are, New Yorkers believe that anyone committing murder, rape, and sexual assault must be held accountable. There are many reasons to disagree with DA Clark, on a number of issues and on her approach, but this is beyond unacceptable,” he told the Post.

And this evidently includes some of Clark’s own staffers.

“The half-decade of prosecutorial shortcomings culminated in a mutiny within Clark’s office last year that was capped off with threats of a ‘GREAT RESIGNATION’ by an anonymous group of rank-and-file assistant district attorneys,” the Post notes.

“Clark told the Council last month that she lost 79 attorneys since July 2022 and 152 attorneys in the previous fiscal year — which she called ‘another collateral impact of the expanded discovery obligation.'”

All this comes amid reports that New York state as a whole experienced a huge crime surge in 2022.

“The state saw a roughly 21% overall increase in reported index crimes compared to 2021, including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, the data shows,” The Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

Vivek Saxena

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