n the final chapter of a story BUST has been tracking since its first reports, two former Brooklyn detectives accused of raping an 18-year-old girl in 2017 will serve no jail time. Pleading guilty to official misconduct and bribery, the sum total punishment for the cops is five years’ probation.
The crime took place in 2015 when Anna — whose last name is redacted in court documents to preserve anonymity — was driving with friends in Brooklyn, NY. Two plainclothes cops, Detectives Richard Hall and Eddie Martin, pulled over the vehicle and arrested Anna for marijuana they spotted in the car. Rather than driving Anna to the police station, the officers raped Anna in the van and then left her on the side of the road a quarter mile from the station.
A rape kit revealed DNA evidence from both officers in the semen found on Anna’s body. In what she assumed would be a cut-and-dry case, Anna filed a lawsuit against the two officers despite police intimidation to remain silent. She also took legal action against the city of New York, suing for $50 million in damages.
Rape, bribery, kidnapping, and official misconduct charges, which could get the officers up to 25 years in prison each, were officially filed against the detectives by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office a month after the incident.
While the detectives, both of whom are in their thirties, resigned from the force and admitted to having sex with Anna, they maintained that the sex was consensual. In 35 states, any sexual activity between police officers and those they arrest is considered a crime. At the time, New York was not one of those states.
“The case exposed a gaping loophole in New York law—,” according to The Guardian, “which said it was third-degree rape for a correction or parole officer to have sex with a person in custody, but did not apply the same standard to police officers.” The most an officer could be charged with for sex with an arrested person is "official misconduct," according to Buzzfeeed News, punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.
Anna’s case, which quickly drew national attention, catapulted this legal oversight into the limelight, prompting City Council Member Mark Treyger to introduce legislation classifying sex between a police officer and a person in custody as rape in the third degree.
Though the law was passed in 2018, Anna herself is not one of the survivors to benefit. Despite the events of that night now being legally classified as rape regardless of the officers' "consent" defense, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzales dropped the charges against the officers last March.
Yesterday, the former detectives (one of whom was involved in a similar lawsuit that was recently settled for $20,000) got off on bribery — telling Anna that she would avoid arrest in exchange for sex — and official misconduct. Anna’s lawyer, Michael David, will be building a case for a federal civil rights investigation following the outcome of the case, as reported by Politico.
“It’s sending the worst message to victims of police sexual misconduct in America,” David said, “that police could kidnap someone, rape her, and throw her on the street, and get away with it.”
Top photo by Yucel Moran via Unsplash
More from BUST
A Teenage Girl Says She Was Arrested, Then Raped By Two NYPD Cops. Five Months Later, She's Still Fighting For Justice.
New York Lawmakers Are Trying To Make It Illegal For Police To Have Sex With The People They Arrest
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Noa Wollstein is an editorial intern at BUST. She is currently a student at Princeton University working towards a B.A. in English, Film, and Journalism.
