Cleary Gottlieb and The Bronx Defenders won a decisive victory from the Bronx Criminal Court for a pro bono client who had been charged with marijuana possession following a stop and frisk. The Bronx Criminal Court ordered suppression of the evidence and dismissed the criminal case in its entirety.
This case is one of 54 misdemeanor marijuana possession cases arising from New York City’s stop-and-frisk program that Cleary Gottlieb and the Bronx Defenders have litigated in an effort to highlight the consequences of the unconstitutional searches that led to the underlying arrests.
The New York Times previously highlighted Cleary Gottlieb and the Bronx Defenders’ efforts in a front page story on the criminal justice system in Bronx County courts. The article examined how backlogs in the Bronx Court systems are preventing stop-and-frisk victims from obtaining speedy trials, thereby making admitting guilt a quicker and more favorable choice for victims than fighting for a trial to prove their innocence.
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