{"active":false,"first_name":"Dennis","last_name":"Brooks","race":"White","gender":"Male","rank":"DT2","command":{"command":"DB QNHM","id":"164"},"shield_no":482,"taxid":"879382","complaint_ids":[8505839,8501373,8404333,8400638],"appt_date":"1983-01-03","lawsuits":[{"name":"Bolt, Rohan vs City of Ny, et al.","start_date":"2022-06-14","disposition_date":"2024-04-12","payout_amount":15200000,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"22CV03318","court":"U.S. District Court - Eastern District NY","summary":"In December of 1996, Rohan Bolt was arrested for the murders of Charles Davis and Ira \"Mike\" Epstein. He subsequently spent 24 years incarcerated before the conviction was vacated due to law enforcement's improper handling of the case. Bolt's arrest was based on an unreliable witness who referred to a person named \"Roti.\" Bolt stated that he was never called that name and another alleged witness failed to identify him in a lineup until pressured by Defendant Frank Bovino. Defendants Cardamone and Brooks knowingly elicited a false confession from one of Bolt's codefendants and failed to inform prosecutors that the confession was coerced. Defendants Pia and Sica also forced the third codefendant to adopt a statement by threatening him. A third false confession was elicited from Jason Ligon; Defendants Maryann Bubelnik and Bovino were aware of Ligon's alibi, but did not inform Bolt's counsel. \nThe aforementioned defendants, as well as Joseph Fezza, Paul Heider, William Nevins, and Michael Falciano, were involved with the creation and/or dissemination of misleading police reports and failed to disclose the alleged controversy surrounding the confessions and identifications.  Brady material was also withheld from the defense counsel. Upon review, the Conviction Integrity Unit found evidence implicating different culprits and highlighting the unreliability of the confessions used to convict Bolt. The convictions against Bolt and his codefendants were vacated on March 5, 2021. Bolt's indictment was dismissed on June 4, 2021.","documents":[{"url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.480850/gov.uscourts.nyed.480850.36.0.pdf","type":"complaint"}],"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63363181/bolt-v-city-of-new-york/"},{"name":"Johnson, Gary vs City of Ny, et al.","start_date":"2022-06-09","disposition_date":"2024-04-12","payout_amount":15000000,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"22CV03320","court":"U.S. District Court - Eastern District NY","summary":"On December 23, 1996, NYPD arrested a mentally unstable drug dealer who was coerced by Defendant Falciano into naming the Plaintiff as an involved member in the murder of a check-cashing store owner and off-duty police officer, that had occurred two days prior.  Despite the unreliability of the arrested man, the Plaintiff himself was arrested and interrogated by Defendants Cardamone, Bovino, and Brooks. The three officers at the time did not record their interview and disposed of their notes after obtaining a false confession from the Plaintiff. The Defendants knew the confession was false and coerced, yet still implicated the Plaintiff to prosecution. Additionally, Defendants Bubelnik and Bovino worked with detectives to secretly manufacture and coerce confessions from the Plaintiff's co-defendants, and provided it to the prosecutors. The Plaintiff's defense counsel was never made completely unaware of the false confessions. The Plaintiff was also wrongfully convicted in the press and public before receiving a proper trial. Defendants Cardamone, Brooks, Pia, Sica, Heider, Bovino, Bubelnik, Nevins, Falciano, and Fezza met with prosecutors prior to the grand jury presentation to confirm that the false information in the reports was true. Specifically, PO Bovino wrote a false felony complaint reporting the Plaintiff had confessed to the crime and, with his co-defendants, planned and committed the murders. The grand jury thus indicted the Plaintiff, who then was sent to incarceration on Rikers Island. The Plaintiff was finally tried on the murder charges in the fall from November 22 to December 6, 1999, and was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. After 24 years, it was revealed that by May 1997, police were made aware of the real murderers of the store owner and off-duty police officer case, and despite knowing, wrongfully withheld that information since. On June 4, 2021, the Plaintiff's indictment was dismissed and all charges were dropped.","documents":[{"url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.480851/gov.uscourts.nyed.480851.36.0.pdf","type":"complaint"}],"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63363288/johnson-v-city-of-new-york/"},{"name":"Bell, George vs City of Ny, et al.","start_date":"2022-06-07","disposition_date":"2023-11-21","payout_amount":17500000,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"22CV03251","court":"U.S. District Court - Eastern District NY","summary":"On December 21, 1996, the owner of a store and an off-duty NYPD officer were shot and killed in an armed robbery. Plaintiff, who was 19 years old at the time, was falsely arrested for the murders. Defendants Pia and Scia allegedly coerced his confession by manipulating, intimidating, and beating him. Plaintiff was not given access to an attorney and the interrogation was not taped. Nine hours after he was arrested, Plaintiff signed a statement he did not read, written entirely by Defendants Pia, falsely implicating Plaintiff in the double homicide. No murder weapon or any physical evidence tying Plaintiff to the crime was ever discovered.","documents":[{"url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.480717/gov.uscourts.nyed.480717.1.0.pdf","type":"complaint"}],"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63355809/bell-v-city-of-new-york/"}],"id":"APCC","url":"https://www.50-a.org/officer/APCC"}