GRAND JURY FILES PERJURY CHARGES AGAINST NYPD DETECTIVE IN CONNECTION WITH TESTIMONY ABOUT ARRESTS STEMMING FROM A LARGE MARIJUANA SHIPMENT
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a New York City Police Detective has been arrested and charged with perjury allegedly for testifying falsely while under oath before a Grand Jury.
47th Precinct Detective Debra Eager, 41, was indicted on three counts of Perjury in the 1st degree, a Class D felony offense punishable by a maximum sentence of 7 years imprisonment on each count.
District Attorney Johnson said: “Untruthful testimony, particularly from those who are entrusted to enforce the law, strikes at the very heart of our system of justice and seriously erodes public confidence in our courts. Hopefully this indictment, the second in the last 16 months in which a Police Officer has been charged with perjury, will reinforce the message that we have zero tolerance for false testimony by anyone, including members of law enforcement.”
The crime alleged in this indictment occurred on November 21, 2007 when Detective Eager appeared before a grand jury in connection with the arrests of several defendants who were charged with the criminal possession of 33 pounds of marijuana. It is alleged that Eager’s testimony was specific in detail and was starkly contradicted by video surveillance recordings at the location where the arrests occurred at 3041 Holland Avenue on November 17, 2007. As a result all felony and misdemeanor charges were dismissed against the defendants in the marijuana possession case.
Eager was arraigned before Acting State Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett who set bail at $15,000 in the form of a personal recognizance bond. The defendant was ordered to surrender her passport. The case was adjourned until May 12, 2009 in Part 60.
Assistant District Attorney James Goward of the Rackets Bureau is prosecuting the case.
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