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Appeals Court Allows Trial For Man Accused Of Shooting Officer
A man accused of shooting a rookie New York City police officer five years ago will now face attempted murder charges after all. A state appeals court on Tuesday overturned a controversial decision by Judge Laura Blackburne, who threw out the charges against William Hodges two years ago, ruling prosecutors took too long to bring him to trial. The appeals court said that delays in the case should not have counted against the maximum time allowed between arraignment and trial. Hodge’s is accused of shooting David Gonzalez with the officer’s own gun during a scuffle in an apartment building in the South Jamaica section of Queens in November 1999. Blackburne came under fire more recently for allowing a drug suspect in her courtroom to leave through a side door to elude detectives waiting outside to arrest him on separate robbery charges. The police union is expected to hold a news conference Wednesday to call for Blackburne’s removal from the bench.
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