8 - 10/14/20 Gerard Brave - Executive Assistant District Attorney, QDA Office Artwork

“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied” - “Let's Break The Silence Together”

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In order to track bad actors in borough district attorney's offices and other law enforcement agencies throughout NYC who refuse to investigate, arrest and prosecute crime perpetrators, we need to document the blowback and victim-blaming that women often hear from both the police and the district attorneys when we use the criminal legal system to attain justice. The Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is refusing to address the misconduct of her staffers and members of NYPD. These are telephone conversations between me and high-level members of the Queens District Attorney's office of Melinda Katz. PO Miguel Delacruz is an active member of NYPD. He committed multiple felonies and misdemeanors against me. PO Delacruz unlawfully surveilled our intimate encounter, threatened me, disseminated multiple video files, concealed the physical evidence. The Queens District Attorney's Office of Melinda Katz is not only refusing to prosecute PO Miguel Delacruz but is refusing to initiate a special proceeding in The Supreme Court, Queens County, Criminal Term, before the Honorable Joseph A. Zayas, Administrative Judge of Queens County, Criminal Term, seeking the appointment of a special district attorney. I’m so thankful to have Maya, Larry, Priscilla, Adam, Rocco, Molly, David, Diego and other reporters working on my story. I am forever grateful for the tremendous support from my family, friends, my attorney, Joe Murray, and his whole team. "Justice Delayed is Justice Denied" - " Let's Break The Silence Together " Melinda Katz NY1 Debate, October 23, 2019 and Melinda Katz Twitter, April 8, 2021

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“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied” - “Let's Break The Silence Together”

8 - 10/14/20 Gerard Brave - Executive Assistant District Attorney, QDA Office

April 08, 2021 • Valentina Veleva • Season 1 • Episode 8

Executive Assistant District Attorney of Investigations Division ADA Gerard Brave:

October 14, 2020: Valentina appealed to EADA Brave to review their refusal to move forward with the case. Later that day EADA Brave called back and completely misstated the law to her that the statute requires that the recording of her be taken in an “identifiable manner.” Valentina then confronted EADA Brave with the case of People v Piznarski (supra).

EADA Brave then abandoned his position that Valentina was not identifiable and then made the incredible assertion that he believes that she consented to the video, simply because Police Officer Delacruz said that she consented to the video. EADA Brave then pitifully attempted to argue to Valentina that Delacruz could not possibly have more videos of her beyond the 12-second clip that he sent her because she only was with him once.

EADA Brave made the incredible statement to Valentina, “look, look, Ms. Veleva, we can agree that he is a jerk, but he is not a criminal, he didn’t commit a crime.”

Is this the policy of the Queens District Attorney to completely credit the male perpetrator’s version of facts over a female victim’s assertions? EADA Brave was shamefully making excuse after excuse and offering wildly baseless assumptions favorable to Delacruz.

In this conversation EADA Brave acts more like Delacruz’ criminal defense attorney than an executive member of the Queens County District Attorney’s Office.

Joseph W. Murray

Attorney for Ms. Valentina Veleva