New York Daily News

Judge says release info on Ramarley

- BY STEPHEN REX BROWN

A MANHATTAN Supreme Court judge is criticizin­g the NYPD for delaying disciplini­ng officers involved in the fatal shooting of Ramarley Graham in 2012, and ordered the department to release documents related to the tragedy.

Justice Manuel Mendez signed his decision on Dec. 22 — the same day NYPD Sgt. Scott Morris and Officer John McLoughlin were finally reprimande­d for their roles in the Bronx shooting of the unarmed 18-year-old (photo bottom).

Mendez’s ruling was apparently written before that news became public. He slammed the department for arguing that Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, was not entitled to Civilian Complaint Review Board records on Morris and McLoughlin because they were the subjects of internal investigat­ions.

The NYPD’s “delay of almost six years since the incident with no stated date for the disciplina­ry trials, or reference to any specific ongoing investigat­ion, creates a semblance of using Civil Rights Law ... inappropri­ately as a shield to protect the NYPD from embarrassm­ent, and not the interests of either Sergeant Morris or Officer McLoughlin,” Mendez wrote.

Under Mayor de Blasio, the city has implemente­d a broad interpreta­tion of Section 50-a of the state Civil Rights Law, arguing that all police personnel records are exempt from being released to the public.

“It’s disgusting that the de Blasio administra­tion has fought in court against a mother whose son was killed by the NYPD to conceal records that could provide our family with some basic answers,” Malcolm said.

The Daily News reported Friday that Morris will be suspended for 30 days without pay, then will resign without the “good guy” letter that would have allowed him to carry a weapon, according to sources. McLoughlin accepted a penalty of 45 lost vacation days and was placed on dismissal probation for a year, meaning he could be fired for any infraction, sources said.

Richard Haste, the cop who pulled the trigger and killed Graham, resigned from the NYPD in March.A Law Department spokesman said the decision will be reviewed.

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