$75G RIP
City cops watched Muslims,
JUDGE trying the case of two former detectives accused of raping a teen drug suspect ordered prosecutors to turn over their notes regarding a staffer’s relationship with one of the cops.
Prosecutors insisted in a formal letter that the staffer — identified by sources as Assistant District Attorney Nicole Manini — had nothing to do with the investigation of ex-NYPD Detectives Richard Hall, 32, and Eddie Martins, 37.
The two are charged with taking turns raping a handcuffed, 19-year-old woman in the back of their police van last Sept. 15.
The cops, who claim the sex was consensual, resigned from the force .
Justice Danny Chun on Thursday said prosecutors have to hand over all notes taken during their interview with Manini, whose alleged affair with Hall — a married father of two — was revealed this week.
In the letter, prosecutors said they found out Manini called Hall before, during and after his indictment.
A spokesman for the DA’s office said they disclosed the details “out of an abundance of caution.” THE NYPD has settled a lawsuit filed by Muslim groups in New Jersey over controversial surveillance practices — but cops have not admitted any wrongdoing, officials said Thursday.
The city agreed to pay $75,000 to be divided up among the 11 plaintiffs in the 2012 suit.
The department also agreed to not engage in suspicionless surveillance on the basis of religion or ethnicity, and to have the plaintiffs give input to a policy guide used by the NYPD’s intelligence bureau, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the plaintiffs.
The New Jersey suit was one of several legal filings claiming some surveillance tactics performed by cops assigned to the Counter Terrorism Bureau in the years since 9/11 were unconstitutional.
The practices were part of the NYPD’s often maligned, so-called “Muslim spying program,” critics said.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter Terrorism John Miller (right) called the settlement “another important step forward.”
“While there was no admission of wrongdoing or misconduct by the NYPD, what we were able to do was to work with the plaintiffs over time, talk about our rules and procedures, in some cases be able to re-emphasize or add to additional training material,” Miller said. “Our relationship with the Muslim community has probably never been stronger than it is right now.” According to the suit, the NYPD spied on at least 20 mosques, 14 restaurants, 11 retail stores, two grade schools, and two Muslim student assoTHE