OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A New York Supreme Court justice has shut down felony charges filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg against two people who bought phony COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Bragg had charged two individuals, identified only by their initials, J.O. and R.V., according to a New York Post report. They were accused of purchasing fake vaccine cards from a stripper in New Jersey named Jasmine Clifford, allegedly in an attempt to circumvent New York City’s vaccine mandate. The Manhattan DA selected 16 individuals out of approximately 100 who were believed to have obtained fake vaccine cards from the same stripper, charging them all with felony criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Out of the 16 individuals initially charged, 14 chose to plead guilty to lesser charges. However, J.O. and R.V. decided to seek the dismissal of their cases. Bragg fought their efforts, leading to the case being transferred to Lantry’s jurisdiction.
But Supreme Court Justice Brandon T. Lantry pushed back, noting that the Manhattan DA’s office under Bragg’s leadership has “routinely — nearly daily — move[s] to dismiss significantly more serious counts or entire indictments.”
In certain instances, as indicated in his opinion, Bragg’s office made efforts to dismiss charges against individuals with previous felony convictions or individuals whose immigration status could be jeopardized if they were convicted.
“These motions submitted [by Bragg and his prosecutors] are made months or even years after the 45-day period has expired to dismiss … sexual assaults, drug sales, robbery, burglary, and other violent and non-violent serious felony offenses,” Lantry continued.
Critics lambasted Bragg on social media following Landry’s legal smackdown.
“In Bragg’s version of America, hoodlums who steal rape and murder deserve the most leniency possible, but people who refused to go along with the moronic vaxx card tyranny deserve to have their lives ruined,” radio host Buck Sexton said.
“Soros DA Alvin Bragg is prosecuting people for having fake vax cards – 3 years after the fact – while letting killers, rapists, drug dealers & illegal alien invaders who assault cops WALK FREE. Are you paying attention yet?” Monica Crowley noted as well.
City Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli (R-Staten Island) praised the judge, who also served as the former chairman of Staten Island’s Republican Party. Borelli highlighted that one of the defendants obtained the forged card to keep her enrollment in nursing school, only to eventually receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is what Alvin Bragg is — a clown,” Borelli told The Post. “Imagine prosecuting a scared woman for this, even though she didn’t even use the fake card, while at the same time letting violent perps go. I’m glad the judge called him out for the world to see.”
The Post noted further that on Wednesday, Bragg’s office declined to seek bail for five suspected illegal migrants who beat a pair of NYPD officers in Times Square.
Bragg, who filed charges earlier this year against former President Donald Trump regarding a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, admitted last fall that he fears the rising level of crime in the Big Apple.
“I know from the statistics that transit crime is down. But when one of my family members gets on the train, I get a knot in my stomach. I live here; I’m raising my family here, so we have a lot more work to do,” Bragg said. “We do a number of long-term investigations involving wiretaps. We do targeted enforcement, so we are seeing the returns on that investigative work, and we’re going to do that kind of work.”
The DA’s personal admission — which comes as he has been widely criticized for being soft on crime — fed the public’s perception of rising crime in the city.
