A state judge has dismissed a felony conviction against a young man with severe mental health and drug problems who stood a good chance of going to prison.

Manhattan Acting Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber said he found “compelling” reasons in People v. Brian M., Ind. No. 1597/13, to circumvent the strict letter of the law in the interest of justice. Thus, he took the unusual step of granting a Clayton motion pursuant to CPL §240.10.

In doing so, the judge observed that defense counsel Victor Castelli of the Legal Aid Society and Angel Rodriguez, director of the Andrew Glover Youth Program, had “a difficult, almost impossible job.”