Bronx DA Darcel Clark. Photo Credit: Rick Kopstein/ALM

A crime analyst for the Bronx District Attorney's Office filed an eye-popping claim notice earlier this week containing wide-ranging allegations of misconduct within the office, alleging that a booze-and-sex-fueled culture in the office has caused prosecutors to mishandle cases, including a recent gang prosecution that ended in a defendant's charges getting dismissed.

But while the allegations prompted calls from some corners for Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark to step aside, others in the Bronx legal community said the claims appear intended to damage the reputation of a district attorney who has opened investigations into police and prosecutors' conduct during her two years in office.

According to Crystal Rivera's notice of claim, filed with the New York City Comptroller, she intends to file a $15 million suit for medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish and punitive damages.

Rivera alleged that since she began working for the Bronx DA in August 2007, the office has been rife with “utter incompetence, serious misconduct and unethical practices” that affect the constitutional rights of defendants and complainants alike, including persistent delays for criminal trials, that prosecutors routinely “judge shop” to get search warrants approved, that prosecutors often appear in court after they've been drinking and that the office mishandled up to 500 child abuse cases in 2013 and 2014.

Rivera also said that ADAs are too busy drinking alcohol and having sex in the office to properly investigate and prosecute cases. She added color to the allegations at a news conference held on Feb. 26, saying that prosecutors keep booze at their desks and that sexual trysts at the office have led to fights involving jealous husbands, the New York Post and the New York Daily News reported

Clark took office at the beginning of 2016, succeeding Robert Johnson, who was first elected Bronx DA in 1988 and who now serves as a New York Supreme Court justice.

Through a spokeswoman, Clark said it would not be appropriate for her to comment on an investigation or a “personal matter,” but called the employees of her office “dedicated, hardworking public servants” who “handle some of the most difficult cases with fairness and the safety of the community foremost in mind.”

“My faith in the people of my office is unshakable,” Clark said. “We will stay the course to serve the people of the Bronx by pursuing justice with integrity.”

Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.

But some longtime Bronx defense attorneys and former prosecutors say that, from their experiences appearing in court alongside Bronx ADAs, that Rivera's version of events do not exactly match up with reality.

Murray Richman, a veteran criminal defense attorney who has been in practice since 1964, called Rivera's claims “unequivocal bullshit” and said the allegations are an attempt by police to dirty Clark's name because she has expressed concern about police abuse.

“I think it's beyond contempt to say and do a thing like this and tarnish the reputation of someone who's trying to do the right thing,” Richman said.

Corey Sokoler, a criminal defense attorney who has practiced for more than three decades and who serves as chairperson of the Bronx County Bar Association, said he has never seen a Bronx prosecutor show up to court intoxicated and that Rivera's claims sound like “wild allegations from a disgruntled employee.”

“This is so far out of left field,” Sokoler said. “I give it no credence whatsoever.”

While Rivera's broader allegations about misconduct at the Bronx DA stretch back to Johnson's tenure, she made more specific claims regarding the case of Pedro Hernandez, a teenager who faced gun possession and assault charges and spent roughly a year on Rikers Island before Clark moved in September to drop the charges.

Following the dismissal, Clark issued a statement in which she said that her office uncovered witness and evidentiary issues in the Hernandez case and that her office would investigate the case further.

“I also will not tolerate misconduct by law enforcement,” Clark said, adding that her Public Integrity Bureau is investigating allegations related to the case “and will go wherever the evidence leads it.”

In November, Clark said she would expand the investigation into the Hernandez case and had asked the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to assist in the matter.

Rivera's boyfriend, New York City Police Det. David Terrell, was involved with the Hernandez case and has been the target of several lawsuits alleging false arrest and police brutality.

Last year, Terrell filed a notice of claim stating that the city had allowed frivolous civil rights suits against him and that he had been defamed; he is represented in the matter by Manhattan solo attorney Eric Sanders, who is himself a former New York City police officer and who is also representing Rivera in her notice of claim.

Rivera alleged that Assistant District Attorney David Slott, who prosecuted the Hernandez case, was told by another prosecutor that he had mishandled the case, but that Clark began “shifting the narrative” of a failed prosecution to Terrell in an attempt to vilify him.

Rivera said she was questioned by members of the Bronx DA's Office about her relationship with Terrell and that she was eventually suspended from the office without pay.

“They were trying to hang their blown prosecution on [Terrell] and wanted to use Crystal to get to him,” Sanders said in an interview with the Law Journal.

After news spread of Rivera's notice of claim, it prompted a response from the Sergeants Benevolent Association, which has been at odds with the Bronx DA's Office over its ultimately unsuccessful prosecution of police Sgt. Hugh Barry for shooting and killing a mentally disturbed woman who wielded a baseball bat.

“DA Clark is an embarrassment,” the association announced on its Twitter account. “Her office is unethical and incompetent, remember she was handed the job by Bob Johnson. The residents of the Bronx are being shortchanged and deserve better.”

Sanders said he has never spoken to association president Ed Mullins, neither during his time as a police officer or as a lawyer. He said he agrees with Mullins that Clark should resign, but that outcome “doesn't go far enough”—he said her support staff should be sent packing as well.