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COURIER L 4 IFE, DEC. 14–20, 2018 M B G
CLEAN LIVING: Criminal Court Judge Abena Darkeh in September cleared low-level pot
convictions at an event hosted by District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who is hosting a similar
session in Flatbush on Dec. 15. File photo by Michael Simpson
DA weeding out
pot convictions
Low-level marijuana charges will be
overturned at Flatbush event
BY COLIN MIXSON
Many Kings County stoners with misdemeanor
pot convictions can clear
their criminal records at a free event
that Brooklyn’s top prosecutor is hosting
on Dec. 15 in Flatbush.
The upcoming amnesty session,
which followed a similar event in Bedford
Stuyvesant on Tuesday, will be
staffed by defense attorneys available
to counsel convicts with low-level potpossession
charges, and fi ll out legal
documents on their behalf, which District
Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s offi ce
will then review, before prosecutors
head to court and request the judge vacate
their convictions.
The two events follow a similar September
session where Gonzalez used
his authority to clear misdemeanor
pot charges , and come amid his ongoing
effort to overrule state weed laws
by refusing to prosecute most marijuana
possession and public-smoking
arrests, claiming they disproportionately
affect black and Hispanic men.
Low-level weed charges can seriously
affect a person’s life, complicating
one’s ability to secure loans, obtain
work, lease a residence, and even keep
custody of their children, according to
a top legal eagle at Brooklyn Defender
Services, which, along with the Legal
Aid Society, partnered with Gonzalez
for the amnesty events.
“Anyone who has a conviction for
marijuana should come to one of the
clinics and get legal advice about their
eligibility to have that conviction removed
from their record,” said Lisa
Schreibersdorf. “These convictions
have a wide-reaching impact on many
people.”
The consultations at the forthcoming
event are relatively quick considering
their end result of a clean record,
according to Gonzalez’s spokesman
Oren Yaniv, who said most people
won’t spend more than 15 minutes with
a lawyer before they’re good to go. Participants
are also free to waive their
right to appear in court, leaving it up
to prosecutors to advocate on their behalf,
Yaniv said.
The record cleaning does not extend
to all stoners, however — people
convicted of smoking while driving,
as well as anyone convicted of a sex
offense or certain violent felonies can
not submit motions under the new policy.
Get your record cleared at SUNY
Downstate Medical Center 450 Clarkson
Ave. between New York Avenue
and E. 37th Street in Flatbush, (718)
270–1000 on Dec. 15, 10 am to noon.
Classifieds call (718) 260—2555