Gilgo Beach prosecutor says NY bail law fails to consider 'dangerousness'
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney slammed New York's bail reforms which allowed four people suspected of dismembering two different bodies and dumping pieces around Long Island to walk free.
Suffolk County, New York, District Attorney Raymond Tierney slammed Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's "laughably inadequate" crime platform after four suspects charged with dismembering two bodies and disposing of them in public were freed under the state's bail laws.
"Governor Hochul is either completely clueless or being deceitful about how the criminal justice system works," Tierney said in a fiery statement Thursday morning.
Under New York's bail reform laws, passed in 2019 while Hochul was lieutenant governor, charges of merely chopping up and disposing of dead bodies aren't eligible for bail, said Tierney, who is personally handling the prosecution of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann.
"This situation, with these four defendants being released, would have never happened if the prosecution would have been able to argue dangerousness," he told reporters during a news briefing Thursday afternoon. "In New York state, we cannot argue dangerousness as a factor in our bail applications. That is contrary to the federal system."
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Suffolk County Police K-9 units search Southards Pond Park on Friday in Babylon, New York, where human remains had been discovered. (J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)
According to the Justice Department, "dangerousness is an unpredictable and untreatable tendency to inflict or risk serious, irreversible injure or destruction, or to induce others to do so."
As a prosecutor, he said, "dangerousness" is the most important factor he would consider when trying to have a suspect held on bail – or even remanded into custody. However, the charges filed in this case don't qualify under New York law, and his office couldn't raise the issue of "dangerousness" before the judge.
"We could change the system, but until we use common sense and we allow prosecutors to use their judgment and judges and litigants to use their judgment and argue the most important factor, which is dangerousness, you're going to continue to have absurd results like we saw yesterday," Tierney added.
So the four suspects, Alexis Nieves, 33; Amanda Wallace, 40; Jeffrey Mackey, 38; and Steven Brown, 44, were set free on supervised release Wednesday.
"The Suffolk County police homicide detectives are the best in the country, and they are working 24-7 on this case," Tierney said. "For the governor to criticize the efforts of these detectives without knowing any of the facts in defense of a broken bail system is both baffling and indefensible."
"The governor’s platform on public safety is laughably inadequate, and she should know enough not to comment on ongoing investigations."
Hochul sat down with "Good Day New York" earlier Thursday to discuss her new anti-crime initiatives, which involve sending state troopers and the National Guard to New York City's subway system to assist the NYPD.
Tierney countered that the use of the National Guard is further evidence bail reform is failing New York residents and visitors.
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Suffolk County, New York, District Attorney Raymond Tierney speaks to the media during a press conference at the Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead, New York, on Jan. 16. (Robert Miller for Fox News Digital)
She also took a swipe at Tierney and Suffolk County police during the interview.
"Maybe the DA should have done a more thorough investigation and brought murder charges, or conspiracy to commit murder, or even assault charges because all of them are bail eligible," the governor told FOX 5 New York hosts Rosanna Scotto and Curt Menefee. "Maybe they brought it a little early. I encourage the DA's office to go back and build your case."
Prosecutors could only file charges based on evidence, he said — and the four suspects were charged with evidence tampering, hindering prosecution and concealing human remains after a child's discovery of a severed arm in Babylon last week led police to numerous other body parts from two different victims.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at the Capitol in Albany, New York, on Jan. 16. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
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"It would have been unethical to file the charges the governor mentioned based on currently available evidence," Tierney said, adding that police had a solid enough case for the existing charges.
"Did the governor want the police to leave them out despite having evidence that they cut up and disposed of two bodies?" he asked.
Separately, the governor blamed judges in New York City for recidivist crime rates and questioned whether they understood state law.
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"The governor’s platform on public safety is laughably inadequate, and she should know enough not to comment on ongoing investigations," Tierney added. "It would be helpful if the governor confined her comments to subjects that she knows something about."
Tierney has previously appealed to state lawmakers to make "common sense" fixes to the state's bail system.
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