A Brooklyn man who spent nearly a year behind bars for allegedly raping an Orthodox Jewish woman, has been released from prison. Darrell Dula was one of four men indicted on rape charges despite the fact that the woman recounted the abuse tale, one day after making the accusation.
The Brooklyn DA failed to mention that the 22-year-old woman confessed to lying about being raped, and pimped out since the age of 13, by Dula and his friends. In actuality, she was working as a prostitute, and targeted Dula, brothers Jamli and Jawara Brockett, and Damien Crooks. “She indicated the night of the alleged rape that she had made up the story,” Crooks’ lawyer, Elliot Kay, told The New York Post. Although there are no details as to the motivation behind her lies, the woman was once involved in a relationship with Crooks. “She indicated that she was in a consensual relationship, as opposed to being the victim of sex trafficking.”
In spite of the confession, prosecutors went forward with charging all four men, and didn’t inform their attorneys of the woman’s confession until nearly a year later. The alleged victim’s signed admission was turned over by prosecutor Rebecca Gingold, who replaced former Assistant District Attorney Abbie Greenberger. While reviewing the case, Gingold noticed that documents were missing from the file, and further investigation revealed that blunder.
Not surprisingly, the DA has yet to comment on the mistake which cost four black men more than a year of their lives, but Dula—who was released Tuesday (April 17)— is just happy to be back home. “I’m glad to be home with my family,” he said. “I’m still in shock. I’m traumatized. It wasn’t a good experience. They took me away on my son’s birthday. It was heartbreaking. I just want to make up for lost time. I’m just glad to be reunited with my son. I want to get a job and go back to school.”
This story is just the latest example of the racist stigma surrounding the legal system. As we previously reported, two white police officers were accused of using racial slurs and encouraging their subordinates to kill black suspects; while in January, a Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to eight years in prison for lying about two black men kidnapping her daughter.
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Photo: The Griot
