An intellectually disabled man was railroaded into a life sentence by NYPD detectives and spent more than a decade in jail for a murder he didn’t commit, according to documents filed by the man’s lawyers in New York County Supreme Court on Thursday.
Alex Bloise filed a claim for $11 million in damages for what he and his lawyers say was a malicious prosecution by NYPD detectives that ultimately caused him to spend 11 years in lockup.
The list of damages claimed is long. Among them, “Malicious Prosecution;” “ten years plus ten months incarcerated on the false charges;” and “embarrassment, humiliation, separation from his family,” according to court records.
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The petition said that Bloise had a severe intellectual disability, did not speak English or read English, and that detectives threatened him “into giving a coerced confession” after almost a whole day in custody.
“He was told that if he confessed he would only spend five years in jail where he could get his GED and he could go into the marines after his release,” the filing says.
Bloise was released in August last year, but not until he had gone through two separate trials—now sealed—and spent nearly 11 years behind bars.
Over 11 years ago, detectives had been looking for the shooter in the murder of a man named Miguel Rodriguez, who was fatally shot in the head in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan.
Bloise was picked up as a suspect.
“They worked on him,” his lawyer, Fred Lichtmacher, told The Daily Beast. “He was in for, like, 20 hours and after that they started the tape rolling. They told him if he confessed to manslaughter, that he would get five years.”
In addition, Bloise—who is Dominican and who lawyers say has no criminal record—was made other promises, according to Lichtmacher: “He gets to stay in the country, and he gets to join the Marines, and he would get a GED … if he doesn't [confess], he's gonna go to jail his whole life.”
But lawyers say none of this was true. And that he was coerced—despite “video eliminating him as a suspect and with a reliable witness on the scene not identifying Mr. Bloise as the murderer,” according to court filings.
In his first trial, Bloise was sentenced to 20 years to life, court documents say.
That trial featured a cooperating witness who claimed that Bloise was the killer, contradicting the video and the other witness, according to Thursday’s petition. The filing also noted that this unnamed witness who put the finger on Boise had a “massive conviction record.”
But, in a twist of fortune, the conviction was reversed due to “court error” over a decision regarding the biases of jurors, according to appeal records, and Bloise was granted a new trial. He was then acquitted by a jury.
One detective named in an exhibit submitted by Bloise’s lawyers was now-retired Detective Isaac Ng-Montalvo. While he is not a named party in the lawsuit against the City of New York, both Lichtmacher and a past trial lawyer said that Ng-Montalvo took Bloise’s confession.
During his time on the force, Ng-Montalvo was listed as being named in multiple misconduct complaints filed to the Citizen Complaint Review Board, none of which were substantiated.
The New York Police Department declined to comment on pending litigation. The New York City Law Department, and Ng-Montalvo did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
But whether Bloise’s case will move forward is still unclear. Normally, a malicious prosecution case must be filed within 90 days of when a case is dismissed, but in Bloise’s case, they are asking for an exception.
“Mr. Bloise, due to his lack of mental abilities, had no idea how to start a suit, until he was advised by a friend to come to my office,” read the petition to New York County Supreme Court.
