Bronx prosecutors have won their first case involving a ticket-fixing cop. Leonardo Coronado was convicted of DWI yesterday despite his attorney grilling arresting officer Richard Urbina about tampering with summonses. According to the Daily News, Urbina admitted to the judge that ticket-fixing was a "breach of his oath," but called the practice a "common courtesy" that he performed for his father and two cab drivers.
Earlier this summer, a former Bronx DA arrested for DWI and a man charged with attempted murder were both acquitted because police involved fixed tickets. Now, a murder trial looms in which the arresting officer is also implicated in the wiretapping probe. However, in Coronado's conviction, prosecutors did not mention Urbina's law-breaking until the very end of the trial—and it was a judge, not a jury who convicted him. Urbina also may testify in two other DWI cases, which are more opportunities for defense lawyers to use his misconduct to get acquittals.
