After becoming the deciding factor in the acquittals of a DWI and an attempted murder suspect, ticket-fixing may become the focal point of a Bronx murder trial. 25-year-old Careem Johnson is charged with shooting 18-year-old Jose Arvelo with seven bullets in 2008, and the alleged murder is caught on surveillance tape. But arresting officer Detective Jason Allison was caught on a wiretap asking a union delegate to erase a summons. "The ticket-fixing defense can only help here, even if it's a long shot," a Bronx defense attorney tells the Daily News.
Allison reportedlty believed that the summons shouldn't have been issued in the first place. "He legitimately tried to help someone who should not have been issued a summons, and if a murderer even comes close to walking because of that, it's an outrage," a source says. The union delegate, Brian McGuckin, allegedly told Allison to slip the paperwork under his door and he'd take care of the citation.
The 22 people—17 of them NYPD employees—who have been indicted in the ticket-fixing probe have yet to be formally charged, but the grand jury in the case has heard all of the relevant testimony, and is expected to hand down the charges this week. Jury selection for the Arvelo murder is currently underway.
