A Bronx teen who became the poster boy for citywide bail reform could have his police misconduct lawsuit against the city tossed as soon as this week — because no lawyer wants to touch it.
The Manhattan federal judge overseeing the civil rights case of Pedro Hernandez has ordered his lawyers to appear in court Wednesday or face sanctions, including a dismissal of the case.
The judge issued the unusual order after lawyers for the city complained that Hernandez’s lawyers fled his case without naming any replacements.
Hernandez is suing the city over claims that NYPD Det. David Terrell falsely arrested him for robbery in 2016, and forced another teen to finger Hernandez as the culprit.
But his lawyer, Michael Fruhling, recently asked to bow out after getting a look at the evidence, which showed Terrell wasn’t involved in Hernandez’s arrest, court documents show.
It’s just the latest police misconduct lawsuit against Terrell to be called into question.
Last week, lawyers for the city said they will pursue sanctions against another lawyer handling two Terrell cases that also fell apart.
That lawyer, Emeka Nwokoro, was also ordered to appear in court Wednesday because he was Hernandez’s lawyer prior to Fruhling.
“Obviously this means the first attorney brought a frivolous lawsuit and they should be sanctioned for it,” Terrell’s lawyer Eric Sanders said.
Terrell, who joined the NYPD in 2002, has filed a notice of claim against the city for creating a “cottage industry” of gang members who file bogus complaints of police misconduct in an effort to score settlements.
Terrell remains on modified duty.
Neither Nwokoro nor Fruhling responded to a request for comment.
Hernandez’s robbery case is separate from the attempted murder and weapons possession case that made him a cause celebre for bail reform after he spent more than a year at Rikers awaiting trial because he couldn’t afford his bail.
Terrell was painted as an out-of-control cop in that case, too, by a Bronx teen who claimed the Bronx detective tried to get him to falsely finger Hernandez as his shooter.
That case, by Bronx teen Shawn Nardoni, was recently dismissed.