A Bronx teen is proclaiming his innocence whereas he stays behind bars, his school hopes hanging within the stability as the NYPD continues to research the allegedly crooked officer who arrested him.
Pedro Hernandez, 18, of the Bronx, has confirmed to be a standout, school-sure scholar with a full scholarship behind bars, based on WPIX-TV, and hoped to have his case dismissed on Wednesday.
As an alternative, a procedural situation might drive him to lose every part besides, he and his household say, his innocence, which they hope to have the ability to show after summer time’s finish.
Hernandez was introduced into the courtroom in shackles. His palms have been additionally coated in padded hand restraints.
“They’re treating him like an animal,” his mom, Jessica Perez, stated outdoors of courtroom. “However he is standing tall.”
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WPIX launched a surveillance video that surfaced of Hernandez being badly crushed by a safety officer at a juvenile detention facility to which Hernandez had been assigned.
Hernandez had been held at the juvenile facility on charges that were later dropped. However, the police officer whose arrest sent Hernandez to the facility is the same officer who is now the subject of an extensive internal investigation. He was removed from duty after he was captured on video violating city law and NYPD procedure.
Officer David Terrell was seen shooting craps with a group of men on a Bronx street last year. Terrell was in his uniform with his service weapon at his side. He was gambling over whether to release a man he had arrested, the man was in the back seat of his squad car and in handcuffs.
“Terrell has been suspended,” said private investigator Manuel Gomez. “His badge and gun have been confiscated and he’s being investigated for [criminal wrongdoing] on multiple cases.”
Gomez has been hired by Pedro Hernandez’s family to help them fight a new attempted murder charge against Hernandez.
About a year ago, Terrell arrested the Bronx teen in the case of the shooting of another teen that left the victim injured.
The evidence against Hernandez that Terrell assembled has raised much suspicion, even the shooting victim, who has said that Hernandez is not the shooter. Eight other teens who witnessed the shooting have also said that somebody else committed the crime. The witnesses have said, in video recorded statements, that Terrell threatened them with physical violence if they did not claim to investigators that the shooter is Hernandez.
Last month, he graduated from high school with distinction through a program on Rikers Island. He also received a citation for leading other students to fulfill their high school equivalency requirements and he was awarded a full college scholarship.
The problem is Hernandez can’t accept admission or the scholarship if he’s behind bars.
Last week a court hearing had the possibility of setting him free by beginning a trial to prove his innocence.
However, scheduling conflicts by Hernandez’s lawyer and the judge now prevent Hernandez’s case from being heard until just after Labor Day.
As a result, Hernandez will now lose his entry to college, unless somebody comes forward to pay his $250,000 bail. His family does not have the means.
Hernandez could have pleaded guilty on the day of the hearing in an arrangement the district attorney had set up, which would have put Hernandez on probation for five years, after which his record would be wiped clean, but Instead, he insists on proving his innocence and did not take the plea.
“Everybody needs to stand together and say that our kids don’t deserve a plea deal,” his mother told PIX11 News. “They deserve a future.”
Hernandez’s trial is set to begin Sept. 6.
