A Queens prosecutor under fire for waiting almost five years to bring a murder suspect to trial is blaming the NYPD for ruining her case.
Assistant District Attorney Debra Pomodore says in court papers that Detective Ivan Borbon, formerly of the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, improperly tried to shield a woman accused in the 2003 death of her abusive ex-boyfriend.
Pomodore claims Borbon's noncooperation and "dissension and differences of opinion" in the precinct caused massive delays and problems in the prosecution of Wassifa Bacchus, 26, and her brother Iqbal Bacchus, 27.
Prosecutors say the siblings beat and shot Mauricio Jonathan Suarez, 20, after Suarez attacked Wassifa outside her Richmond Hill home Oct. 30, 2003.
The abused mom had an order of protection against Suarez, the papers say.
"Detective Borbon was initially adamantly opposed to the prosecution of Wassifa Bacchus based upon a continuing belief that she had been previously victimized," Pomodore wrote. "(He) expressed an intention to support her throughout any prosecution."
Reached for comment, Borbon, who retired in 2006, said: "It wasn't the police who messed this up. She messed this up from the beginning. She never really wanted to prosecute Wassifa because she's afraid. She didn't want to lose."
Prosecutors dismissed charges against Wassifa Bacchus last September because of insufficient evidence, Pomodore wrote.
Iqbal Bacchus still faces charges in Suarez's murder. His lawyer, Marvyn Kornberg, wants the case tossed because of the long delay. A decision is due next month.
"If the police did what the district attorney's office accuses them of doing, an immediate investigation of the police by internal affairs should take place," Kornberg said.
"On the other hand, if the police did not do this, the district attorney's office should not use them as scapegoats."
Iqbal Bacchus is serving a five-year sentence on an unrelated assault conviction.
