SYRACUSE -- As predicted by Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, the first of a series of drug charges have been thrown out of court after a former Syracuse cop pleaded guilty to perjury.
On Friday, with the consent of the DA's office, Judge John Brunetti threw out nine charges against Brandy McMullin of Syracuse. McMullin's arrest was one of 261 cases handled by former detective James Mills. Mills resigned December 28th after pleading guilty to perjury in an unrelated case. In McMullin's case, defense attorney Paul Carey alleged Mills lied to obtain a search warrant.
After Mills pled guilty, Fitzpatrick notified attorneys whose clients were involved with Mills. The detective was on the front line in Syracuse's battle against drugs and gangs.
On Monday, the DA said those defendants could be "guilty as sin." Fitzpatrick added, "if we are in a position where we have to prove a case based solely on the credibility of officer Mills, we're going to be in a very tough spot."
Fitzpatrick says McMullin's is "probably not going to be the last case that suffers a similar fate."
