NEW YORK, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A federal judge from New York decided Wednesday to permanently dismiss the criminal trial of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Dale Ho, a judge from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, granted an earlier directive from the U.S. Department of Justice to dismiss the case but denied the motion to dismiss the indictment without prejudice.
The judge's decision means that the charges in the indictment can't be brought up again in the future by the federal prosecutors.
"Dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor's freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents," said the judge in an opinion and order.
The decision would protect the defendant's right to be free from prosecutorial harassment and the court can't order the Department of Justice to continue the prosecution and have no authority to appoint an independent prosecutor, according to the document.
"If dismissal is inevitable, the public interest weighs in favor of its happening now rather than later" as it's uncomfortably close to New York City mayoral primary election on June 24, said judge Ho.
Federal prosecutors filed a motion with the court to drop bribery and corruption charges against Adams on Feb. 14 following a memo from Emil Bove, acting U.S. deputy attorney general.
In September 2024, Adams was charged with five counts of bribery, wire fraud and solicitation, primarily related to his mayoral campaign in 2021. ■
