12 Convictions Connected To Disgraced Yonkers Detective Vacated

Crime & Safety

After a review of the cases, judges vacated 12 convictions tied to the former detective who pleaded guilty to perjury in 2015.

— Following a Conviction Review Unit (CRU) examination, judges vacated 12 convictions connected to former detective Christian Koch who pleaded guilty to perjury in 2015.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced today that judges vacated convictions and dismissed underlying narcotics-related charges for 12 in cases connected to the former Yonkers Police Department detective, who was convicted of perjury in 2015.

Following a thorough examination by her Conviction Review Unit, Rocah supported defense motions to vacate five felony and seven misdemeanor convictions out of Yonkers between 2011 and 2014 that were conclusively tainted by Koch's compromised credibility. The CRU's determinations were based on Koch's perjury conviction, factual discrepancies found in police records, and damning admissions he made under oath in a civil lawsuit suggesting he did not understand his responsibility for the truth and the facts in his affidavits, according to the DA's office.

"The extraordinary facts revealed during the CRU's review regarding Detective Koch's fundamental lack of credibility and the material role that he played in these prosecutions irrevocably compromised the resulting convictions," Rocah said. "Addressing wrongful convictions is a necessary step in maintaining the integrity of future prosecutions and the public trust in the criminal justice system."

Westchester County Court Justice Larry Schwartz on Nov. 8 vacated felony convictions and dismissed underlying charges for five who pleaded guilty between December 2011 and April 2014 to criminal possession of a controlled substance (third, fourth, fifth degrees) and an attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance (fourth degree). Sentences served by those charged ranged from one year in jail to five years probation.

Yonkers City Court Justice Arthur Doran on Sept. 16 vacated misdemeanor convictions and dismissed underlying charges for seven who pleaded guilty to charges ranging from disorderly conduct to criminal possession of a controlled substance (seventh degree). Sentences served by those charged ranged from four months in jail to three years probation.

All 12 convictions stemmed from prosecutions that relied on sworn statements, and/or signed search warrant affidavits, by then-Detective Koch regarding certain narcotics transactions between a confidential informant and the accused who were later arrested.

The CRU identified factual discrepancies in search warrant affidavits sworn to by Koch between December 2010 and March 2012.

Additionally, in a 2014 civil suit, Koch testified that he had used "template" language that he did not write, in warrant applications, to establish the reliability of informants, rather than actual information about the informant's reliability and work. In further testimony, Koch indicated he did not understand that, as an affiant, he was taking responsibility for the truth and facts in an affidavit.

Based on all of these factors, the CRU concluded that Koch's credibility was compromised, and he could not be relied upon in any prosecutions where he was a necessary witness.

Koch pleaded guilty in April 2015 to one count of perjury connected to a March 2014 search warrant affidavit sworn by him in the City of Yonkers. He was sentenced in September 2015 to eight weekends of incarceration. He had been with the Yonkers Police Department since 2001 and resigned when he was sentenced.

The new motions to vacate followed Rocah's initiation of an extensive investigation of Koch-related cases after determining that the previous review by the DA's Office that led to five vacaturs in May 2018 was too narrow. The need to review a broader group of cases tied to police officers convicted of perjury motivated in part the creation of the Conviction Review Unit by Rocah when she took office in 2021.

The CRU, with pro bono assistance from the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, also evaluated cases from between March 2011 and September 2014 involving former Yonkers PD Detective Sean Fogarty, who was convicted of perjury in December 2019. The district attorney agreed with the CRU's determination that there were insufficient grounds for the vacatur of any additional convictions in which Detective Fogarty played a role because of a dearth of information in the DA's Office and Yonkers PD files.

The CRU reviews were conducted by former Bureau Chief Anastasia Heeger and former Senior Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Keeling.