Brickbat: Teaching Them a Lesson

Two former New York Police Department detectives accused of having sex with an 18-year-old woman in their custody have been sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to felony official misconduct and receiving a bribe. Eddie Martins and Richard Hall had arrested the woman for marijuana possession. She claimed they raped her while she was in handcuffs in the back of a police van. Prosecutors originally charged the two with rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping but later dropped those charges, citing inconsistencies in the woman's testimony. At the time, there was no state law barring police officers from having sex with someone in their custody. As a result of this case, the legislature passed a law making it third-degree rape for an officer to have sex with someone in custody.