Brooklyn Interns at D.A.s Office Avenge Alleged Abuse

By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times

A Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney with a reputation for being "tough-as-nails" while prosecuting child abuse cases has been suspended amid allegations she abused her own interns. The Assistant DA has been relieved of her duties for two weeks pending the outcome of an internal investigation, the New York Daily News reported.

Sources for the New York Daily News stated that District Attorney Charles Hynes is investigating allegations that Assistant DA Ama Dwimoh "constantly screamed" at interning lawyers and threatened to fire them for little or no reasons.
The sources added that internal investigators will question all staffers in Dwimoh's bureau.

A spokesman for Hynes confirmed that Dwimoh "is the subject of an internal investigation," but would not elaborate on the investigation.

A group of interns working for Dwimoh took their abuse allegations directly to Hynes after enduring what they say were months of rage from Dwimoh, a Georgetown Law School graduate.

The interning attorneys, coming from some of the city's most prestigious law firms, work full time for the 50-person elite crimes against children bureau, which has been headed by Dwimoh since it's inception in 1997. The private firms the interns are on loan from pay half their salaries and the DA's office pays the other half, sources told the Daily News.

Dwimoh, 46, who prosecuted the notorious Nixzmary Brown murder case, declined comment from the New York Daily News when approached outside her Brooklyn home.

The crimes against children bureau, the only of it's kind in Brooklyn, investigates and prosecutes all cases involving sexual abuse of children under the age of 11 and physical abuse of children under the age of 17 in which the alleged perpetrator is a parent or guardian. The bureau also prosecutes individuals who murder children and has handled more than 76 of those cases.

Dwimoh, who once said her passion for prosecuting child abuse cases stems from growing up with a friend who was abused by her stepfather, prosecuted the couple responsible for the beating death of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown on January 11, 2006.

Nixzmary Brown

The child's mother, Nixzaliz Santiago and her boyfriend Cesar Rodriguez, who Dwimoh said struck the fatal blows that killed little Nixzmary, were convicted of manslaughter after having physically abused the little girl for years. Police found the remains of a miscarried child in Santiago's home after the death of her daughter, who she claimed accidentally drowned while being punished.

The case horrified the nation, in part because New York City child welfare workers had visited the child's home repeatedly, but failed to take any remedial action to prevent Nixzmary's abuse and eventual death.


Santiago, 30, is serving up to 43 years in prison while Rodriguez is serving 31 years in prison.

Dwimoh, a 22-year veteran of the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, is expected back at the office Monday despite the ongoing probe into her alleged abusive behavior.

Dwimoh's suspension comes on the heels of another assistant prosecutor's suspension by Hynes after she was implicated in a financial scam.

The New York Daily News reported in May that Hynes was initially notified of the investigation of one of his prosecutors by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.

While the 32-year-old assistant prosecutor was not the focus of the probe, her laptop was seized and she was suspended without pay pending though her alleged involvement was described as "tangential."

The source told the News that the woman's boyfriend was actually the target of the investigation, which allegedly involved "massive" fraud scam. The assistant prosecutor, who Hynes refused to identify, had worked at the Brooklyn District Attorney's office since 2007.

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