Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Brooklyn DA Admits Prosecutor Didn't Follow Up
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 23, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 23, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
After the tragic murder of Natasha Ramen last week, questions were raised about the conduct of the Brooklyn DA's office. Last Friday, Ramen's throat was slashed, allegedly by Hemant Megnath in an attempt to prevent her from testifying that he had raped her. Megnath had previously harassed and threatened Ramen and her family to the point that they told the police in Queens.
Yesterday, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes admitted that his office failed to alert the judge, saying, "Why this information was not relayed to Judge [John] Walsh is of concern, but this assistant is superbly qualified, experienced and a dedicated lawyer in my office. It was an honest mistake." He described the assistant district attorney, Caryn Teitelman, as being “superbly qualified, experienced and dedicated.” From the Times:
In October, relatives of Ms. Ramen told the police that Mr. Megnath had threatened to kill her and her husband. He was arrested on charges of aggravated harassment, under the jurisdiction of Queens prosecutors, but the Ramen family did not press charges.
Ms. Teitelman, who was standing in for another assistant district attorney on the rape case in Brooklyn, was told of the harassment arrest in Queens, Mr. Hynes said in his statement. Prosecutors routinely use such information to argue for an increase in bail or other conditions to restrain the defendant. For reasons Mr. Hynes did not explain, Ms. Teitelman did not tell Judge Walsh about the harassment arrest.
Hynes also said, "To attempt to blame her [Teitelman] is almost as ludicrous as trying to lay the blame on Ms. Ramen's family, who refused to cooperate in the Queens prosecution." Which naturally made Ramen's family upset. Her husband, Leonard Ramen, said that his parents didn't want to press charges because Megnath threatened to kill him (friends say they were worried because they are illegal immigrants): "Everybody's pointing fingers at each other, [but] no one's trying to correct it...It shouldn't be, 'Oh, do you want to press charges?' It should be, 'You're going in jail.'" Megnath's lawyer, though, tells the Times, "I think the judge and the people in Brooklyn acted appropriately.”
And, for a period, Leonard Ramen was also ordered to stay from his wife, after he assaulted her last fall, though it seems they later reconciled.
Tagged
alert
brooklyn
brooklyn da
brooklyn district attorney
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes
charles hynes
crime
District
district attorney
friends
immigrants
In October
Last Friday
murder
people
police
queens
rape
The Police
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .