Who is Judge Naita Semaj? Jurist who freed cop-shooter C Blu BLAMED for NYC crime surge
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Bronx judge Naita Semaj, who cut loose an accused cop-shooting teen, is the reason for increasing crimes, an angry law enforcement source has told New York Post. Sixteen-year-old drill rapper Camrin Williams, whose stage name is C Blu, was let go despite being involved in a gun and assault case. New York City's Law Department said that the case “cannot be prosecuted.”
The case was dropped after Bronx Supreme Court Justice Naita Semaj disputed the NYPD’s version of events. While tussling with Officer Kaseem Pennant in January outside a building in Belmont, Williams' gun went off, hitting the cop on the leg and the teen in the groin. Semaj, who is known for cutting loose violent teens, discredited an officer’s testimony about the arrest. The arrest was captured on one of the cop’s body cameras.
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“The fact that an agenda-driven judge invented her own set of facts and her own interpretation of what is clear on that video is another sign that the criminal justice system in the Bronx is broken,” New York Post quoted the law enforcement source as saying. The NYPD noted the death of 11-year-old Kyhara Tay, who was killed by a 15-year-old shooter, and decried the decision to drop the case against Williams.
“The decision to dismiss the case is obviously concerning,” Deputy Commissioner John Miller said. “In a borough where we were just reminded with the death of an 11-year-old that the most serious problem is kids shooting kids, dropping the charges against a gang kid arrested with his second gun in the shooting of a cop sends a bad message.”
Speaking of the case, the police source said, "When he approached the individual and asked him to stand still and take his hands out of his pockets, he takes his hands out of his pockets then puts them back in and keeps moving backwards. The judge’s interpretation of that video recording was that the suspect was complying. He was doing everything but complying." The source added that Williams attempted to get away with a loaded gun.
Who is Judge Naita Semaj?
Naita Semaj is a judge for the Civil Court of the City of New York in Bronx County. She was elected to the bench back in 2019. Semaj earned a BA in social work from Lehman College in 2000 and spent the next five years serving as a caseworker for numerous foster care agencies in New York City. She completed a JD at St John's University School of Law.
Semaj graduated from law school and started her legal career as a family court legal services attorney for the New York City Administration for Children's Services in 2005. She is known for having litigated child abuse and neglect cases. Semaj has served as a board member and president of the Black Bar Association of the Bronx County. She also worked as an arbitrator for the Civil Court in Bronc County. She took the Supreme Court bench in January 2022.
Williams was arrested for the possession of a Tauris firearm when he was 14 years old, authorities said. Back then, Semaj had concluded that the bodycam footage revealed that Williams was relatively calm and cooperative throughout the encounter.
Besides Williams' case, Semaj released 17-year-old Braulio Garcia, who, along with another teen, faces murder, manslaughter, and other charges connected with the New Year’s Day death of a good Samaritan. Semaj had also walked back another jurist’s decision to set bail for a 17-year-old accused of attempted murder in another case. Sharif Mitchell was subsequently released.
Semaj also dismissed a murder indictment against Steven Mendez, 17, in April. Mendez was accused of killing Saikou Koma, 21, when he was on probation for another case. Semaj at the time had ruled that the detectives gave “problematic” and “improper” testimony during grand jury proceedings. This had enraged Koma's family.
“What is wrong with this judge?” Koma’s dad Amar Bully Koma had said. “If this was the judge’s son, or his nephew or a relative, he would not let him go. The city, the mayor. If this was his kid, they would not let him go. They do not care about us," he added.
“The decision to dismiss the case is obviously concerning. In a borough where we were just reminded with the death of an 11-year-old that the most serious problem is kids shooting kids, dropping the charges against a gang kid arrested with his second gun in the shooting of a cop sends a bad message,” John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said on Saturday, May 21.