One of the most difficult cases for prosecutors to prove is a “cold case.” This is as a case where the defendant has gone missing for one reason or another for a significant period of time. When the defendant resurfaces, it creates a host of problems for the government. A case currently pending in Nassau County highlights the difficulties facing prosecutors in a “cold case.” In the Nassau County case, the government is attempting to prosecute a man more than two decades after what police believe was the biggest bank heist in Nassau County history.
It is claimed that the defendant was part of the group that planned a robbery by casing the bank location and getting the teller’s instructions about the money delivery. According to court records, he told police he was wearing a mask when he and another gunman later went into the bank, where he bounded over a counter and demanded that employees open the vault. The suspects made off with a bag of money, police said.
In Long Island’s major newspaper, one of our partner’s, Brian Griffin, was asked to give his expert opinion about this case. According to Newsday, “Criminal defense attorney Brian Griffin, also a former Nassau prosecutor with a Garden City office, said jurors also might be somewhat uninterested in something from so long ago.
“You might imagine a jury saying, ‘Why are we talking about something that happened 20 years ago?’ “