A veteran NYPD narcotics detective accused of perjury is claiming that her nightly habit of downing more than a dozen beers until she “passes out” impaired her memory when she testified before a grand jury about a November marijuana bust.
The startling claim yesterday by Detective Debra Eager’s lawyer Peter Brill stunned Bronx jurors.
“She did not intend to lie — to commit perjury,” Brill said. “She had no blinking idea” what she told the grand jury because “she woke up in a haze and fog after years of drinkingShe had no idea. She didn’t know what was up or down.”
Prosecutors say Eager lied to cover up an illegal November 2007 search that netted 33 pounds of marijuana. Eager, who is on modified duty, faces up to seven years behind bars if found guilty. The trial resumes today.
Eager claimed the two men were arrested on the building’s fifth floor but building surveillance video shows the actual arrest occurred in front of the building. The cops recovered the drugs, taking one of the men’s house keys and entering their stash house.
“She look at the video and she says, ‘Oh my God!” This the first time she realizes it.”
Assistant DA James Goward, however, said Eager’s motive was to “put a clean face on what was a dirty search.” The drug charges were dismissed.