The former NYPD cops who allegedly raped and sexually assaulted a Brooklyn teen on Thursday faced a judge and their accuser for the first time since their indictment.
The teen victim, who goes by the alias Anna Chambers, sat in the Brooklyn Supreme courtroom in the second row, staring straight ahead during the proceeding in the case against ex-Dets. Eddie Martins and Richard Hall.
During the court appearance, Justice Danny Chun reduced a single charge in the 50-count indictment and dismissed another — sex abuse in the first degree to sex abuse in the third degree. He also dropped the tenth count of sex abuse in the third degree
Before the court hearing got underway, the 18-year-old woman was awkwardly seated near the ex-cops, who sat in the second row on the opposite side of the pews about 12 feet away.
When Martins entered the courtroom he glanced at Chambers who sat wearing blue-tinted mirror sunglasses, jeans and a puffy Army green bomber jacket.
Chambers took off her sunglasses after the former cops entered the well of the courtroom.
Following Thursday’s court proceeding, Chambers, her eyes watery, told reporters outside the courthouse: “It’s just really sad. If this was your daughter, imagine how you would feel.”
Her lawyer, Michael David, said: “She’s not doing well. It was very painful for her to be here today.”
“They [Martins and Hall] destroyed her life, and she’s not gonna sit back and hide,” said David. “She just wanted justice.”
Supporters of Chambers, who filled the courtroom and protested outside of the courthouse before the proceeding, handing out pamphlets showing photoshopped images of the ex-cops superimposed over a painting in which a bare-breasted woman appears to be offering a severed head to a man.
The sex attack allegedly happened in the back of an unmarked police van on Sept. 15 in a Coney Island Chipotle parking lot while Martins and Hall were on duty.
Both Martins and Hall resigned from the NYPD in November, shortly after they were slapped with a 51-count indictment charging rape, sex assault, bribery, coercion, and other charges. They have both pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
The next court appearance is scheduled for April 5.