Judge Upholds DA’s Upgraded Indictment in Domestic Violence Murder

Nassau judge OKs grand jury’s first-degree murder indictment, paving the way towards pre-trial hearings later this year

MINEOLA, NY – A Nassau County judge has denied defense motions to dismiss an indictment filed last May by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice against accused killer Leonardo Valdez-Cruz. The indictment lodged against the defendant included an upgraded charge of Murder in the First Degree.

In March, Valdez-Cruz was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Joanna Bird, 24. He was originally charged with second-degree murder. In May, Rice and her Special Victims Bureau obtained an indictment charging Valdez-Cruz with Murder in the First Degree.  First-degree murder carries with it a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Following the upgrade in charge, defense counsel for the defendant filed motions to dismiss the indictment.

In a four-page decision by Nassau County Judge John Kase, the judge ruled that the evidence supplied by the DA was “sufficient to support each and every count in the indictment” and that legal instructions given by the DA to the grand jury “were not defective.”

The decision paves the way for pre-trial hearings, which have been tentatively scheduled for later this year.

Valdez-Cruz is due back in court October 10.

Handling the case for the DA’s Office is Assistant District Attorney and Bureau Chief of Rice’s Special Victims Bureau, Madeline Singas. Representing Valdez-Cruz is Dana Grossblatt, Esq.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.