Judge tosses conviction of NYC man who chucked grenade at cops

A New York City (NYC) former gangbanger who threw a grenade at the police over 40 years ago has had his charges overturned for the oddest of reasons.

According to Supreme Court Judge Gia Morris, the grenade Michael Bossett, then 24, threw at the cops in 1982 — and that led to him being convicted 5x over for attempted murder — was a dud, and he knew that beforehand.

“Morris said Bossett had previously thrown the inactive grenade at a friend and knew at the time of the incident with cops that it posed no danger,” according to the New York Post.

The throwing of the grenade at the cops happened when they raided his apartment on Dec. 15, 1980, while he was still knee deep in the gang world.

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He reportedly jumped out with a gun and threw the grenade, prompting the cops to fire back and nonfatally wound him.

Despite his charges being overturned, he may still remain behind bars on several other charges, including an actual murder charge he copped for allegedly killing someone on Long Island.

He was convicted in February 1983 of the gang-related shooting death of Donald “Rommel” McGirth, whose body was reportedly found handcuffed in the woods near a Long Island highway three years earlier.

“He is behind bars for the slaying, but now that the grenade charge has been tossed, he’s facing a combined sentence of 37 1/2 years to life instead of 50 years to life — and he’s served nearly 45 years already,” the Post notes.

The decision on whether or not to release him will be up to the state parole board.

His attorney is happy with Morris’s decision.

“Even though it has taken almost 45 years for justice to prevail, Mr. Bossett never lost hope that his wrongful conviction would be overturned,” attorney Ron Kuby told the Post.

“The case is a remnant of the bad old days of policing, where cops and prosecutors would base cases on a ‘If he didn’t do this, he did something else’ philosophy that ruined the lives of so many innocent people,” he added.

There is still one catch, though. Bossett is also linked to the shooting death of another NYC cop, who was killed by his brother, Darrell, hours before the grenade incident.

“Bossett’s brother, 69-year-old Darrell Bossett, is serving a life sentence for the cowardly 1980 shooting death of NYPD veteran Gabriel Vitale, 42, who died nine days after being hit while investigating a burglary in Queens,” according to the Post.

“Although Michael Bossett, who was with his brother at the time of the shooting, wasn’t convicted in the case, Vitale’s family still holds him equally accountable and calls the decision to throw out the attempted-murder grenade charges a fiasco,” the Post notes.

“It’s even worse that this criminal will now be unjustly eligible for parole,” Vitale’s daughter, Cyndy, said. “I grew up with many line-of-duty families, bonding over our shared experience in losing a hero father.”

“Now so many of those killers are being set free to spend time with their families, while we were robbed of time with our fathers. It’s appalling how the courts and parole system prioritize the rights of criminals over justice for the victims. It’s a complete moral failure,” she added.

Both Cyndy and the NYPD Police Benevolent Association (PBA) are reportedly also upset that Morris allowed one of Bossett’s childhood friends to be a key witness during his hearings.

“It is absolutely shameful that the court would credit the far-fetched, self-serving tales being spun on the witness stand and ignore the simple fact that this drug-dealing murderer tried to kill New York City police officers,” PBA president Patrick Hendry said in a statement.

“This fight isn’t over. We’re going to continue to stand with P.O. Vitale’s family to ensure that both of the individuals connected with his murder stay behind bars for life,” he added.

Kuby, meanwhile, told the Post that his client already “paid for” the murder of McGirth “and would have been paroled 20 years ago, but for the wrongful conviction” regarding the grenade.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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