Brooklyn prosecutor suffering from alcoholism goes AWOL during murder trial  – New York Daily News

A veteran Brooklyn prosecutor who suffers from alcoholism went AWOL in the middle of a murder trial last week after relapsing, the Daily News has learned.

James Leeper, 55, who had a murder conviction he won in a separate case get tossed recently, freeing an innocent man, was set to present closing arguments at the trial of Michael Magnan when he failed to show up at state Supreme Court in Brooklyn last Monday, sources said.

“It’s alcoholism,” one source explained.

The prosecutor’s sudden disappearance caused a week-long delay in the proceeding against the 21-year-old Magnan, who is charged with slaying a man during a botched robbery. The hiatus was necessary to allow another prosecutor time to learn the details of the case.

Leeper was the assistant district attorney who secured the conviction of Jonathan Fleming, who was released last month after more than 24 years in prison for a homicide that was committed in Brooklyn while he vacationed in Florida. A receipt and other evidence, which were buried in the case file and never turned over during discovery, secured his exoneration and prompted accusations of prosecutorial misconduct. Other cases handled by Leeper are believed to be now under review.

It wasn’t clear if Fleming’s exoneration led Leeper to relapse.

“Who knows what triggers those things?” said a source.

Leeper’s trouble with alcohol had been addressed by his superiors during the tenure of former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, sources said.

“Mr. Leeper has been suspended pending a review,” said a spokeswoman for Brooklyn DA Kenneth Thompson.

Phone calls to Leeper went unanswered on Tuesday.

The homicide prosecutor makes $158,000 a year, records show.

By Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Melissa Carvajal had taken over the prosecution of Magnan. He stands accused of fatally shooting Nikita Grebelskiy, a 23-year-old from Forest Hills, while the victim was a passenger in a livery cab that was stopped at a light in Flatlands in Aug. 2012. Prosecutors said Magnan was trying to rob the victim.

Police had initially accused Magnan of shooting five people, including Grebelskiy, and assaulting three others, during a spree of attempted robberies in Flatlands. He is only being tried for Magnan’s murder and two other robbery attempts.

It is extremely unusual for a lawyer not to complete a murder trial they have begun.

Defense attorney Martin Goldberg had asked for a mistrial when Leeper took himself off the case, but the judge allowed prosecutors time to assign a different assistant district attorney. Goldberg declined to comment.

oyaniv@nydailynews.com