Appellate panel reinstates murder charge against Great Neck man

An appellate court has reinstated a murder charge against a Great Neck man, finding a prosecutor didn’t violate her ethical obligations and that a Nassau judge erred in dismissing a grand jury’s indictment of Christian Arevalo.

The Brooklyn court's ruling Wednesday means Arevalo, 21, is back to facing a top charge of second-degree murder instead of manslaughter.

Prosecutors accused him of killing Corey Howell, 20, in an August 2017 encounter in Great Neck by launching him off his car's hood after driving with the victim on his 2013 Nissan Altima for more than a mile and reaching speeds of 60 mph before crashing.

Police said at the time of Arevalo's arrest that Howell leapt on the Nissan as it started moving after the two had an argument that turned physical.

Prosecutors said Howell did so to avoid being struck, and that Arevalo then "zigzagged" to try to throw Howell off.

Howell's brother followed the Altima in a 2017 Cadillac before Arevalo slammed on his brakes, causing the Cadillac to rear-end his car before the Altima went up onto a lawn and hit a curb, according to the Nassau district attorney's office. Prosecutors said Howell then landed on a sidewalk.

The Appellate Division's Second Judicial Department found that contrary to acting State Supreme Court Justice Christopher Quinn's April 2018 decision, the matter was "not one of those rare cases demanding dismissal of the indictment" due to prosecutorial misconduct.

The higher court found the prosecutor, identified in the lower court's ruling as Katie Zizza, "was not obligated to present evidence that the defendant now claims to be favorable to the defense" to the grand jury, saying such evidence "was not entirely exculpatory and would not have materially influenced the grand jury's investigation."

Quinn's decision had found the prosecutor "withheld pertinent information which did not support her theory of events" when the defense asked for a ruling on whether the prosecutor could ask Arevalo about any cocaine use before the crash in the event he testified before the grand jury.

The Nassau judge's ruling said the defendant didn't testify before the grand jury after Zizza said she wanted to question Arevalo about any drug use on the day of the crash because a blood test showed the "active ingredient of marijuana, as well as active cocaine" hours later. 

Quinn's ruling said Zizza knew there was another lab report that "was inconsistent, or in contradiction" with that result and she didn't tell the judge or grand jury about it.

Quinn also wrote that the grand jury and judge never heard about a police report that said a vehicle Howell's brother was driving "was chasing after" Arevalo's vehicle, and "in a road rage" before Howell's ejection from Arevelo's car hood. The officer who wrote the report also saw no signs Arevalo was impaired, Quinn's decision said.

But the appellate court found the prosecutor "properly presented expert testimony to the grand jury on a matter that was beyond the ken of the average juror," and that she "did not violate her ethical obligations" in connection with the allegedly exculpatory evidence.

Arevalo, who is being held at Nassau's jail, is due in court May 16 for his next appearance in the case.

In a written statement, Nassau District Attorney Madeleine Singas said: "It is regrettable that justice for Mr. Howell’s death was delayed by a trial court decision that the Appellate Division determined to be unfounded. The serious and unjustified ethical allegations against this office have also been determined to be unfounded. I take those allegations seriously. The prosecutors who work every day to provide justice to victims and fair trials to defendants should not be subjected to such easy character assassination."

Attorney Brian Griffin, who previously represented Arevalo, said Wednesday he was no longer a client and deferred comment to his current attorney, William Kephart.

Kephart said he believes Arevalo was "overcharged" in the case.

"We're going to explore legal avenues we have against these charges … and then we will stand ready to go to trial and fight the case on its merits thereafter," he added.