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EXCLUSIVE: New York bodega clerk wrongfully charged with murder for stabbing attacker and mother whose son was stabbed to death lead GOP witnesses for Judiciary hearing targeting Alvin Bragg

April 12, 2023

A bodega clerk, the mother of a homicide victim and an anti-crime activist will all testify at the Judiciary Committee's high-profile New York City hearing on Monday. 

Republicans are bringing in at least three witnesses to talk about crime in the Big Apple to paint the narrative that Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg is more focused on going after Donald Trump than crime in his own backyard. 

Jose Alba, a bodega worker who Bragg's office at first charged with murder when he stabbed a man who attacked him over a bag of chips, will give his testimony at the hearing. 

So will Madeline Brame, chair of the Victim Rights Council and the mother of a homicide victim and Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims Rights NY. 

Alba, 62, was arrested and sent to Rikers Island for stabbing Austin Simon after the 35-year-old charged into the Harlem bodega where he worked and attacked him. 

He at first faced second-degree murder charge for the incident that happened on July 1 at Blue Moon Deli. But video footage showed Simon attacking the deli worker before he pulled the knife in what appeared to be self defense. 

Bragg's office asked a judge to drop the charges on July 19 after facing intense backlash for going after Alba, including from Mayor Eric Adams.

The motion to dismiss stated that prosecutors 'have determined that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force.' 

Surveillance footage clearly showed that Simon had moved behind the counter at the convenience store in Hamilton Heights and pushed the store clerk into a stack of shelves before grabbing him. 

Other videos obtained by DailyMail.com show Simon - who was on parole for attacking a police officer when he died - marching behind the bodega counter to confront Alba when his girlfriend's benefits card declined as she tried to buy a bag of chips. 

'Papa, I don't want a problem, papa,' Alba told him calmly before things got physical.

The hearing will take place Monday at 9 a.m. at the Javitz Federal Building. At least some Democrats are expected to attend even as they paint the move as a 'political stunt.' 

Brame will also share her story with the committee. Her son, Army veteran Hason Corea, was fatally stabbed in Harlem in 2018. 

Correa, a 35-year-old married father of three, was allegedly beaten and stabbed to death by a group of assailants in an altercation outside an apartment building. Two of Correa's attackers struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors and one has been let off on time served. 

The man who stabbed Correa was given 20 years in prison.  

Last summer Brame sent letters to Bragg and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul saying Bragg's office had not informed her it would offer the plea deal.

'You violated my rights as a crime victim to be fully informed, and to be heard,' Brame wrote in the letter.

'Why would you dismiss murder charges against half of the participants, when the murder and their roles were caught on video?'  

The third witness, Harrison, is the head of Victims Rights NY, which is running its own 'fire Alvin Bragg' campaign. Harrison said her boyfriend and best friend were killed in a double homicide where two of the assailants 'went free' and the third was released in 'just a few years.' 

She has been vocal about repealing the state's bail reform that requires the release of all misdemeanor and some felony suspects without cash bail. 

Crime in New York City ticked up in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic (before Bragg took office) after a decade-long mostly downward trend. Major crime soared about 22 percent in 2022 - with Bragg taking office on the first day of that year.

From April 2022 to April 2023, major crime remains about the same, though murders, shootings and burglaries have dropped. 

The city was far safer even in 2022 than it was during a dangerous period in the 80s and 90s -- murders and robberies were down 80 percent in 2022 compared to 1990, rapes down 50 percent. 

The Judiciary Committee, together with Oversight and Administration, have launched all-out political war against Bragg over the indictment, most recently firing off a subpoena to prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who formerly worked in Bragg's office and wrote a book about the need to prosecute Trump. 

On Tuesday Bragg sued Jordan in an extraordinary move to try to keep him from interfering in the criminal case against Trump. 

Crime in New York City ticked up in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic (before Bragg took office) after a decade-long mostly downward trend. Major crime soared about 22 percent in 2022 - with Bragg taking office on the first day of that year.

From April 2022 to April 2023, major crime remains about the same, though murders, shootings and burglaries have dropped. 

The city was far safer even in 2022 than it was during a dangerous period in the 80s and 90s -- murders and robberies were down 80 percent in 2022 compared to 1990, rapes down 50 percent. 

The Judiciary Committee, together with Oversight and Administration, have launched all-out political war against Bragg over the indictment, most recently firing off a subpoena to prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who formerly worked in Bragg's office and wrote a book about the need to prosecute Trump. 

On Tuesday Bragg sued Jordan in an extraordinary move to try to keep him from interfering in the criminal case against Trump. 

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