Court overturns conviction of Ann Marie Drago in Evelyn Rodriguez's death

An appellate court has overturned the conviction of Ann Marie Drago, who was previously found guilty in the death of anti-gang activist Evelyn Rodriguez.

News 12 Staff

Jul 13, 2022, 8:36 PM

Updated 872 days ago

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An appellate court has overturned the conviction of Ann Marie Drago, who was previously found guilty in the death of anti-gang activist Evelyn Rodriguez.
The reversal is over how prosecutors allegedly handled the case.
Drago was initially convicted on March 4, 2021 over accusations she ran over and killed Rodriguez during an argument in 2018. She was sentenced to nine months in jail.
The other charges were related to Drago's conduct of removing and damaging property placed by Rodriguez and her partner, Freddy Cuevas, outside a residence owned by Drago's mother.
The items were part of a memorial for Rodriguez's and Cueva's daughter, Kayla Cuevas, who had been murdered two years earlier and whose body had been discovered on Drago's mother's property.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney released a statement, saying in part, "The court's decision to reverse the trial verdict was based upon a finding of prosecutorial misconduct committed in the summation by the assigned prosecutor. That prosecutor, as well as those supervisors from the prior administration who oversaw the trial and reviewed those remarks prior to the summation, were not retained by me and are no longer with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office."
It's unclear if Tierney will retry the case.