Video: Process Server Calls Woman Allegedly Raped By NYPD Detectives A 'Stupid Bitch'

A woman who was allegedly raped by two NYPD detectives in the back of a police van last September was served a subpoena by a man who called her "a stupid bitch" on Wednesday. Anna Chambers says she returned home to find the man waiting for her inside the gated area in front of her Gravesend, Brooklyn residence. Video posted on Twitter shows the confrontation:

The unidentified man, who claims to be from the sheriff's office and says he "could do whatever I want," is seen filming Chambers with his phone as she takes video of him. He indicates the subpoena on her front steps, and tauntingly asks, "What are you afraid of, Anna? This isn’t Russia. I’m not the KGB.” At the end of the exchange, he can be heard calling Chambers "a stupid bitch."

Chambers's attorney Michael David said he believes the video shows witness intimidation, and he will be reporting it to the city and asking the attorney general to investigate.

"He had a badge on him and he claimed he was from the sheriff's office," David told Gothamist. "That's impersonating a police officer; that's a crime. And he said 'I can do whatever I want.' That's police abuse. And he's denigrating women with that 'bitch' remark; not just a rape victim, all women. So even if he's a licensed process server, that's wrong. You don't denigrate women and use language like that."

Chambers alleges that the two former narcotics detectives, Richard Hall and Eddie Martins, put her in handcuffs after pulling her over in Coney Island and arresting her for prescription medication and marijuana they said they found in her car. She says they took turns raping her in the back of a police van and then released her. DNA from a rape kit reportedly matched the detectives.

Hall and Martins, who both subsequently resigned from the NYPD, claim the incident was consensual—a defense strategy that called attention to a loophole in New York State law enabling officers to make such a claim without legal repercussions. Chambers's case ultimately led to the state legislature closing that loophole, explicitly making it illegal for police to have sex with people in custody.

The Brooklyn District Attorney is prosecuting Hall and Martins, whose next court date is in early September. They face up to 25 years in prison each on charges of rape and kidnapping. The subpoena issued by Martins's attorney seeks photos that Chambers said showed bruising on her wrists from when she was handcuffed and allegedly raped.

Mark Bederow, Martins's attorney, says he has been trying to get David to turn over the photos. In a letter shared with Gothamist, Bederow urged David to accept the subpoena on Chambers's behalf. He claims that David refused, and Bederow said he had no choice but to subpoena Chambers directly.

Reached by phone this morning, Bederow declined to identify the process server by name, but said he did not work for the sheriff's office, despite what he claimed in the video.

"He had no business whatsoever saying that," Bederow said. "He was asked to serve a subpoena for photographs from a witness in a criminal case and then provide proof of service. I don't condone anything in that video. It's not appropriate. This is someone I've never worked with prior to asking the subpoena to be served and I wouldn't work with him again."

Bederow said Chambers "has testified under oath that her hands were bloody, cut and bruised and that people noticed these injuries, and a family member photographed these injuries on her cellphone the evening it occurred. Yet no police officer, no one with the District Attorney's office, has seen photos, which we're told are somehow missing."

David told Gothamist that Chambers has been unable to find the photo or photos documenting the wrist bruising, but said "hospital records show injury to her wrists; it was documented by two different nurses. Her or her mom did take photos, but they have several cellphones, and they couldn't find it. This happened during the chaos at the hospital when she was being intimidated by all those cops. Her and her mom were frantically searching for it. If they had [photos], we would have produced it a long time ago."

Update: After reading this article, Bederow sent an additional statement via email: "She testified her mother took the pictures on Anna’s cell phone at THEIR HOME, not at the hospital, as her attorney alleges. No nurses, doctors, police or prosecutors took any pictures of her hands or wrists the days after the incident. She testified she never disclosed them to the DA because 'they never asked.'"