Former longtime Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes passed away last night.
Hynes died at 10:45 p.m., Tuesday, at the age of 83 at a Florida hospice. His health had been on the decline in the past year and he had been moved to hospice care in Deerfield Beach over the weekend, sources said.
Hynes, who suffered a stroke three years ago, was surrounded by family when he passed, according to the New York Post. The cause of death is not immediately known. Hynes his five children.
Hynes was born in Brooklyn and was the boroughs top prosecutor for over 20 years before being ousted in a competitive primary against the late Kenneth Thompson in 2013. That defeat marked the first time a sitting district attorney was defeated in Brooklyn since 1911.
He departed the position under a cloud of intense scrutiny, first for using his office to assist his final campaign, and later for an explosion of overturned criminal convictions under his watch. During his tenure, Hynes was known for a high volume of prosecutions including a disproportionate amount of convictions against black and minority youth. Since leaving office 12 of his convictions have been overturned.
Hynes – who also served as FDNY Commissioner — first emerged in the public eye after being appointed by former Gov. Mario Cuomo as special prosecutor in a racially targeted attack in Howard Beach Queens in December 1986.
A group of baseball-bat wielding white youths attacked three black men when their car broke down near a pizzeria on Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens. Victim Michael Griffith, 23, was struck by a car on the Belt Parkway and killed as he fled from his assailants in the predominantly white Queens neighborhood. Cedric Sandiford, who was riding with Griffith and a second black youth, survived after he was attacked with a baseball bat and a tree limb.
The brazen assault inflamed racial tensions in the city, with African-American activists questioning whether justice was possible in the prosecution of the attackers. But Hynes won manslaughter convictions from a Queens jury one year later, and the lawyer wound up writing a book about the prosecution.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, a former police officer, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Brooklyn Democratic Party Boss Frank Seddio all mourned the loss of the famed prosecutor.
“My heart goes out to the family of former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles ‘Joe’ Hynes. Joe’s family is in our prayers,” said Adams.
“I was saddened to learn of the passing of former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes. Mr. Hynes was a lifelong public servant who devoted his life to the borough he loved. My deepest condolences to his widow, Pat, his children and his grandchildren. My thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time,” said Gonzalez.
“Joe Hynes served to protect and defend the people of Brooklyn and New York for decades, whether it was fighting nursing home abuses, protecting domestic violence victims, tackling hate crimes and presiding over the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office at a time of declining crime rates. His many innovations provide a template for DA’s and future DA’s throughout the country. We thank him for his service and extend our deepest condolences to his family,” said Seddio.
A memorial service is tentatively set for Saturday at St. Thomas More Church in Breezy Point, Queens. Hynes donated his body to science.
