Judge Paul Engelmayer
Superseding indictment S5 11 Cr. 1032 (the S5 Indictment), issued in 2013, charged Mejia with crimes—including conspiracy to murder and murder of rival gang member Perez—arising from her leadership of a street gang's female faction. It superseded 2012 indictment S4 11 Cr. 1032 (the S4 Indictment), which wrongly said Mejia was 18 years old at the time of the murder, and thus eligible for the death penalty. Both indictments were issued by the same grand jury. Despite no longer charging Mejia with murder in aid of racketeering in connection with Perez's murder, the S5 Indictment charges Mejia with murdering Perez as a predicate act to racketeering. Distinguishing United States v. Rivieccio, instructed by United States v. Basciano, and citing Second Circuit precedent, district court denied S5 Indictment's dismissal. It rejected Mejia's claim that her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were violated because the grand jury was tainted by its consideration of the S4 Indictment. There was no credible evidence that the government's presentation of an incorrect fact—Mejia's age—to the grand jury represented misconduct, was in any sense willful, or compromised the grand jury.
