Tracy McCarter says she was a domestic violence victim acting in self-defense when she stabbed her estranged husband in March 2020 after he’d shown up drunk and demanded money.

Her prosecution on a murder charge has since become a rallying point for advocates.

“It was very obvious that this was not a murder that occurred,” said Samah Sisay of the advocacy group Survived and Punished NY. “And regardless of this, they still decided to pursue a murder charge at the grand jury.”

What You Need To Know

  • Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg made a rare court appearance Monday, seeking to have a murder charge against Tracy McCarter dismissed

  • McCarter says she was a victim of domestic abuse who acted in self-defense when she stabbed her estranged husband in March 2020

  • Advocates have been putting pressure on Bragg, who expressed support for McCarter in 2020 during his campaign for DA

  • Justice Diane Kiesel expects to make a decision by the end of the week

Two and a half years later, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is now seeking to have the murder charge dismissed. Appearing in person before a Manhattan judge Monday, Bragg said, “I still have a reasonable doubt as to whether Ms. McCarter committed murder in the second degree. “

He added, “We decline to go forward here, as I cannot ask a grand jury to arrive at a conclusion that I have not.”

But twice since taking office earlier this year, Bragg had tried to reduce the charges against McCarter, rather than drop the case altogether. He was denied both times by the judge in the case, Justice Diane Kiesel, who pressed him on Monday about his mixed messaging.

“Your letter suggests that you want to continue this prosecution on lesser charges,” she said. “Is that what you want to do?”

But Bragg argued for a dismissal, citing several factors: McCarter’s abusive relationship with her husband, James Murray; the fact he had just one fatal wound; and the fact that McCarter gave him immediate medical attention.

As a candidate in 2020, Bragg had expressed support for McCarter, tweeting: “I #StandWithTracy. Prosecuting a domestic violence survivor who acted in self-defense is unjust.”

Her supporters now hope that injustice and others like it are soon corrected.

“It’s a pretty extraordinary thing for a DA to file a request for a judge to dismiss an indictment, let alone a murder indictment,” Jocelyn Simonson said, a professor at Brooklyn Law School. “And he stuck to his guns.”

“We always hear, ‘We are supporting survivors. We are here to support survivors.’ They have gender-based violence offices, things like that,” Sisay said. “But we still see these criminalizations happening when people defend themselves in instances of domestic violence.”

Justice Kiesel said she expects to make a decision by the end of the week. Both sides are then due back in court on Monday.