George Pataki’s Negative Impact On The Prison System Is Still Felt
By Jeffrey Deskovic
Intro
In 1995, the year of George Pataki’s election as Governor, I had been incarcerated for about four years. I remember on election night how I, along with many of the other prisoners housed in the cell block reserved for those who were in the college program, listened via headphones for the results of the election. At that time, televisions were not allowed yet into the cells in Elmira prison, and so therefore listening on
headphones into an intercom system was our way of “watching TV”. As I look back on it now, many of the abnormalities that were part of everyday prison life came to be thought of in terms that gave it the surface level appearance of being normal, even though we mentally knew that it was not. It was the mind’s way of softening things just a little bit so as to protect our sanity. We were hoping, against hope, that Pataki would not win, although we realized that he probably would.
I had been following the race as best I could, given the difficulty of keeping up with current events while in prison. One particular report had stuck out in my mind, which was when Gov. Mario Cuomo stated, during a really tense moment in the campaign, when he had been backed into a corner on the political issue of the death penalty, but still would not back down though he realized the probable consequences
to his career, that ‘he would not sell his soul by supporting the death penalty, in order to win the election’. He further stated that in response to his position, the voters could take the governor’s of-fice away from him if they wanted. I remember that I had cheered for him that
he would take such a moral stance, and that he would not yield to the mob type mentality, unlike the historical figure of Pontias Pilate mentioned in the Bible.
But even as I cheered I felt a sense of foreboding, kind of an inner knowledge that it would wind up costing him the office. Yet because of the probable consequences if Pataki won, I somehow made a way inside of my mind, to go against all logic and say to myself that he would not, and tell other people that in conversation, even while knowing better. Some of the other prisoners, made crazy by the general inhumane conditions of the prison system, embarked down peculiar lines of reasoning that only desperate or abnormal conditions could cause: They hoped that Pataki would win, even though it would mean the death penalty and the probable execution of innocent people. They were willing to have a few people executed, even if that meant that along the way a few innocent people were wrongfully executed if it meant that more people, not the least of which was them, were able to go home earlier.
The death penalty bill had been passed not too long before the election only to be vetoed by Gov. Cuomo, and then come within a few votes of having the veto overridden. Attached to that bill had also been a provision allowing for time off of sentences, referred to in legal jargon as “good time”. The rationale behind “good time” was that it provided an incentive for prisoners to turn their lives around and avail themselves
of educational opportunities by staying out of trouble. Because both good time and the death penalty had been in the proposal together, the prisoners thought that meant that the two proposals would be together again, and that in order for a state to have a death penalty, they would also have to give good time.
George Pataki did indeed win the election, and I remember hearing the news while in my cell, and fearing what would happen next, not only in terms of the death penalty, but also to the prison system in general, and therefore by extension to me since I was in it. As I went to sleep that night, I tried to mentally prepare myself for things to get worse, and worse was what things got.
School And Vocational Trades
While Pataki was governor there was a variety of vocational shops which were systematically phased out of the prison system. When the instructor retired or passed away, the class was closed as well, because they would simply not hire a replacement. Therefore the situation became that at the same time the prison population was swelling because of the systematic parole denials, recategorization of who was eligible for work release, and the lengthier prison sentences imposed, there were also fewer programs for the prisoners to take, thus resulting in more idle time, rather than allowing inmates the opportunity to make the most out of their time, thereby making them less skillful and less prepared for their release thereby decreasing the chances of a successful reintegration into society and a lower recidivism rate.
When I first got to state prison in 1991, everybody was required to take a morning program and a afternoon program. At some point in the early 2000’s prisoners who were arriving at the prison were only being given one program, and were being made to wait six months before being given a second one, which meant that time previously utilized on turning one’s life around and preparation for release, was now being
spent idly in the cell. For the first time, there suddenly became waiting lists to get into school. At the same time, the policy of allowing prisoners to go to recreation when their school class or vocational shop was closed to at least remain out of the cell, was discontinued,
and therefore one’s program being closed meant even more in-cell time, which caused the general level of frustration to go up thus making the prison more volatile. In addition, at some point during that period of time, the policy of not allowing prisoners who had completed one vocational trade to take another trade came into being. I remember when I wanted to take another vocational trade, with the idea of acting on my uncle’s saying ‘you can never know enough things to do, because unanticipated layoffs sometimes occur in ones primary field’ of trying
to take another vocational trade, and I was told that I would not be allowed to do so because of this policy. I had completed a few, of course, but I wanted to continue to prepare myself. The counselor further explained that in light of fewer programs, they wanted to allow those who had not completed a trade to take one. While I understood this policy, the question remained: Why was there such a dearth of programs that
it got to that point? I began to wonder and worry about being able to use my time as productively as possible, for I already considered it to be a waste just being in there, but I wanted to minimize the waste. I would like to further add that the programs that were offered were simply the basics of how things used to be done five years earlier. With the shrinkage of programs, the level of violence increased. I believe
that there was a definite correlation. An idle mind, as the saying goes, is the devil’s playground.
College
At the time Pataki became Gov., Senator Helms finally succeed in getting the federal government to ban prisoners from receiving Pell Grants for college after having made several attempts. On the state level, Pataki followed suit and banned them from getting TAP. The fallacious
argument advanced forward was that ‘why should prisoners get free college when I make too much money for my children to qualify, and yet cannot afford to send them? It was a fallacy because firstly, no one received financial aid while in prison who would have been ineligible on the outside. The forms were the same, as was the eligibility. Secondly, nationwide the total number of prisoners who went to school on grants was ½ of 1 percent.
Therefore nobody who was free was denied to go to school because a prisoner was going to school. Further, the recidivism rate was much lower for those who had gone to college as opposed to those who had simply taken vocational trades. Therefore college education was, in reality, far from coddling criminals, a powerful future crime fighting tool. Simply put, the reason for this was because prisoners were more qualified to get a meaningful job upon release, and plus the overall level of thinking was elevated, many prisoners, having seen more horizons, and having more hope. They could see a future for themselves not involving crime. Yet, with the source of funding removed, the colleges left.
On a personal note, as a result of his decision, I was not able to graduate with a B.A. degree and thus be that much further ahead, but instead was forced to stop after accumulating 90 credits.
Phone Calls
In prison the only phone calls that the prisoners were allowed to make were collect calls. In 1996 Gov. Pataki entered into a contract with MCI which lasted until 2007 in which over that time span MCI was allowed to overcharge the families and friends of prisoners 630% more
than similar collect calls would have cost someone who was free to make them. The incentive was clear: The Department of Corrections received a 57% kickback from MCI. The success of this diabolical scheme was assured because a monopoly existed: prisoners’ families and friends could either talk to them on the phone, or not. The option of using a different phone company was not available. A lawsuit was
filed on behalf of the prisoners and families, but was fought by the Pataki administration, at one point getting dismissed.
It was not until Eliot Spitzer became Gov. that the practice ceased. During the same time period, MCI adopted the policy of further infringing on the rights of the families and friends by rendering them incapable of accepting collect calls if their regular bill, with their own phone company, reached $100. As I see it, however high a customers bill got with another phone company, it was not MCI’s business. Several families tried to correct this by complaining, but neither complaining to MCI nor to the Department Of Corrections nor anyone higher up availed anybody of anything. There reached a point in time when I had to slow down on the number of phone calls that I made because I was conscious of the bill. I would go weeks and sometimes a month and only make 1 or 2 calls because of the bill, and yet the next time on the phone I would learn of the bill, which in turn made me feel guilty and therefore made me even less inclined to call.
Double Bunking
When Pataki took office, it was at his direction that the Department of Corrections began the practice of double celling. What this meant was that for the first time in New York State, two prisoners would be housed in the same cell. The cells were only built to accommodate one person, and were small even for that purpose. They were no way equipped for two people. Yet, the sole adjustment made was simply to
weld another bed frame on top of the one already in the cell. There were many conflicts and complications arising from having two people, often strangers, suddenly put into the same cell. For example, disputes over when the light was turned off, housing smokers with non-smokers, thefts of food items, one prisoner receiving the mail of another, rummaging through each other’s property, privacy issues, and having two people in the same small area about the size of a small bathroom, (for example many cells in Sing Sing Prison are 3-1/2 x 7 feet) while the other defecated, were among the uncomfortabilities.
Often many of these issues led to violence, and sometimes stabbings and cuttings, because many prisoners would seek to resolve things with violence. Stories circulated throughout the prison system of some people being killed by their cell mate. Ordinarily, when one was locked into one’s cell at night, that at least had meant that normally one could relax a little bit, having the cell bars between himself and the other prisoners; a brief respite from the normally constant vigilance that is needed in order to survive. The double celling was also dangerous for the guards, because it was not unusual for a fight to break out in a cell, necessitating the guards to go in and break it up, which only one guard at
a time could make it through. It was not uncommon for both prisoners to then turn on the guard. It was so dangerous that the officer’s union filed a lawsuit against the practice.
Correction Officers Contract
I remember that sometime between 1999-2002, the contract between the correction officers and the state of New York was up. A power struggle ensued regarding the next contract that would be offered. The issue was that inflation and the cost of living expenses was rising, and
yet the officers were not getting raises to match. As a result, the prison population suffered, because the guards were resorting to the tactic of letting the prisoners out of their cells for recreation later and later, while returning them to their cells at the regularly scheduled time. Thus,
rather than 2 hours and 45 minutes, we sometimes ended up with 2 hours, 1 ½, and sometimes simply 20 minutes; during which time was our only opportunity to use the phone, shower, exercise, engage in recreation, or attempt to stay in touch with the world by watching television. Parole Governor Mario Cuomo believed in giving deserving inmates a second chance.
While he was in office, one could simply do one’s time, stay out of trouble, take educational programs to demonstrate a commitment to a crime-free life, and one would make parole. If denied, then one was certainly going to be paroled at the next parole board appearance. That was fair, after all, the trial judge, being familiar with the facts of cases, were in a position to impose the minimum sentence which the ends of justice would require. When George Pataki became governor, he swore an oath to uphold the laws of the state. That included the statute governing parole. There were press releases news articles, in which he would publicly say, “We must end parole for those convicted of violent crimes,” indicating that he wanted the state legislature to change the laws surrounding parole. The legislature never did that, realizing the wisdom in allowing people the opportunity to turn their live around and contribute to society. Unable to get his way, Pataki then advise the parole board to start automatically denying the parole applications of persons convicted of a violent crime, including those of first time offenders, and even those who had demonstrated a commitment to self improvement who were therefore in good position to contribute
to society. There were a variety of statements made to reporters, anonymously of course, from people in the Pataki administration, to the effect that The Board had been told not to parole those who had been convicted of violent crimes. Similarly, there were public statements
by Parole Board members that the board ‘had gotten the message.”
At one point, Brion Travis, was removed as State Commissioner of Parole and transferred to a job at the State Insurance Department, as the result of having paroling Kathy Boudin, who had been convicted of a felony murder but had served her time, staying out of trouble, and bettering herself. The sentencing judge in Boudin’s case had stated, in assessing the facts, “I see no reason why Boudin should not be release
after her ‘minimum’ if she stays out of trouble.
This sent a clear message to the Parole Board and constituted blatant interference and contravention of the law. To highlight the acknowledged illegality, the Pataki administration, in attempting to cover its hide, officially denied that the transfer of Travis was in any way related to the decision to parole Boudin. Yet, off the record, an official with knowledge of the situation said that the move was a direct
result of that very decision. In addition, in the case Chen vs. Travis, Chen, who was convicted of a violent crime, was actually told, on the record, in a warning by a commissioner, that he had better not get arrested for another crime because then “his father’s money” would
not help him. The reference was specifi-cally to his father’s huge financial contribution to Pataki’s gubernatorial run. As a result of that, the FBI ultimately arrested a commissioner for corruption, and he was found guilty after trial. He kept his mouth shut and never named names, but can anyone doubt that he was acting on orders from the very top?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Our Readers Respond...
An Open Letter to Judge William Giacomo
Dear Judge Giacomo,
I am writing to let you know how my three children are doing since you have taken them from their mother. Unfortunately,
sir, DEEPEST POCKETS do not parent better than DEEPEST HEART.
Since you have written your decision, or should I say since Barry Swersky, with the assistance of Therese Malach, law guardian,
has written the decision that you signed off on, nearly a year after the trial, the emotional state of my three beautiful children
has deteriorated. They are angry, confused and depressed. They cannot understand why they are being punished.
They are acting out in school, camp, with friends and, most noticeably with me, their mother. Enclosed is a letter my daughter
wrote to you last July, 2006 after the in-camera interview you had with her and the law guardian, Therese Malach. She now
cannot understand why, after expressing to you and the law guardian her feelings, she has been taken from her mother.
She told me back then that she and your daughter shared the same name and that you were “…a nice man, and would not take her from her home, I just know it Mommy…” Do you ever stop to consider your own words, at trial (taken directly from the transcripts) “…These are not parenting issues, they are issues between two parents. These kids are doing great. They are happy, healthy, and someone is obviously
doing something really nice with them…” “…and your daughter is a doll…” The facts and the truth have been swept under the PLUSH carpet of the DEEPEST POCKETS, and I just have one question for you, Your Honor, and the law guardian... HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?
Suzanne Stephans, Irvington
cc: The Westchester Guardian
Desperate Plea to Judge Pfau
Dear Editor:
The following is an open letter to Judge Ann T. Pfau, Chief Administrative Judge of the State Court System:
As of today, July 3, 2007, Judge Peter Forman continues ignoring my numerous letters to him requesting a court-appointed
attorney. My next court date is July 12. I have less rights than the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by being in the 9th Judicial District which employs my ex-wife who works for Judge Francis Nicolai.
I can no longer attend Family Court in the 9th Judicial District. My civil rights have been violated. Please move my case to the Bronx.
Tim Wilson
Peekskill’s Jan Peek House - A Beacon In A Sea of Tyranny
Dear Editor:
It is important for us, from time to time, to reflect upon the events of our lives and see how we got to where we are today. By the standards of the society, I would be considered successful. Gainfully employed with two jobs, never missed a day’s work, pay my own way, established good credit and seem to be doing the things a responsible citizen would do.
I would like to acknowledge that this could not have been possible had it not been for the love and unselfish caring of the staff of Jan Peek
House who are the embodiment of the very mission this great establishment was founded on. Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Give love and unconditional acceptance to those you encounter, and notice what happens.” I can tell you what happened in my case:
In April of last year I was released from prison a er doing 18 years. I endeavored to earn back my right to be a citizen in the free world. To my surprise, many of the social and religious agencies who are mandated to assist people in my position only observed my situation with impersonal distance. Their scripture even warns about ignoring the needs of even ‘the least among us’. Where examples of love and compassion are absent, inhumanity, hatred and violence will likely fill the vacuum.
God directed my feet to Jan Peek House. I was greeted by staff with a warm smile, and an invitation to put my bags and my burdens down.
Even a superficial message of love and hope beats none at all.
I was invited to stay and avail myself of the opportunity to re-acclimate myself to the society I had left so long ago. Certainly the world had changed and I had resolved to turn my life around and regain my dignity and self respect by being a law-abiding citizen.
But sometimes good intentions are not enough. At Jan Peek, at every turn, on every shift, there is staff willing to listen, help, direct and give you advice and comfort. With each trip up the hill, or to a job interview, I was cheered on and supported and when I returned many times and things did not go too well, there was always a sympathetic ear.
They deserve great recognition for their work. They are tools of transformation. They kneel down in the sea of human suffering and dirty
their hands with service. They highlight the value of human life and the importance of loving, supportive treatment toward others.
I have watched Peekskill undergo a great transformation. Buildings where there were none before. New businesses. Urban renewal and downtown revitalization. I often asked myself, “what about the people? Is anyone doing anything to rebuild the shattered lives and broken dreams of people who have fallen short of life’s mark? I represent to you that Jan Peek House undertakes this monumental task where other religious and social agencies have fallen short. They are the unsung heroes. Jan Peek is just as much a part of the soul and fiber of our city as some of the greatest establishments and institutions. I urge anyone who reads this to call the facility and see how you can help.
Someone once said, “A love that defies all logic, is sometimes the most logical thing in the world.” Through the work of Jan Peek we see God’s unconditional love. The love for the addict, the homeless, the battered, the mentally ill, the ex-convict, the runaway. None of us are completely without sin, fault or acts of ill intent towards others.
None of us travel through life completely guiltless in our conscience. Fortunately, we have words such as forgiveness, reconciliation, grace
and mercy to soften judgment’s iron fist. And fortunately we have places like Jan Peek that stands as a beacon near our river, and says with
its deeds: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,…send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me…”
Anonymous
Kudos From Bronxville
Dear Editor:
We are avid readers of The Guardian and have enormous respect for its efforts to eradicate the corruption that permeates Westchester County.
We wish the newspaper great success in its totally justified litigation in Federal Court. We felt for some time that the paper merits wide distribution in the County and we are currently making sure that certain key people are receiving the weekly issues. The response, of course, has been so overwhelmingly positive.
We only wish there were more Richard Blassbergs on the scene. After a nice telephone conversation with Mr. Blassberg we sent two communications that were not answered. We assumed his ‘plate was full’ with many extremely important issues. One communication concerned a development in the New York State Chief Judge’s office. At this point I’m sure the issue is far better known to him than it is to us.
Our case, which originated nearly eight years ago in the Westchester Supreme TORT, has evolved, inevitably, into three separate litigations.
Eventually when the INSANITY ends, our SAGA will rival many of the NIGHTMARES The Guardian has been addressing.
We’ve endured a series of menacing “anonymous” telephone messages – one of the more moderate threatening to put my husband Carl “out of business” if he refused to drop his case against (SL)UDGE Aldo Nastasi! The source of the calls is becoming rather obvious. The $leazy, bumbling, fumbling POWER CRAZY CROOKS carried out their outrageous threat, precipitating our third case against the SEC, or Society for the Ethically Challenged (practitioners of Slander, Extortion and Criminality).
Carl has been a leading money manager, consistently ranking in the top twenty in world surveys and named Manager of the Year in 2006.
He has been admired and respected by the entire investment community for his entire professional career. Fortunately, he is also a maverick
with a legal background who will never concede to corruption.
Once again, we wish The Guardian the very best. If there is any way we can bolster the effort for wide distribution of The Guardian, just
say the word.
Joan Lawrence, Bronxville
Message From Someone in the Belly of the Beast
Dear Editor:
Ahh, life in Arrogant Andy’s County... Also includes his lousy 25 million (in)security system, which is vulnerable as hell and never really tested, nor weaknesses explored until the murder in the Galleria parking structure across the street. It might have been patched in places but the main vulnerability (see those police cars parked outside everyday, they are a ‘patch’, a band-aid) has never been addressed.
The main problem with Andy’s county government, as I see it, is the total disregard for civil service law when promoting from within. Civil
Service Law means NOTHING to the commissioners. They promote their ‘favorites’ even when the ‘favorites’ are not in a position to be promoted and other qualified people are available.
Do not forget, Civil Service Law is not there just to protect the jobs of the clerks and supervisors, and other underlings, it is there to protect us all. Protect us by making sure the best, and most qualified, people are doing the work, NOT the flunkies with the brownest noses. To me, this is why children die at Playland and the social service system is a mess. The brown noses cannot think, they only react.
A Civil Servant
In Our Opinion...
Sodom and Gomorrah
It’s difficult to look at the regimes of Mayors Ernie Davis, of Mount Vernon, and Phil Amicone, of Yonkers, and not be aware of their striking similarity, each having acquired and secured their position through the machinery of municipal clubhouse politics. And, although Davis has been Mayor for three terms, a total of twelve years, Amicone, who is finishing up his first term, was right there, at John Spencer’s elbow for eight years as Deputy Mayor; to hear him tell it, deeply involved in the decision-making process right along.
Having said that, We believe it would not be unfair to suggest that the present condition of each city, Mount Vernon, and Yonkers, can largely be attributed to the actions, and/or lack of action of each, now standing for re-election as mayor. How else may one assess the prospective performance of one who offers himself for high public office and public trust, who is an incumbent, other than by evaluating the product of his labor? Measured against such a standard We must sadly conclude that Davis and Amicone have each been abject failures, little more than caretakers, at best, not likely to improve the circumstances of the city they have been entrusted with, if placed back into their present positions. In short, We believe Ernie Davis and Phil Amicone have not only squandered vast human and financial resources, but also the wonderful opportunity to bring about significant positive change.
Consider the fact that Mount Vernon and Yonkers are each under Federal Investigation, subpoenaed by the United States Attorney’s Office, in connection with projects and programs involving huge sums of money. Mayor Davis has repeatedly acknowledged publicly his inability to account for more than $3 million of federal housing funds that have seemingly disappeared. In Yonkers the FBI is looking into governmental maneuverings over the past few years by which mammoth residential and commercial development projects involving billions of dollars have negotiated the hurdles of municipal review. There’s a distinct odor of fish somehow attached to these financial mysteries.
However, the handling of funds is but one area of concern, but certainly not the issue of greatest concern, or most immediate impact upon the daily lives of the residents of each city. Their worries, on the one hand, tend to involve crime, and the activities of the police, and on the other, property taxes and the quality of public education. As regards crime, there is no denying that street crime and gun violence in both Yonkers and Mount Vernon have been spiraling out of control under Amicone and Davis respectively. Additionally, the Yonkers Police Department has had, and continues to have, a well-deserved reputation for police brutality, a problem neither Phil Amicone nor Commissioner Hartnett have made any convincing effort to abate.
In Mount Vernon, the street violence is every bit as alarming, if not more so. However, in fairness We must recognize the fact that after several failed attempts, Mayor Davis did finally succeed in bringing in a dedicated, very competent, Top Cop, Commissioner David
Chong. Unfortunately, We do not get the impression that the Mayor, when confronted with difficult choices that might enhance public safety, and the delivery of professional police work, at the necessary expense of political cronyism, gets his priorities straight most
of the time.
As regards property taxes, and the quality of education in each city, it would appear that there is somehow a reverse relationship; as taxes continue to rise, the quality of education continues to decline. It is common knowledge that taxes in New York State are the highest in the nation, and Westchester has the highest taxes in the state. Given the inferior performance of public schools in Yonkers and Mount Vernon, in the face of such an oppressive tax burden, many families have actually begun a reverse migration, over the past few years, from each of these cities back to neighborhoods in the Bronx.
The decay and destruction of formerly strong, proud neighborhoods and public schools under Davis and Amicone has been the inevitable product of corrupt, uninspired administrations more concerned with satisfying, and fattening political powerbrokers and criminal
elements such as Giulio Cavallo, Zehy Jereis, Nicky Spano, Larry Schwartz, Reggie LaFayette, and their ilk, than with bringing about meaningful reform and social benefit to their constituents. In short, We believe Ernie and Phil have been marching to the beat of the wrong drummers for quite some time, and are not likely to alter their cadence anytime soon.
An Open Letter to Judge William Giacomo
Dear Judge Giacomo,
I am writing to let you know how my three children are doing since you have taken them from their mother. Unfortunately,
sir, DEEPEST POCKETS do not parent better than DEEPEST HEART.
Since you have written your decision, or should I say since Barry Swersky, with the assistance of Therese Malach, law guardian,
has written the decision that you signed off on, nearly a year after the trial, the emotional state of my three beautiful children
has deteriorated. They are angry, confused and depressed. They cannot understand why they are being punished.
They are acting out in school, camp, with friends and, most noticeably with me, their mother. Enclosed is a letter my daughter
wrote to you last July, 2006 after the in-camera interview you had with her and the law guardian, Therese Malach. She now
cannot understand why, after expressing to you and the law guardian her feelings, she has been taken from her mother.
She told me back then that she and your daughter shared the same name and that you were “…a nice man, and would not take her from her home, I just know it Mommy…” Do you ever stop to consider your own words, at trial (taken directly from the transcripts) “…These are not parenting issues, they are issues between two parents. These kids are doing great. They are happy, healthy, and someone is obviously
doing something really nice with them…” “…and your daughter is a doll…” The facts and the truth have been swept under the PLUSH carpet of the DEEPEST POCKETS, and I just have one question for you, Your Honor, and the law guardian... HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?
Suzanne Stephans, Irvington
cc: The Westchester Guardian
Desperate Plea to Judge Pfau
Dear Editor:
The following is an open letter to Judge Ann T. Pfau, Chief Administrative Judge of the State Court System:
As of today, July 3, 2007, Judge Peter Forman continues ignoring my numerous letters to him requesting a court-appointed
attorney. My next court date is July 12. I have less rights than the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by being in the 9th Judicial District which employs my ex-wife who works for Judge Francis Nicolai.
I can no longer attend Family Court in the 9th Judicial District. My civil rights have been violated. Please move my case to the Bronx.
Tim Wilson
Peekskill’s Jan Peek House - A Beacon In A Sea of Tyranny
Dear Editor:
It is important for us, from time to time, to reflect upon the events of our lives and see how we got to where we are today. By the standards of the society, I would be considered successful. Gainfully employed with two jobs, never missed a day’s work, pay my own way, established good credit and seem to be doing the things a responsible citizen would do.
I would like to acknowledge that this could not have been possible had it not been for the love and unselfish caring of the staff of Jan Peek
House who are the embodiment of the very mission this great establishment was founded on. Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Give love and unconditional acceptance to those you encounter, and notice what happens.” I can tell you what happened in my case:
In April of last year I was released from prison a er doing 18 years. I endeavored to earn back my right to be a citizen in the free world. To my surprise, many of the social and religious agencies who are mandated to assist people in my position only observed my situation with impersonal distance. Their scripture even warns about ignoring the needs of even ‘the least among us’. Where examples of love and compassion are absent, inhumanity, hatred and violence will likely fill the vacuum.
God directed my feet to Jan Peek House. I was greeted by staff with a warm smile, and an invitation to put my bags and my burdens down.
Even a superficial message of love and hope beats none at all.
I was invited to stay and avail myself of the opportunity to re-acclimate myself to the society I had left so long ago. Certainly the world had changed and I had resolved to turn my life around and regain my dignity and self respect by being a law-abiding citizen.
But sometimes good intentions are not enough. At Jan Peek, at every turn, on every shift, there is staff willing to listen, help, direct and give you advice and comfort. With each trip up the hill, or to a job interview, I was cheered on and supported and when I returned many times and things did not go too well, there was always a sympathetic ear.
They deserve great recognition for their work. They are tools of transformation. They kneel down in the sea of human suffering and dirty
their hands with service. They highlight the value of human life and the importance of loving, supportive treatment toward others.
I have watched Peekskill undergo a great transformation. Buildings where there were none before. New businesses. Urban renewal and downtown revitalization. I often asked myself, “what about the people? Is anyone doing anything to rebuild the shattered lives and broken dreams of people who have fallen short of life’s mark? I represent to you that Jan Peek House undertakes this monumental task where other religious and social agencies have fallen short. They are the unsung heroes. Jan Peek is just as much a part of the soul and fiber of our city as some of the greatest establishments and institutions. I urge anyone who reads this to call the facility and see how you can help.
Someone once said, “A love that defies all logic, is sometimes the most logical thing in the world.” Through the work of Jan Peek we see God’s unconditional love. The love for the addict, the homeless, the battered, the mentally ill, the ex-convict, the runaway. None of us are completely without sin, fault or acts of ill intent towards others.
None of us travel through life completely guiltless in our conscience. Fortunately, we have words such as forgiveness, reconciliation, grace
and mercy to soften judgment’s iron fist. And fortunately we have places like Jan Peek that stands as a beacon near our river, and says with
its deeds: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,…send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me…”
Anonymous
Kudos From Bronxville
Dear Editor:
We are avid readers of The Guardian and have enormous respect for its efforts to eradicate the corruption that permeates Westchester County.
We wish the newspaper great success in its totally justified litigation in Federal Court. We felt for some time that the paper merits wide distribution in the County and we are currently making sure that certain key people are receiving the weekly issues. The response, of course, has been so overwhelmingly positive.
We only wish there were more Richard Blassbergs on the scene. After a nice telephone conversation with Mr. Blassberg we sent two communications that were not answered. We assumed his ‘plate was full’ with many extremely important issues. One communication concerned a development in the New York State Chief Judge’s office. At this point I’m sure the issue is far better known to him than it is to us.
Our case, which originated nearly eight years ago in the Westchester Supreme TORT, has evolved, inevitably, into three separate litigations.
Eventually when the INSANITY ends, our SAGA will rival many of the NIGHTMARES The Guardian has been addressing.
We’ve endured a series of menacing “anonymous” telephone messages – one of the more moderate threatening to put my husband Carl “out of business” if he refused to drop his case against (SL)UDGE Aldo Nastasi! The source of the calls is becoming rather obvious. The $leazy, bumbling, fumbling POWER CRAZY CROOKS carried out their outrageous threat, precipitating our third case against the SEC, or Society for the Ethically Challenged (practitioners of Slander, Extortion and Criminality).
Carl has been a leading money manager, consistently ranking in the top twenty in world surveys and named Manager of the Year in 2006.
He has been admired and respected by the entire investment community for his entire professional career. Fortunately, he is also a maverick
with a legal background who will never concede to corruption.
Once again, we wish The Guardian the very best. If there is any way we can bolster the effort for wide distribution of The Guardian, just
say the word.
Joan Lawrence, Bronxville
Message From Someone in the Belly of the Beast
Dear Editor:
Ahh, life in Arrogant Andy’s County... Also includes his lousy 25 million (in)security system, which is vulnerable as hell and never really tested, nor weaknesses explored until the murder in the Galleria parking structure across the street. It might have been patched in places but the main vulnerability (see those police cars parked outside everyday, they are a ‘patch’, a band-aid) has never been addressed.
The main problem with Andy’s county government, as I see it, is the total disregard for civil service law when promoting from within. Civil
Service Law means NOTHING to the commissioners. They promote their ‘favorites’ even when the ‘favorites’ are not in a position to be promoted and other qualified people are available.
Do not forget, Civil Service Law is not there just to protect the jobs of the clerks and supervisors, and other underlings, it is there to protect us all. Protect us by making sure the best, and most qualified, people are doing the work, NOT the flunkies with the brownest noses. To me, this is why children die at Playland and the social service system is a mess. The brown noses cannot think, they only react.
A Civil Servant
In Our Opinion...
Sodom and Gomorrah
It’s difficult to look at the regimes of Mayors Ernie Davis, of Mount Vernon, and Phil Amicone, of Yonkers, and not be aware of their striking similarity, each having acquired and secured their position through the machinery of municipal clubhouse politics. And, although Davis has been Mayor for three terms, a total of twelve years, Amicone, who is finishing up his first term, was right there, at John Spencer’s elbow for eight years as Deputy Mayor; to hear him tell it, deeply involved in the decision-making process right along.
Having said that, We believe it would not be unfair to suggest that the present condition of each city, Mount Vernon, and Yonkers, can largely be attributed to the actions, and/or lack of action of each, now standing for re-election as mayor. How else may one assess the prospective performance of one who offers himself for high public office and public trust, who is an incumbent, other than by evaluating the product of his labor? Measured against such a standard We must sadly conclude that Davis and Amicone have each been abject failures, little more than caretakers, at best, not likely to improve the circumstances of the city they have been entrusted with, if placed back into their present positions. In short, We believe Ernie Davis and Phil Amicone have not only squandered vast human and financial resources, but also the wonderful opportunity to bring about significant positive change.
Consider the fact that Mount Vernon and Yonkers are each under Federal Investigation, subpoenaed by the United States Attorney’s Office, in connection with projects and programs involving huge sums of money. Mayor Davis has repeatedly acknowledged publicly his inability to account for more than $3 million of federal housing funds that have seemingly disappeared. In Yonkers the FBI is looking into governmental maneuverings over the past few years by which mammoth residential and commercial development projects involving billions of dollars have negotiated the hurdles of municipal review. There’s a distinct odor of fish somehow attached to these financial mysteries.
However, the handling of funds is but one area of concern, but certainly not the issue of greatest concern, or most immediate impact upon the daily lives of the residents of each city. Their worries, on the one hand, tend to involve crime, and the activities of the police, and on the other, property taxes and the quality of public education. As regards crime, there is no denying that street crime and gun violence in both Yonkers and Mount Vernon have been spiraling out of control under Amicone and Davis respectively. Additionally, the Yonkers Police Department has had, and continues to have, a well-deserved reputation for police brutality, a problem neither Phil Amicone nor Commissioner Hartnett have made any convincing effort to abate.
In Mount Vernon, the street violence is every bit as alarming, if not more so. However, in fairness We must recognize the fact that after several failed attempts, Mayor Davis did finally succeed in bringing in a dedicated, very competent, Top Cop, Commissioner David
Chong. Unfortunately, We do not get the impression that the Mayor, when confronted with difficult choices that might enhance public safety, and the delivery of professional police work, at the necessary expense of political cronyism, gets his priorities straight most
of the time.
As regards property taxes, and the quality of education in each city, it would appear that there is somehow a reverse relationship; as taxes continue to rise, the quality of education continues to decline. It is common knowledge that taxes in New York State are the highest in the nation, and Westchester has the highest taxes in the state. Given the inferior performance of public schools in Yonkers and Mount Vernon, in the face of such an oppressive tax burden, many families have actually begun a reverse migration, over the past few years, from each of these cities back to neighborhoods in the Bronx.
The decay and destruction of formerly strong, proud neighborhoods and public schools under Davis and Amicone has been the inevitable product of corrupt, uninspired administrations more concerned with satisfying, and fattening political powerbrokers and criminal
elements such as Giulio Cavallo, Zehy Jereis, Nicky Spano, Larry Schwartz, Reggie LaFayette, and their ilk, than with bringing about meaningful reform and social benefit to their constituents. In short, We believe Ernie and Phil have been marching to the beat of the wrong drummers for quite some time, and are not likely to alter their cadence anytime soon.
Janet Difiore.
The Advocate
Richard Blassberg
Blue Ribbon Panel Delivers White Paper DA Asked For Findings Expose Worst-Case Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct
A gesture by Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore more than six months ago, described by Jeffrey Deskovic as “almost unprecedented,” last Monday produced a 38-page report entitled Report on the Conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic. The report, generated
by a most distinguished panel of four, retired Judges Leslie Crocker Snyder and Peter J. McQuillan, together with former Richmond
DA William L. Murphy, and New York City Legal Aid Supervising Attorney Richard Joselson, pulls no punches despite having derived
its content from the cold record without benefit of live interviews.
For the most part, it fully corroborates what Mr. Deskovic and this column have shared with readers of The Guardian for many months now. Given that fact, it is not the intention of this column to regurgitate the contents of the report, but rather to place it into proper and meaningful context. It should be stated, up front, that Janet DiFiore’s commissioning of the investigation and report by such an eminently qualified panel, several weeks after the release of Jeffrey Deskovic from state prison, was highly commendable and clearly in the public interest.
She was, no doubt, fully cognizant that some of the most significant wrongdoing likely to be uncovered would involve former Assistant DA
George Bolen, and other ADAs as well as current Peekskill Police Chief Eugene Tumolo, and members of his department. After all, she worked side-by-side with Bolen for some twelve years, and was his boss for eight months, until his retirement last August, just weeks before Deskovic’s emergence from prison. With respect to Tumolo and the Peekskill Police Department, a law enforcement agency her office has daily dealings with, commissioning the report surely was no less uncomfortable.
Coming as it does, on the heels of the Duke University/Michael Nifong revelations, and a host of recent exonerations involving prosecutorial misconduct and police malfeasance in New York State, and across the nation, Report on the Conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic does not fall on deaf ears. Par-ticularly here in Westchester, jurisdiction of the grave injustice visited upon a vulnerable and innocent 16-year-old boy who would be made to spend the next sixteen years of his life behind bars as the result of the mindless and unconscionable abuse of power and public trust by a handful of self-serving adults, the lesson is all too compelling.
It is probably correct to state that the presentation of facts is more than ninety-five percent accurate, what few incorrect statements
there are having somehow worked their way into the record over the years. Nevertheless, despite their commendable faithfulness to the
facts, the panel members would seem to have gone out of their way to avoid specifically noting by name four major players in this most
sympathetic of American Judicial Tragedies; Jeanine Pirro, who, despite her present denials, repeatedly thwarted numerous attempts
by Mr. Deskovic to gain a comparison of the DNA which did not match his, with the State DNA Databank; Carl Vergari, elected District
Attorney at the time of Deskovic’s prosecution and conviction, who allowed ADA George Bolen the latitude to deliver a conviction
of a clearly innocent accused by whatever means necessary; Nicholas Colabella, the trial judge who had numerous opportunities
to prevent the tragic outcome that robbed sixteen years of liberty from a young innocent life.
The fourth unnamed wrongdoer was then-Assistant District Attorney Robert Neary, currently an appointed acting State Supreme Court
Judge, about whom Mr. Deskovic told The Guardian, “Without what he did, what happened to me might not have happened.” Deskovic explained, “He interfered with my right to counsel because once I had consulted with a lawyer, who advised me that he would inform the Peekskill Police, and they, in fact, stopped interrogating me, my indelible right to council had attached. However, when the attorney
was not retained, he called Mr. Neary to inform him he would not be the attorney representing me. And, Neary, in turn, told the Peekskill
Police that they could, again, interrogate me without counsel present.”
Unfortunately, it was this same sort of collegial courtesy displayed by the panel to Pirro, Vergari, Colabella and Neary that all too often contributes to the perpetuation of injustice within the justice system. Without needing to fully review the circumstances that led up to the
wrongful arrest, prosecution, and conviction of young Jeffrey Deskovic for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old female schoolmate, Angela
Correa, it is, however, necessary and constructive to note the key players whose misconduct contributed more to the tragic outcome than that of the others, if a clear and workable understanding of what actually occurred is to be teased from the facts. Without a doubt, Eugene Tumolo, former Detective Lieutenant, now Chief of the City of Peekskill Police Department, who choreographed and engineered the outrageously unconstitutional, and unlawful harassment, interrogation, manipulation, and arrest of Jeffrey Deskovic, a youth who he admittedly knew to be innocent by March 2, 1990, was one of two individuals most responsible for the pain and suffering inflicted.
Equally responsible, and as cruelly self-promotional, was Assistant District Attorney George Bolen, who maliciously rushed into the grand
jury on February 27, 1990, to get an indictment, knowing full well the DNA test results that would have defeated that indictment would be
announced within 72 hours. Then, having received those results he proceeded as if they did not exist. At trial, he would tell the jury that the
fact that the DNA found in the fifteen-year-old’s vagina and hairs found on her body did not match accused Jeffrey Deskovic, really didn’t matter because “she had had consensual sex earlier.”
How badly did Mr. Bolen need to convict a sixteen-year-old boy who he plainly knew to be innocent, that he would tell a jury, and all those in the courtroom, including poor Angela Correa’s parents and sister, that it didn’t matter that the Defendant’s DNA didn’t match that found in the vaginal cavity of her limp body because she had had prior unprotected sex with another? On this score, the panel was not imaginative enough, unfortunately working only with the cold record, to realize why clothing exhibits disappeared from the courtroom in the middle of the trial, never to be seen again.
We are told there were issues regarding the pull-over-type sports bra the young victim was wearing, in that it would not have lent itself to
the kind of violent removal by the Defendant that the Prosecution had theorized to the jury. The jury had, in fact, realized that and had called for an examination of the bra during their deliberations, but were compelled to settle for a mere photo of the bra because somehow, mysteriously, the District Attorney’s Exhibit Bag containing all of the clothing found on, and near, the body of Angela Correa, had disappeared. The point missed by the panel, however, involved the victim’s panties.
Mr. Bolen realized he needed to make her clothing disappear once he told the jury that she had had unprotected consensual sex prior to her rape and murder, because if, indeed, she had had such an encounter with someone else prior to the incident, and the semen found in her vagina was not the Defendant’s - and it was not - then clearly there should have been some residue in her panties. Otherwise, the semen found in her vagina must have come from the rapist, and it didn’t match Jeffrey Deskovic’s DNA!
Of course, in fairness to the panel that did a wonderful job; they were not re-trying the case. However, the outrageous disappearance of key evidence, coupled with the willingness by Prosecutor Bolen to do whatever it would take, no matter how unlawful, to obtain a conviction, is what must be learned and fully understood by legislators and concerned citizens everywhere. Mr. Bolen’s conduct was not atypical of him, as those who have observed him over the years, are well aware. Nor was it atypical of the conduct of any number of other ADAs who have worked in the Westchester District Attorney’s Office over many years.
If anything meaningful, and promising can truly be taken from this report, thoughtfully, and bravely, commissioned by DA Janet DiFiore, it
is the fact that there is a compelling need for legislation, both state and federal, to make the kind of prosecutorial misconduct and police malfeasance, exposed in its pages, punishable by financial and incarcerative penalties severe enough to dissuade even the most ambitious self-serving prosecutor, or police officer.
Jeffrey Deskovic has been exonerated, as have more than two hundred innocent individuals rescued by the Innocence Project alone. The sad
truth is that there are literally thousands of innocent persons languishing in prisons across this nation, put there by misguided, self-serving police officers and prosecutors. As tragic as that reality is, we must not forget, as was the case with Mr. Deskovic, having intentionally put the wrong person, an innocent person into prison, the actual rapist and murderer was left free in the community to strike again, and strike he did.
Little more than three years after the wrong man was sent to prison for his crimes, Steven Cunningham, a violent crack-addicted menace to
society, once again struck in Peekskill, murdering Pat Morrison, sister of his girlfriend, under circumstances similar to Angela Correa’s murder. Neither Bolen, nor Tumolo, apparently ever gave thought to Jeffrey Deskovic who would remain in prison for another dozen years.
Richard Blassberg
Blue Ribbon Panel Delivers White Paper DA Asked For Findings Expose Worst-Case Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct
A gesture by Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore more than six months ago, described by Jeffrey Deskovic as “almost unprecedented,” last Monday produced a 38-page report entitled Report on the Conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic. The report, generated
by a most distinguished panel of four, retired Judges Leslie Crocker Snyder and Peter J. McQuillan, together with former Richmond
DA William L. Murphy, and New York City Legal Aid Supervising Attorney Richard Joselson, pulls no punches despite having derived
its content from the cold record without benefit of live interviews.
For the most part, it fully corroborates what Mr. Deskovic and this column have shared with readers of The Guardian for many months now. Given that fact, it is not the intention of this column to regurgitate the contents of the report, but rather to place it into proper and meaningful context. It should be stated, up front, that Janet DiFiore’s commissioning of the investigation and report by such an eminently qualified panel, several weeks after the release of Jeffrey Deskovic from state prison, was highly commendable and clearly in the public interest.
She was, no doubt, fully cognizant that some of the most significant wrongdoing likely to be uncovered would involve former Assistant DA
George Bolen, and other ADAs as well as current Peekskill Police Chief Eugene Tumolo, and members of his department. After all, she worked side-by-side with Bolen for some twelve years, and was his boss for eight months, until his retirement last August, just weeks before Deskovic’s emergence from prison. With respect to Tumolo and the Peekskill Police Department, a law enforcement agency her office has daily dealings with, commissioning the report surely was no less uncomfortable.
Coming as it does, on the heels of the Duke University/Michael Nifong revelations, and a host of recent exonerations involving prosecutorial misconduct and police malfeasance in New York State, and across the nation, Report on the Conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic does not fall on deaf ears. Par-ticularly here in Westchester, jurisdiction of the grave injustice visited upon a vulnerable and innocent 16-year-old boy who would be made to spend the next sixteen years of his life behind bars as the result of the mindless and unconscionable abuse of power and public trust by a handful of self-serving adults, the lesson is all too compelling.
It is probably correct to state that the presentation of facts is more than ninety-five percent accurate, what few incorrect statements
there are having somehow worked their way into the record over the years. Nevertheless, despite their commendable faithfulness to the
facts, the panel members would seem to have gone out of their way to avoid specifically noting by name four major players in this most
sympathetic of American Judicial Tragedies; Jeanine Pirro, who, despite her present denials, repeatedly thwarted numerous attempts
by Mr. Deskovic to gain a comparison of the DNA which did not match his, with the State DNA Databank; Carl Vergari, elected District
Attorney at the time of Deskovic’s prosecution and conviction, who allowed ADA George Bolen the latitude to deliver a conviction
of a clearly innocent accused by whatever means necessary; Nicholas Colabella, the trial judge who had numerous opportunities
to prevent the tragic outcome that robbed sixteen years of liberty from a young innocent life.
The fourth unnamed wrongdoer was then-Assistant District Attorney Robert Neary, currently an appointed acting State Supreme Court
Judge, about whom Mr. Deskovic told The Guardian, “Without what he did, what happened to me might not have happened.” Deskovic explained, “He interfered with my right to counsel because once I had consulted with a lawyer, who advised me that he would inform the Peekskill Police, and they, in fact, stopped interrogating me, my indelible right to council had attached. However, when the attorney
was not retained, he called Mr. Neary to inform him he would not be the attorney representing me. And, Neary, in turn, told the Peekskill
Police that they could, again, interrogate me without counsel present.”
Unfortunately, it was this same sort of collegial courtesy displayed by the panel to Pirro, Vergari, Colabella and Neary that all too often contributes to the perpetuation of injustice within the justice system. Without needing to fully review the circumstances that led up to the
wrongful arrest, prosecution, and conviction of young Jeffrey Deskovic for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old female schoolmate, Angela
Correa, it is, however, necessary and constructive to note the key players whose misconduct contributed more to the tragic outcome than that of the others, if a clear and workable understanding of what actually occurred is to be teased from the facts. Without a doubt, Eugene Tumolo, former Detective Lieutenant, now Chief of the City of Peekskill Police Department, who choreographed and engineered the outrageously unconstitutional, and unlawful harassment, interrogation, manipulation, and arrest of Jeffrey Deskovic, a youth who he admittedly knew to be innocent by March 2, 1990, was one of two individuals most responsible for the pain and suffering inflicted.
Equally responsible, and as cruelly self-promotional, was Assistant District Attorney George Bolen, who maliciously rushed into the grand
jury on February 27, 1990, to get an indictment, knowing full well the DNA test results that would have defeated that indictment would be
announced within 72 hours. Then, having received those results he proceeded as if they did not exist. At trial, he would tell the jury that the
fact that the DNA found in the fifteen-year-old’s vagina and hairs found on her body did not match accused Jeffrey Deskovic, really didn’t matter because “she had had consensual sex earlier.”
How badly did Mr. Bolen need to convict a sixteen-year-old boy who he plainly knew to be innocent, that he would tell a jury, and all those in the courtroom, including poor Angela Correa’s parents and sister, that it didn’t matter that the Defendant’s DNA didn’t match that found in the vaginal cavity of her limp body because she had had prior unprotected sex with another? On this score, the panel was not imaginative enough, unfortunately working only with the cold record, to realize why clothing exhibits disappeared from the courtroom in the middle of the trial, never to be seen again.
We are told there were issues regarding the pull-over-type sports bra the young victim was wearing, in that it would not have lent itself to
the kind of violent removal by the Defendant that the Prosecution had theorized to the jury. The jury had, in fact, realized that and had called for an examination of the bra during their deliberations, but were compelled to settle for a mere photo of the bra because somehow, mysteriously, the District Attorney’s Exhibit Bag containing all of the clothing found on, and near, the body of Angela Correa, had disappeared. The point missed by the panel, however, involved the victim’s panties.
Mr. Bolen realized he needed to make her clothing disappear once he told the jury that she had had unprotected consensual sex prior to her rape and murder, because if, indeed, she had had such an encounter with someone else prior to the incident, and the semen found in her vagina was not the Defendant’s - and it was not - then clearly there should have been some residue in her panties. Otherwise, the semen found in her vagina must have come from the rapist, and it didn’t match Jeffrey Deskovic’s DNA!
Of course, in fairness to the panel that did a wonderful job; they were not re-trying the case. However, the outrageous disappearance of key evidence, coupled with the willingness by Prosecutor Bolen to do whatever it would take, no matter how unlawful, to obtain a conviction, is what must be learned and fully understood by legislators and concerned citizens everywhere. Mr. Bolen’s conduct was not atypical of him, as those who have observed him over the years, are well aware. Nor was it atypical of the conduct of any number of other ADAs who have worked in the Westchester District Attorney’s Office over many years.
If anything meaningful, and promising can truly be taken from this report, thoughtfully, and bravely, commissioned by DA Janet DiFiore, it
is the fact that there is a compelling need for legislation, both state and federal, to make the kind of prosecutorial misconduct and police malfeasance, exposed in its pages, punishable by financial and incarcerative penalties severe enough to dissuade even the most ambitious self-serving prosecutor, or police officer.
Jeffrey Deskovic has been exonerated, as have more than two hundred innocent individuals rescued by the Innocence Project alone. The sad
truth is that there are literally thousands of innocent persons languishing in prisons across this nation, put there by misguided, self-serving police officers and prosecutors. As tragic as that reality is, we must not forget, as was the case with Mr. Deskovic, having intentionally put the wrong person, an innocent person into prison, the actual rapist and murderer was left free in the community to strike again, and strike he did.
Little more than three years after the wrong man was sent to prison for his crimes, Steven Cunningham, a violent crack-addicted menace to
society, once again struck in Peekskill, murdering Pat Morrison, sister of his girlfriend, under circumstances similar to Angela Correa’s murder. Neither Bolen, nor Tumolo, apparently ever gave thought to Jeffrey Deskovic who would remain in prison for another dozen years.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Our Readers Respond...
Mother Sympathizes with “Deepest Hearts”
Dear Editor:
With regard to “Deepest Pockets Win Over Deepest Hearts,” I have heard this to be very true of that particular judge and I have heard it to be true of “witch hunter” Theresa Malach. What can be done over such a misuse of justice? How can a mother who was left to raise her children lose to the very parent that abandoned them?
One would never think this could happen in today’s times. This has a flavor of Salem, Massachusetts, and burning at the stake. If this happened to her, it can happen to any other mother who has little funds to defend herself. Shame on you, Westchester. I hope there is someone who can help this mother. I can only offer my prayers and the hope that justice will be served.
Another Mother
Concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction
Dear Editor:
The “weapons of mass destruction” justification for invading Iraq is not only, as Polvere notes, “distortion, fiction, and…deceit.” It is also hypocritical. Yes, Saddam Hussein probably dreamed of having and supported work on developing weapons of mass destruction.
But was he the only bad dictator to be doing so? Was he the only ruler on unfriendly terms with the U.S. to do so? Was Iraq closer to achieving WMD than a lot of other countries? Are all countries whose governments dream of and work to achieve WMD dictatorships? Are all countries whose governments dream of and work to achieve WMD on unfriendly terms with the U.S.?
Which countries are closest to achieving WMD? If some are currently friendly with or compliant to the U.S., what are their prospects for staying so? Was not using the WMD pretext for invading Iraq applying a double standard?
Jeanette Wolfberg
Mount Kisco
Judges and Attorney’s Should Know Better
Dear Editor:
“The judiciary would be bringing a frivolous lawsuit if it takes political leaders to court to demand a raise for the state’s 1200 judges,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer in response to Chief Judge Judith Kaye’s strategy for securing bigger paychecks for New York’s judiciary. “Judges should know better than to sue for a raise.” Judge Kaye said she’ll also consider taking administrative action if the state comptroller and attorney general say she has the authority to do so.
Never mind that the Bench, having failed to rally enough support among members of the Bar, sought the clout of the business community to lobby the New York State Legislature for more compensation. New York City Corporation Counsel, Michael A. Cardozo, said judges and lawyers carry only so much clout in Albany on the pay issue because, “past a point, decision-makers can dismiss their concerns by saying, ‘Oh, they’re just looking out for their own.’ ”
The Albany-based Business Council of New York State, Inc., the corporate lobbying group at the state capital that best positions its economic issues stated, “ is is not an issue our members asked to make a priority.” What can a raise-hungry judiciary do?
Business corporations, like the legal/professional sector, have moved in the latter half of the twentieth century from pay raises based on New Deal-era-like protections for the workforce, to a performance-based pay, according to a recent report by W. Bentley MacLeod, an economics professor at Columbia University. As companies began using information technology to determine more accurately the contributions of individual employees and law firm partners and associates, employers and law firm executive committees began to “discriminate among employees and lawyers based on performance.
No longer are people with different abilities and capabilities paid the same amount for doing similar jobs. The fact is, more Americans are paid less on the basis of a job title and more on their individual output.” Greater management and technical skills proven in the corporate
marketplace like finer legal skills and ‘rainmaking generation’ in the law field yield greater earning power. Due to a shifting economic and political environment, even judges have to prove a competency and productivity on their job.
Control of the legal system is not free from judicial intervention as if the law itself were acting, unhampered and unburdened by strong-arm action of court governance; oversight of the process in New York State Courts has been labeled an “inappropriate intrusion” of the judiciary’s internal governance by former Administrative Judge, Jonathan Lippman. Judicial performance has indeed been productive, not in problem solving or administration of fair and expedient justice, but rather as a lucrative, case-churning machine for law guardians in custody matters, legal counsel in divorce litigation, and the myriad of tangential performers in New York State’s Family and Supreme Courts. Forensic psychologists and forensic accountants whose investigations and reports are, with alarming frequency, dismissed as unreliable, immaterial, and unenforceable; but only after their fees have been summed and paid are a good example of this phenomenon. This is not the “generating performance” that W. Bentley MacLeod had in mind; performance of the “job” fits the bill.
Acknowledging the work of the 1995 Committee to Examine Lawyer Conduct in Matrimonial Actions, the Matrimonial Commission in
February 2006 addressed the pervasive, persistent shortcomings in New York State’s Divorce Courts. The Commission urged for greater
accountability for professionalism and civility among members of the Bar practicing in these matrimonial parts. Adherence to promulgated
rules and zealous attention to client’s aims and interest is the touchstone for attorney performance whether it be for the child custody client or the litigating client spouse in a divorce action. The high stakes for the parent and spouse in these railroaded cases has been repeatedly addressed by various writers to The Westchester Guardian. ‘Deepest Heart’, Margarita Walter, Bill G., and Debra Weissman, tellingly depicted the lack of fairness, accountability, and transparency in the courtrooms at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Judges
and attorneys were named.
Transparency of a fair process is not meted behind the closed doors of “attorney-only conferences” of Bill G., “lack of credible evidence” in the case of Margarita Walter, the “case-fixing” of an Administrative Judge for Matrimonial Matters, Judge Jacqueline Silbermann, in the Debra Weissman divorce matter, and lack of judicial consistency in the custodial matter of ‘Deepest Heart’. Last time one looked, the transparency and accountability and productivity of this New York State Court’s judiciary was behind thick, slick, opaque and shut doors, not glass ones open to public scrutiny.
Pay judges and attorneys for doing their job? Sure! But only if, and when, “the job” is performed. So many are still waiting.
Name Withheld
In Our Opinion...
Justice Department Must Revisit Yonkers For Upcoming Mayor’s Race
Now that Phil Amicone, Mayor of Yonkers, has seen fit to pull Guilio Cavallo, as well as Nick Spano, and his mob, into City Government and the election process, one thing is certain; federal monitors and marshals will absolutely be needed to keep the outcome of the mayoral contest honest. There is no dispute regarding the shameful fact that Westchester’s county-wide, municipal, legislative, and judicial contests have frequently been fixed, altered, and/or otherwise defrauded over the past several years.
For example, in 2004, incumbent 35th District State Senator Nicholas Spano was actually defeated by then-County Legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins by some 350 votes. Nevertheless, the combined effort and conspiracy involving Appellate Division Judge Robert Spolzino,
Nassau Supreme Court Justice Warshawsky, DA Jeanine Pirro, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Election Commissioners Reggie LaFayette and Carolee Sunderland, the County Executive’s Office, particularly Larry Schwartz, and Nick Spano’s legal team of John Ciampoli, David Lewis, and admitted election fraudster Anthony Mangone, as well as three so called “good men” from the County Police Department (by no means the complete list), managed, over three months, to “wrestle” victory by 18 votes for Nicky from the jaws of defeat.
No reasonable observer of Andrea’s victory in 2006 can deny the importance the Justice Department’s presence and oversight played in bringing about that outcome. In 2005 the race for District Attorney between Tony Castro and Janet DiFiore produced, to be polite, very unusual voting patterns in several dozen election districts in Yonkers, not to mention a call from the Republican candidate, DiFiore, three days before the election, to have the machines impounded, a highly unusual and improper request, nevertheless granted by Chief Administrative Judge Francis Nicolai. Some three hundred machines from the City of Yonkers’ election districts were all stored in the usual warehouse facility on Saw Mill River Road in Yonkers, and “guarded” by Yonkers Police, a department that had endorsed DiFiore.
Castro’s first run for District Attorney, in 2001, against Jeanine Pirro, was the county-wide election, that complicit media for years thereafter would refer to as the “Non-Aggression Pact.” That race was flat-out fixed to return all of the incumbents - County Executive Andy Spano, DA Jeanine Pirro, and County Clerk, Len Spano - to office. The fix was arranged by Larry Schwartz, for Andy; David Hebert for Jeanine; and Nick Spano for his father Len.
Fallout from that charade continues to rain down on Westchester. Larry Horowitz, compelled recently to step down from his Supreme Court position for inappropriate conduct, in fact, was appointed to a County Court judgeship in 2002 from which to run for the Supremes,
in return for having agreed to be a “stand-in” Republican mannequin in the race for County Executive against Andy Spano.
In that same county-wide election, let us not forget Democrat Lisa Copeland, appointed City Clerk of Mount Vernon, who eagerly agreed to replace Bill Giacomo, who had been nominated by the County Democratic Committee to run for County Clerk against Len Spano. Larry Schwartz, mindful of his commitments to Jeanine Pirro and Len Spano, decided that a ticket of Andy Spano, Tony Castro, and Bill Giacomo, might just be too strong, and the Democrats could sweep. Naturally, putting up Lisa Copeland, a Black woman, virtually unknown throughout the County, and pulling down Bill Giacomo, was just the move that would assure the success of Schwartz’ diabolical election scheme. Interestingly, Giacomo was also promised a Supreme Court nomination for cooperating and accepting the embarrassment of removal, at the last minute, from the ticket. However, unlike the Horowitz Affair, for more than two years Larry Schwartz was not willing to honor his agreement, and, ultimately, it took the persistent efforts of Tony Castro, who virtually took him everywhere, to elect Giacomo.
Such has been the sordid tale of recent elections in Westchester, and particularly in the City of Yonkers. Given that history, We believe that the race for Mayor of Yonkers, pitting incumbent Republican Phil Amicone, and every undesirable political creature he can muster, against Independent Nader Sayegh, and Democrat Dennis Robertson, is a contest that will require the utmost attention of the Voters’ Rights Division of the Justice Department, and the provision of sufficient observers and enforcement personnel to protect the integrity of the outcome.
Mother Sympathizes with “Deepest Hearts”
Dear Editor:
With regard to “Deepest Pockets Win Over Deepest Hearts,” I have heard this to be very true of that particular judge and I have heard it to be true of “witch hunter” Theresa Malach. What can be done over such a misuse of justice? How can a mother who was left to raise her children lose to the very parent that abandoned them?
One would never think this could happen in today’s times. This has a flavor of Salem, Massachusetts, and burning at the stake. If this happened to her, it can happen to any other mother who has little funds to defend herself. Shame on you, Westchester. I hope there is someone who can help this mother. I can only offer my prayers and the hope that justice will be served.
Another Mother
Concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction
Dear Editor:
The “weapons of mass destruction” justification for invading Iraq is not only, as Polvere notes, “distortion, fiction, and…deceit.” It is also hypocritical. Yes, Saddam Hussein probably dreamed of having and supported work on developing weapons of mass destruction.
But was he the only bad dictator to be doing so? Was he the only ruler on unfriendly terms with the U.S. to do so? Was Iraq closer to achieving WMD than a lot of other countries? Are all countries whose governments dream of and work to achieve WMD dictatorships? Are all countries whose governments dream of and work to achieve WMD on unfriendly terms with the U.S.?
Which countries are closest to achieving WMD? If some are currently friendly with or compliant to the U.S., what are their prospects for staying so? Was not using the WMD pretext for invading Iraq applying a double standard?
Jeanette Wolfberg
Mount Kisco
Judges and Attorney’s Should Know Better
Dear Editor:
“The judiciary would be bringing a frivolous lawsuit if it takes political leaders to court to demand a raise for the state’s 1200 judges,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer in response to Chief Judge Judith Kaye’s strategy for securing bigger paychecks for New York’s judiciary. “Judges should know better than to sue for a raise.” Judge Kaye said she’ll also consider taking administrative action if the state comptroller and attorney general say she has the authority to do so.
Never mind that the Bench, having failed to rally enough support among members of the Bar, sought the clout of the business community to lobby the New York State Legislature for more compensation. New York City Corporation Counsel, Michael A. Cardozo, said judges and lawyers carry only so much clout in Albany on the pay issue because, “past a point, decision-makers can dismiss their concerns by saying, ‘Oh, they’re just looking out for their own.’ ”
The Albany-based Business Council of New York State, Inc., the corporate lobbying group at the state capital that best positions its economic issues stated, “ is is not an issue our members asked to make a priority.” What can a raise-hungry judiciary do?
Business corporations, like the legal/professional sector, have moved in the latter half of the twentieth century from pay raises based on New Deal-era-like protections for the workforce, to a performance-based pay, according to a recent report by W. Bentley MacLeod, an economics professor at Columbia University. As companies began using information technology to determine more accurately the contributions of individual employees and law firm partners and associates, employers and law firm executive committees began to “discriminate among employees and lawyers based on performance.
No longer are people with different abilities and capabilities paid the same amount for doing similar jobs. The fact is, more Americans are paid less on the basis of a job title and more on their individual output.” Greater management and technical skills proven in the corporate
marketplace like finer legal skills and ‘rainmaking generation’ in the law field yield greater earning power. Due to a shifting economic and political environment, even judges have to prove a competency and productivity on their job.
Control of the legal system is not free from judicial intervention as if the law itself were acting, unhampered and unburdened by strong-arm action of court governance; oversight of the process in New York State Courts has been labeled an “inappropriate intrusion” of the judiciary’s internal governance by former Administrative Judge, Jonathan Lippman. Judicial performance has indeed been productive, not in problem solving or administration of fair and expedient justice, but rather as a lucrative, case-churning machine for law guardians in custody matters, legal counsel in divorce litigation, and the myriad of tangential performers in New York State’s Family and Supreme Courts. Forensic psychologists and forensic accountants whose investigations and reports are, with alarming frequency, dismissed as unreliable, immaterial, and unenforceable; but only after their fees have been summed and paid are a good example of this phenomenon. This is not the “generating performance” that W. Bentley MacLeod had in mind; performance of the “job” fits the bill.
Acknowledging the work of the 1995 Committee to Examine Lawyer Conduct in Matrimonial Actions, the Matrimonial Commission in
February 2006 addressed the pervasive, persistent shortcomings in New York State’s Divorce Courts. The Commission urged for greater
accountability for professionalism and civility among members of the Bar practicing in these matrimonial parts. Adherence to promulgated
rules and zealous attention to client’s aims and interest is the touchstone for attorney performance whether it be for the child custody client or the litigating client spouse in a divorce action. The high stakes for the parent and spouse in these railroaded cases has been repeatedly addressed by various writers to The Westchester Guardian. ‘Deepest Heart’, Margarita Walter, Bill G., and Debra Weissman, tellingly depicted the lack of fairness, accountability, and transparency in the courtrooms at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Judges
and attorneys were named.
Transparency of a fair process is not meted behind the closed doors of “attorney-only conferences” of Bill G., “lack of credible evidence” in the case of Margarita Walter, the “case-fixing” of an Administrative Judge for Matrimonial Matters, Judge Jacqueline Silbermann, in the Debra Weissman divorce matter, and lack of judicial consistency in the custodial matter of ‘Deepest Heart’. Last time one looked, the transparency and accountability and productivity of this New York State Court’s judiciary was behind thick, slick, opaque and shut doors, not glass ones open to public scrutiny.
Pay judges and attorneys for doing their job? Sure! But only if, and when, “the job” is performed. So many are still waiting.
Name Withheld
In Our Opinion...
Justice Department Must Revisit Yonkers For Upcoming Mayor’s Race
Now that Phil Amicone, Mayor of Yonkers, has seen fit to pull Guilio Cavallo, as well as Nick Spano, and his mob, into City Government and the election process, one thing is certain; federal monitors and marshals will absolutely be needed to keep the outcome of the mayoral contest honest. There is no dispute regarding the shameful fact that Westchester’s county-wide, municipal, legislative, and judicial contests have frequently been fixed, altered, and/or otherwise defrauded over the past several years.
For example, in 2004, incumbent 35th District State Senator Nicholas Spano was actually defeated by then-County Legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins by some 350 votes. Nevertheless, the combined effort and conspiracy involving Appellate Division Judge Robert Spolzino,
Nassau Supreme Court Justice Warshawsky, DA Jeanine Pirro, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Election Commissioners Reggie LaFayette and Carolee Sunderland, the County Executive’s Office, particularly Larry Schwartz, and Nick Spano’s legal team of John Ciampoli, David Lewis, and admitted election fraudster Anthony Mangone, as well as three so called “good men” from the County Police Department (by no means the complete list), managed, over three months, to “wrestle” victory by 18 votes for Nicky from the jaws of defeat.
No reasonable observer of Andrea’s victory in 2006 can deny the importance the Justice Department’s presence and oversight played in bringing about that outcome. In 2005 the race for District Attorney between Tony Castro and Janet DiFiore produced, to be polite, very unusual voting patterns in several dozen election districts in Yonkers, not to mention a call from the Republican candidate, DiFiore, three days before the election, to have the machines impounded, a highly unusual and improper request, nevertheless granted by Chief Administrative Judge Francis Nicolai. Some three hundred machines from the City of Yonkers’ election districts were all stored in the usual warehouse facility on Saw Mill River Road in Yonkers, and “guarded” by Yonkers Police, a department that had endorsed DiFiore.
Castro’s first run for District Attorney, in 2001, against Jeanine Pirro, was the county-wide election, that complicit media for years thereafter would refer to as the “Non-Aggression Pact.” That race was flat-out fixed to return all of the incumbents - County Executive Andy Spano, DA Jeanine Pirro, and County Clerk, Len Spano - to office. The fix was arranged by Larry Schwartz, for Andy; David Hebert for Jeanine; and Nick Spano for his father Len.
Fallout from that charade continues to rain down on Westchester. Larry Horowitz, compelled recently to step down from his Supreme Court position for inappropriate conduct, in fact, was appointed to a County Court judgeship in 2002 from which to run for the Supremes,
in return for having agreed to be a “stand-in” Republican mannequin in the race for County Executive against Andy Spano.
In that same county-wide election, let us not forget Democrat Lisa Copeland, appointed City Clerk of Mount Vernon, who eagerly agreed to replace Bill Giacomo, who had been nominated by the County Democratic Committee to run for County Clerk against Len Spano. Larry Schwartz, mindful of his commitments to Jeanine Pirro and Len Spano, decided that a ticket of Andy Spano, Tony Castro, and Bill Giacomo, might just be too strong, and the Democrats could sweep. Naturally, putting up Lisa Copeland, a Black woman, virtually unknown throughout the County, and pulling down Bill Giacomo, was just the move that would assure the success of Schwartz’ diabolical election scheme. Interestingly, Giacomo was also promised a Supreme Court nomination for cooperating and accepting the embarrassment of removal, at the last minute, from the ticket. However, unlike the Horowitz Affair, for more than two years Larry Schwartz was not willing to honor his agreement, and, ultimately, it took the persistent efforts of Tony Castro, who virtually took him everywhere, to elect Giacomo.
Such has been the sordid tale of recent elections in Westchester, and particularly in the City of Yonkers. Given that history, We believe that the race for Mayor of Yonkers, pitting incumbent Republican Phil Amicone, and every undesirable political creature he can muster, against Independent Nader Sayegh, and Democrat Dennis Robertson, is a contest that will require the utmost attention of the Voters’ Rights Division of the Justice Department, and the provision of sufficient observers and enforcement personnel to protect the integrity of the outcome.
The Advocate
Richard Blassberg
Up-Coming Nominations For State Supreme Court: A Good Test Of Westchester County Republican Party’s Credibility
The resignation of Republican State Supreme Court Justice Larry Horowitz, under a cloud of judicial misconduct, within the last several
days, brings to three the number of Supreme Court Seats to be contested in the up-coming races in the Ninth Judicial District. That advent
now sets up an excellent opportunity for the Westchester Republican Committee to demonstrate that it is capable of being taken seriously
by separating itself from the corrupt nominating practices of the past that visited upon their constituents such inferior and undeserving jurists as Horowitz and Joseph Alessandro, both products of scandalous fixed election deals.
Particularly, given the ‘changing of the guard’, with the stepping down of Rosemarie Panio, the opportunity exists to breath integrity,
indeed, new life into the Republican Party by rejecting the ways of the past; the anointing of totally inappropriate and inexperienced
political hacks with judicial nominations. What good purpose, after all, was served when Larry Horowitz, having agreed to stand-in as
a Republican “faker” against Andy Spano for County Executive in 2001, was then rewarded with an appointment to the County Court so
that he might then run, with robes on, for State Supreme Court?
If Doug Colety is foolish enough to ignore the ever-increasing public outcry over rampant judicial misconduct, particularly in Westchester State Supreme Court-Matrimonial Part, not to mention ongoing federal scrutiny of the Criminal Part, and fails to propose candidates for nomination who possess both the experience and temperament to perform competently and fairly, his party will surely pay the price at
the polls.
Two of the seats that will be contested come from Rockland Judges William Sherwood, who has announced his intention to seek another four-teen year term, and Alfred Weiner who has reached the mandatory retirement age. The third seat, however, is the one vacated by Larry Horowitz. That seat offers the Westchester Republican Committee a wonderful opportunity to redeem itself by not nominating another politically-connected “Horror Show.” What is called for is a Republican County Court Judge with proven dedication, and experience; a jurist whose record and reputation the party can be proud of, and motivated to go out and work for. And, given the voter registration statistics in Westchester, what is needed is a proven campaigner, one who has demonstrated “cross-over appeal” to Democrats.
County Court, and Acting Supreme Court Justice Rory J. Bellantoni, fills the bill in every way. Having graduated from Fordham University
Suma Cum Laude, and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1991, Bellantoni went on to Fordham Law, graduating on the Dean’s List in 1995. He went
to work in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. And, from there he went on to become a Senior Assistant District Attorney in Rockland County.
In final preparation for his career as a jurist, he served as Law Clerk, and Court Attorney to the Hon. Sam Walker. Presently presiding
over the Westchester County Sex Offender Court, Bellantoni has served as County Court Judge presiding over the most serious felony
cases. Rounding out his experience, he served two years as an Acting Family Court Judge. The Westchester Bar Association found him “well qualified” to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.
Judge Rory J. Bellantoni is someone whose life’s ambition has always been to do exactly what he has been doing for the past several years. Nominating him for State Supreme Court will be a great service not only to the Republican Party of Westchester, but to the People of the Ninth Judicial District.
Richard Blassberg
Up-Coming Nominations For State Supreme Court: A Good Test Of Westchester County Republican Party’s Credibility
The resignation of Republican State Supreme Court Justice Larry Horowitz, under a cloud of judicial misconduct, within the last several
days, brings to three the number of Supreme Court Seats to be contested in the up-coming races in the Ninth Judicial District. That advent
now sets up an excellent opportunity for the Westchester Republican Committee to demonstrate that it is capable of being taken seriously
by separating itself from the corrupt nominating practices of the past that visited upon their constituents such inferior and undeserving jurists as Horowitz and Joseph Alessandro, both products of scandalous fixed election deals.
Particularly, given the ‘changing of the guard’, with the stepping down of Rosemarie Panio, the opportunity exists to breath integrity,
indeed, new life into the Republican Party by rejecting the ways of the past; the anointing of totally inappropriate and inexperienced
political hacks with judicial nominations. What good purpose, after all, was served when Larry Horowitz, having agreed to stand-in as
a Republican “faker” against Andy Spano for County Executive in 2001, was then rewarded with an appointment to the County Court so
that he might then run, with robes on, for State Supreme Court?
If Doug Colety is foolish enough to ignore the ever-increasing public outcry over rampant judicial misconduct, particularly in Westchester State Supreme Court-Matrimonial Part, not to mention ongoing federal scrutiny of the Criminal Part, and fails to propose candidates for nomination who possess both the experience and temperament to perform competently and fairly, his party will surely pay the price at
the polls.
Two of the seats that will be contested come from Rockland Judges William Sherwood, who has announced his intention to seek another four-teen year term, and Alfred Weiner who has reached the mandatory retirement age. The third seat, however, is the one vacated by Larry Horowitz. That seat offers the Westchester Republican Committee a wonderful opportunity to redeem itself by not nominating another politically-connected “Horror Show.” What is called for is a Republican County Court Judge with proven dedication, and experience; a jurist whose record and reputation the party can be proud of, and motivated to go out and work for. And, given the voter registration statistics in Westchester, what is needed is a proven campaigner, one who has demonstrated “cross-over appeal” to Democrats.
County Court, and Acting Supreme Court Justice Rory J. Bellantoni, fills the bill in every way. Having graduated from Fordham University
Suma Cum Laude, and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1991, Bellantoni went on to Fordham Law, graduating on the Dean’s List in 1995. He went
to work in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. And, from there he went on to become a Senior Assistant District Attorney in Rockland County.
In final preparation for his career as a jurist, he served as Law Clerk, and Court Attorney to the Hon. Sam Walker. Presently presiding
over the Westchester County Sex Offender Court, Bellantoni has served as County Court Judge presiding over the most serious felony
cases. Rounding out his experience, he served two years as an Acting Family Court Judge. The Westchester Bar Association found him “well qualified” to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.
Judge Rory J. Bellantoni is someone whose life’s ambition has always been to do exactly what he has been doing for the past several years. Nominating him for State Supreme Court will be a great service not only to the Republican Party of Westchester, but to the People of the Ninth Judicial District.
The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg
Riding High In February, Shot Down In November
United States Federal District Court, White Plains
Judge Stephen C. Robinson Presiding
Last Tuesday morning, June 26th, Defendant Terrence D. Chalk, 44, appeared in Federal District Court before Judge Stephen C. Robinson for what can best be described as a Status and Bail Reduction Hearing. Mr. Chalk, who was named “Businessperson Of The Year,” in February, 2006, and inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Westchester Business Council, was indicted, arrested, and thrown into jail by the United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Garcia, in November.
Chalk was charged, together with a nephew, Damon T. Chalk, free on bail, and also present in court, with Conspiracy to Influence Financial Institutions By Making False Statements On Applications For Loans, Lines Of Credit, and Credit Cards. He was also charged with Credit Card Fraud. Mr. Chalk, although a federal prisoner, has been locked up in the Westchester County Jail for some eight months, unable to make a bail bond set at $250,000, requiring two co-signers, and a cash bail of $10,000. Judge Robinson opened the hearing inquiring of Assistant United States Attorney Eugene Ingoglia, “Let me ask you what’s happening?” Ingoglia, who has been prosecuting the case from its inception, responded, “The Government has produced voluminous discovery. There is more than a million files on the hard-drive, forty-five thousand e-mails, thirty-five thousand other documents, and, four spread sheets. We’ve produced it and given it to Defense Counsel in its entirety.”
Turning to Defense Attorney Mayo Bartlett, Robinson asked, “Do you have a sense of how long it will take to get your arms around the
discovery material?”
Attorney Mayo responded, “In the form in which the material was given to us, it is as though it were in a locked safe.”
Called upon by the Judge, Mr. Eggar, the attorney for Damon Chalk responded, “We would echo Mr. Bartlett’s comments.”
Robinson then said, “I’m obviously willing to give the Defendants all of the time you will need.”
Questioned by Robinson as to the location of the hard-drive, Prosecutor Ingoglia responded, “The hard-drive is still with the computer. We
have made an image.”
The Judge then declared, “You have given the Defendants something that will require an expert who can access material on the hard-dive. It’s
not helpful to give the Defendants something they have no ability to access. It’s a hard kind of discovery.”
Then, responding to a request from Mr. Bartlett for specific assistance from the Government, Judge Robinson said, “The Government can help you, but they are not likely to do it for you.” Then proceeding, first to restate Bartlett’s locked vault analogy, he then asked the Defense Attorneys for a time frame, in order to establish a date for the next hearing. Having been offered “Two months,” Robinson set September 6th.
With the date established, Robinson then asked if there were any other matters requiring his attention. Mr. Bartlett, taking his cue, launched upon his objections to FBI Special Agent John Flanagan’s alleged inappropriate harassment of individuals who had offered to come forward as co-signers for his client Terrence Chalk, including Chalk’s own mother, and a Mr. Tom Clark, declaring, “He crossed the line from asking probative questions to attempting to dissuade Mr. Clark from being a co-signer.” Bartlett went on, “He asked Clark, “Have you spoken to Mr. Chalk’s wife?”
Bartlett went further to describe a phone call that was made by Agent Flanagan to discourage Mr. Chalk’s own mother from co-signing, and putting up cash for her son’s release. Prosecutor Ingoglia, quickly responded, “The phone call to Mr. Chalk’s mother was a rightful role of government.”
Bartlett and Robinson then engaged in a dialogue about the possibility of reducing the bail and/or co-signer obligation in order to facilitate
Terrence Chalk’s emergence from the County Jail, “in order to assist in his own defense.” As the requirements stood, his client needed to have two co-signers to cover a $250,000 bond, and was also required to post $10,000 in cash.
After trading ideas back and forth for a few minutes Robinson, attempting to be reasonable, and apparently recognizing how long Chalk
had already languished in jail, said, “Here’s what I’ll suggest, Mr. Bartlett. I’ll allow you to modify the $250,000 bond to $100,000, with two co-signers.”
Then he added, “By the time of our next hearing the Defendant will have spent almost one year in jail, so I will waive the next two months
from the “Speedy Trial” requirement.”
Analysis:
The Guardian has learned that Defendant Terrence Chalk, who, until his arrest by the FBI, had founded and was apparently successfully
operating Compulinx, a Westchester-based computer management firm, since 1990, is, in fact, the twin brother of Todd Chalk, an FBI agent who does not get along with him. The significance of that fact may become more apparent over time given what appears to be a concerted effort by both FBI agent John Flanagan, and the United States Attorney’s Office to keep Mr. Chalk incarcerated, and unavailable to counsel.
By Richard Blassberg
Riding High In February, Shot Down In November
United States Federal District Court, White Plains
Judge Stephen C. Robinson Presiding
Last Tuesday morning, June 26th, Defendant Terrence D. Chalk, 44, appeared in Federal District Court before Judge Stephen C. Robinson for what can best be described as a Status and Bail Reduction Hearing. Mr. Chalk, who was named “Businessperson Of The Year,” in February, 2006, and inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Westchester Business Council, was indicted, arrested, and thrown into jail by the United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Garcia, in November.
Chalk was charged, together with a nephew, Damon T. Chalk, free on bail, and also present in court, with Conspiracy to Influence Financial Institutions By Making False Statements On Applications For Loans, Lines Of Credit, and Credit Cards. He was also charged with Credit Card Fraud. Mr. Chalk, although a federal prisoner, has been locked up in the Westchester County Jail for some eight months, unable to make a bail bond set at $250,000, requiring two co-signers, and a cash bail of $10,000. Judge Robinson opened the hearing inquiring of Assistant United States Attorney Eugene Ingoglia, “Let me ask you what’s happening?” Ingoglia, who has been prosecuting the case from its inception, responded, “The Government has produced voluminous discovery. There is more than a million files on the hard-drive, forty-five thousand e-mails, thirty-five thousand other documents, and, four spread sheets. We’ve produced it and given it to Defense Counsel in its entirety.”
Turning to Defense Attorney Mayo Bartlett, Robinson asked, “Do you have a sense of how long it will take to get your arms around the
discovery material?”
Attorney Mayo responded, “In the form in which the material was given to us, it is as though it were in a locked safe.”
Called upon by the Judge, Mr. Eggar, the attorney for Damon Chalk responded, “We would echo Mr. Bartlett’s comments.”
Robinson then said, “I’m obviously willing to give the Defendants all of the time you will need.”
Questioned by Robinson as to the location of the hard-drive, Prosecutor Ingoglia responded, “The hard-drive is still with the computer. We
have made an image.”
The Judge then declared, “You have given the Defendants something that will require an expert who can access material on the hard-dive. It’s
not helpful to give the Defendants something they have no ability to access. It’s a hard kind of discovery.”
Then, responding to a request from Mr. Bartlett for specific assistance from the Government, Judge Robinson said, “The Government can help you, but they are not likely to do it for you.” Then proceeding, first to restate Bartlett’s locked vault analogy, he then asked the Defense Attorneys for a time frame, in order to establish a date for the next hearing. Having been offered “Two months,” Robinson set September 6th.
With the date established, Robinson then asked if there were any other matters requiring his attention. Mr. Bartlett, taking his cue, launched upon his objections to FBI Special Agent John Flanagan’s alleged inappropriate harassment of individuals who had offered to come forward as co-signers for his client Terrence Chalk, including Chalk’s own mother, and a Mr. Tom Clark, declaring, “He crossed the line from asking probative questions to attempting to dissuade Mr. Clark from being a co-signer.” Bartlett went on, “He asked Clark, “Have you spoken to Mr. Chalk’s wife?”
Bartlett went further to describe a phone call that was made by Agent Flanagan to discourage Mr. Chalk’s own mother from co-signing, and putting up cash for her son’s release. Prosecutor Ingoglia, quickly responded, “The phone call to Mr. Chalk’s mother was a rightful role of government.”
Bartlett and Robinson then engaged in a dialogue about the possibility of reducing the bail and/or co-signer obligation in order to facilitate
Terrence Chalk’s emergence from the County Jail, “in order to assist in his own defense.” As the requirements stood, his client needed to have two co-signers to cover a $250,000 bond, and was also required to post $10,000 in cash.
After trading ideas back and forth for a few minutes Robinson, attempting to be reasonable, and apparently recognizing how long Chalk
had already languished in jail, said, “Here’s what I’ll suggest, Mr. Bartlett. I’ll allow you to modify the $250,000 bond to $100,000, with two co-signers.”
Then he added, “By the time of our next hearing the Defendant will have spent almost one year in jail, so I will waive the next two months
from the “Speedy Trial” requirement.”
Analysis:
The Guardian has learned that Defendant Terrence Chalk, who, until his arrest by the FBI, had founded and was apparently successfully
operating Compulinx, a Westchester-based computer management firm, since 1990, is, in fact, the twin brother of Todd Chalk, an FBI agent who does not get along with him. The significance of that fact may become more apparent over time given what appears to be a concerted effort by both FBI agent John Flanagan, and the United States Attorney’s Office to keep Mr. Chalk incarcerated, and unavailable to counsel.
What Kind Of A Man Would Stoop To Claim Credit for Saving A Life He Didn’t Save?
A Man Who Would:
Take the endorsement of Nick Spano, a fallen, crooked politician, and create taxpayer-funded jobs for his mob;
Bring Giulio Cavallo, a political prostitute who sells cross endorsements for cash, into the election process;
Run on a party line whose chairman, Zehy Jereis, is an election fraudster and a convicted drug dealer.
Given the controversy surrounding Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone’s claim to have saved the life of a choking victim at Spiga, a restaurant
on Central Avenue in Scarsdale, a few weeks ago, The Guardian decided to conduct its own field investigation. Based upon accounts from individuals present at the incident, we have concluded that, other than shaking the victim’s hand, after the food matter, a chunk of chicken, was ejected from his mouth, Mr. Amicone had no other physical contact with him, no Heimlich maneuver, nor any other lifesaving intervention, actually performed by another man present.
Why the Mayor would seize upon the opportunity to falsely cloak himself with heroics is anybody’s guess. But, candidates for high public
office have been known to make false claims. Military bravery, scholastic achievement, both easily verifiable, have often been attempted
by desperate office seekers. One thing for certain, it doesn’t speak well for Phil Amicone’s character, especially in light of his betrayal of the
People of Yonkers, bringing the likes of Nick Spano’s hacks onto the public payroll, and doing business with slime like Cavallo and Jereis.
A Man Who Would:
Take the endorsement of Nick Spano, a fallen, crooked politician, and create taxpayer-funded jobs for his mob;
Bring Giulio Cavallo, a political prostitute who sells cross endorsements for cash, into the election process;
Run on a party line whose chairman, Zehy Jereis, is an election fraudster and a convicted drug dealer.
Given the controversy surrounding Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone’s claim to have saved the life of a choking victim at Spiga, a restaurant
on Central Avenue in Scarsdale, a few weeks ago, The Guardian decided to conduct its own field investigation. Based upon accounts from individuals present at the incident, we have concluded that, other than shaking the victim’s hand, after the food matter, a chunk of chicken, was ejected from his mouth, Mr. Amicone had no other physical contact with him, no Heimlich maneuver, nor any other lifesaving intervention, actually performed by another man present.
Why the Mayor would seize upon the opportunity to falsely cloak himself with heroics is anybody’s guess. But, candidates for high public
office have been known to make false claims. Military bravery, scholastic achievement, both easily verifiable, have often been attempted
by desperate office seekers. One thing for certain, it doesn’t speak well for Phil Amicone’s character, especially in light of his betrayal of the
People of Yonkers, bringing the likes of Nick Spano’s hacks onto the public payroll, and doing business with slime like Cavallo and Jereis.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
DNA Expansion Proposal Considered by State Assembly Had Provisions Inconsistent With Justice
Part 2
by Jeffrey Deskovic
Issues Which The Assembly Requested be Addressed
The Assembly wanted to know what the primary causes of wrongful convictions were. I weighed in on this subject. Because I have written
extensively in previous issues of The Guardian, I will not go overly in depth on these points, but instead will summarize:
(Note: All statistics utilized are in reference to DNA-based exonerations, and do not factor in exonerations achieved by other means, such
as discovery of suppressed evidence, and witness recantations, real perpetrators coming forward to confess.)
a) False confessions were responsible for 25% of the wrongful convictions as established by DNA. Videotaping interrogations, while not a cure-all, could help cut down the rate by providing an objective recount of who said, and did what, when, and in what context. This requirement would prevent police from leaving out details that they would rather the world did not know they engaged in, and it would
simultaneously protect police from false claims of coercion.
b) Misidentification caused 75% of all wrongful convictions.
c) Deficient Representation by Public Defenders. The skill level of those who represent the public as opposed to those that the rich can
afford, is like night and day. Additionally, even those who are not worn down and jaded by the system, have built-in handicaps, such as
an uneven economic playing field. Wherein the prosecution has an almost unlimited budget, the public defender has a very limited budget
and often must resort to asking for discretionary funding from a judge, the granting of which is risky. Another problem confronting legal aid
attorneys is the representation of too many cases at once. Stephani Bench, of the New York State Defenders Association, echoed the sentiment that the state of public defense is in shambles, and advocated for a centralized state-wide system which would lend itself to more oversight. As reinforcement, she referenced the Spangenberg Group’s Report, a study commissioned by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, whose findings were that the state of public defense in new York was, indeed, in shambles. Bench advocated for the centralization of public defense, wherein all public defense would be done on a state-wide basis, as part of one big organization, allowing for more oversight and review.
d) Incentivized Witnessing was involved in 25% of the wrongful convictions, wherein people are given a reward for testifying, sometimes
literally in the form of cash, “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of ” a perpetrator of a crime. And then there is the
incentive offered to those in a desperate legal position to make deals to have charges dropped against them or to receive a lighter sentence
for information. Such individuals, when lacking legitimate information, often resort to making up stories consistent with what prosecutors
are looking for.
The Assembly Committee persons asked whether the present procedures for the collection, cataloguing, and preservation of evidence
are sufficient. Alan Newton, who served 21 years for a rape he did not commit, weighed in on this subject, explaining clearly how the present
system is not sufficient, detailing the struggle he endured, in which for 12 of the 21 years he served, the police claimed that they could not
find the evidence, which, when located, proved through DNA that he had been innocent all along.
They asked whether the current compensation statute on the books was sufficient. I explained that it was deficient in two ways:
Firstly, that in order to receive compensation one must litigate, which is a process that takes between 2-7 years, and that the exonerated
are released with simply the clothes on their backs, and that the remedy for this would be to immediately award $15,000 for every year
of wrongful imprisoned in order to cover such basics as cost of housing, cost of living, mental health services, and educational pursuits, and
that this should be in addition to a lawsuit.
Secondly, there is bad case law on the books, which states that if one contributes to their own wrongful conviction, they are entitled to
nothing. For example, it will be the state’s claim that I contributed to my wrongful conviction by falsely confessing, whereas it is my position that I did not contribute because the confession was coerced and involuntary. In any event, it is absurd that anybody should have to overcome such an obstacle in receiving financial compensation, because the idea that someone will purposely get themselves arrested and wrongfully convicted, to then exonerate themselves to then be in a position to sue for compensation, is ridiculous.
Other Noteworthy Things
Discussed At The Hearing Prof. Ben Gershman recounted, both with nostalgia and wistfulness, a time gone by when he worked as a prosecutor, when a defendant was found not guilty, the District Attorney would call a meeting and want to know whether or not the office
had prosecuted an innocent man, because his office had no business prosecuting the innocent, and how far away the system had come from
that. After he said that, I sadly wished that this attitude had been the case in all jurisdictions, never to have fallen out of practice, and that it had been the case during all of the years in which I had fought to establish my innocence during my appeals process, and when I was requesting further DNA testing, with DA Jeanine Pirro fighting tooth and nail against me, which wound up costing me all of those years.
Prof. Gershman also advocated for a internal review program within the District Attorney’s of-fice itself, in which cases would be examined voluntarily, as something wholly apart from litigation, to ensure that only the guilty were in prison. I thought that this was a great idea, and would further shore up the idea that it is not the job of the prosecutor to do everything possible to win a conviction and then doggedly
fight to preserved it, no matter what, but instead to be a true seeker of truth as a court officer, dedicated to protecting the public, of whom
innocent defendants are a part.
Lonnie Soury, of Soury Com-munications, spoke at length of the corruption going on in the Marty Tankleff case, in which Marty is
currently serving a 50 year prison sentence based on a false confession obtained from him under circumstances very similar to mine. And,
how the discovery by a retired police detective, of 25 witnesses, all putting the puzzle together, proved who really committed the murder, as well as a host of improprieties by Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, such as previously representing people involved in the Tankleff murder while still prosecuting the case and representing the detective who was found by a commission of investigation to have perjured himself in a prior murder case; still has not proven to be enough for the prosecutor or the courts to either acknowledge that a wrongful conviction occurred or at the very least to grant Marty a new trial.
The topic of having an Office of Wrongful Convictions was also discussed. Its purpose would be to study wrongful convictions, determining
what went wrong, and what lessons might be learned in order to prevent reoccurrence. The discussion centered on whether it should be within the Governor’s cabinet or outside of it. One of the Assemblymen mentioned that the Governor would like it to be within his office. William Hellerstein gave the point of view that the office should be outside of the Governor’s office in order to keep the office objective and free from in-fluence. His point was that that since the Governor has a background of being a prosecutor and attorney general, an in-house office would lend itself to more access and inclination to prosecutors and police than to defense counsel, and that relationships and trust that naturally form over time could impact upon objectivity.
Scott Christianson, Ph.D, author of the book Innocent: Inside New York Wrongful Convictions, which is the only book dedicated specifically to the subject, includes some cases wherein the defendant was still incarcerated at the time but would go on to be cleared after
the book’s publication. He recounted how one of the problems with wrongful convictions and the difficulty of undoing them is the unwillingness of those in power to acknowledge when a miscarriage of justice had taken place. He mentioned how an unnamed official
once bragged about how, in their county, there was a 100% conviction rate, and that there were no wrongful convictions in New York.
All in all, I was pleased that everybody who spoke was against the one-year time limit for the bringing of 440.10 appeals, and that so many
people were concerned enough that they came. I was disappointed, however, that there was not similar universal support for the expansion of the DNA Databank. I had hoped for the expansion of the databank, and the adoption of other changes spoken of and long-championed by The Innocence Project.
I came away with the sense that the one-year time limit, changed on the hearing day to three years, would not pass because the assemblymen
and women realized the lack of wisdom inherent in such a law, and how it ignores the hard-learned lessons of history about such matters,
gleaned on the backs and sufferings of those who had been wrongly convicted and served lengthy prison sentences.
Part 2
by Jeffrey Deskovic
Issues Which The Assembly Requested be Addressed
The Assembly wanted to know what the primary causes of wrongful convictions were. I weighed in on this subject. Because I have written
extensively in previous issues of The Guardian, I will not go overly in depth on these points, but instead will summarize:
(Note: All statistics utilized are in reference to DNA-based exonerations, and do not factor in exonerations achieved by other means, such
as discovery of suppressed evidence, and witness recantations, real perpetrators coming forward to confess.)
a) False confessions were responsible for 25% of the wrongful convictions as established by DNA. Videotaping interrogations, while not a cure-all, could help cut down the rate by providing an objective recount of who said, and did what, when, and in what context. This requirement would prevent police from leaving out details that they would rather the world did not know they engaged in, and it would
simultaneously protect police from false claims of coercion.
b) Misidentification caused 75% of all wrongful convictions.
c) Deficient Representation by Public Defenders. The skill level of those who represent the public as opposed to those that the rich can
afford, is like night and day. Additionally, even those who are not worn down and jaded by the system, have built-in handicaps, such as
an uneven economic playing field. Wherein the prosecution has an almost unlimited budget, the public defender has a very limited budget
and often must resort to asking for discretionary funding from a judge, the granting of which is risky. Another problem confronting legal aid
attorneys is the representation of too many cases at once. Stephani Bench, of the New York State Defenders Association, echoed the sentiment that the state of public defense is in shambles, and advocated for a centralized state-wide system which would lend itself to more oversight. As reinforcement, she referenced the Spangenberg Group’s Report, a study commissioned by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, whose findings were that the state of public defense in new York was, indeed, in shambles. Bench advocated for the centralization of public defense, wherein all public defense would be done on a state-wide basis, as part of one big organization, allowing for more oversight and review.
d) Incentivized Witnessing was involved in 25% of the wrongful convictions, wherein people are given a reward for testifying, sometimes
literally in the form of cash, “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of ” a perpetrator of a crime. And then there is the
incentive offered to those in a desperate legal position to make deals to have charges dropped against them or to receive a lighter sentence
for information. Such individuals, when lacking legitimate information, often resort to making up stories consistent with what prosecutors
are looking for.
The Assembly Committee persons asked whether the present procedures for the collection, cataloguing, and preservation of evidence
are sufficient. Alan Newton, who served 21 years for a rape he did not commit, weighed in on this subject, explaining clearly how the present
system is not sufficient, detailing the struggle he endured, in which for 12 of the 21 years he served, the police claimed that they could not
find the evidence, which, when located, proved through DNA that he had been innocent all along.
They asked whether the current compensation statute on the books was sufficient. I explained that it was deficient in two ways:
Firstly, that in order to receive compensation one must litigate, which is a process that takes between 2-7 years, and that the exonerated
are released with simply the clothes on their backs, and that the remedy for this would be to immediately award $15,000 for every year
of wrongful imprisoned in order to cover such basics as cost of housing, cost of living, mental health services, and educational pursuits, and
that this should be in addition to a lawsuit.
Secondly, there is bad case law on the books, which states that if one contributes to their own wrongful conviction, they are entitled to
nothing. For example, it will be the state’s claim that I contributed to my wrongful conviction by falsely confessing, whereas it is my position that I did not contribute because the confession was coerced and involuntary. In any event, it is absurd that anybody should have to overcome such an obstacle in receiving financial compensation, because the idea that someone will purposely get themselves arrested and wrongfully convicted, to then exonerate themselves to then be in a position to sue for compensation, is ridiculous.
Other Noteworthy Things
Discussed At The Hearing Prof. Ben Gershman recounted, both with nostalgia and wistfulness, a time gone by when he worked as a prosecutor, when a defendant was found not guilty, the District Attorney would call a meeting and want to know whether or not the office
had prosecuted an innocent man, because his office had no business prosecuting the innocent, and how far away the system had come from
that. After he said that, I sadly wished that this attitude had been the case in all jurisdictions, never to have fallen out of practice, and that it had been the case during all of the years in which I had fought to establish my innocence during my appeals process, and when I was requesting further DNA testing, with DA Jeanine Pirro fighting tooth and nail against me, which wound up costing me all of those years.
Prof. Gershman also advocated for a internal review program within the District Attorney’s of-fice itself, in which cases would be examined voluntarily, as something wholly apart from litigation, to ensure that only the guilty were in prison. I thought that this was a great idea, and would further shore up the idea that it is not the job of the prosecutor to do everything possible to win a conviction and then doggedly
fight to preserved it, no matter what, but instead to be a true seeker of truth as a court officer, dedicated to protecting the public, of whom
innocent defendants are a part.
Lonnie Soury, of Soury Com-munications, spoke at length of the corruption going on in the Marty Tankleff case, in which Marty is
currently serving a 50 year prison sentence based on a false confession obtained from him under circumstances very similar to mine. And,
how the discovery by a retired police detective, of 25 witnesses, all putting the puzzle together, proved who really committed the murder, as well as a host of improprieties by Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, such as previously representing people involved in the Tankleff murder while still prosecuting the case and representing the detective who was found by a commission of investigation to have perjured himself in a prior murder case; still has not proven to be enough for the prosecutor or the courts to either acknowledge that a wrongful conviction occurred or at the very least to grant Marty a new trial.
The topic of having an Office of Wrongful Convictions was also discussed. Its purpose would be to study wrongful convictions, determining
what went wrong, and what lessons might be learned in order to prevent reoccurrence. The discussion centered on whether it should be within the Governor’s cabinet or outside of it. One of the Assemblymen mentioned that the Governor would like it to be within his office. William Hellerstein gave the point of view that the office should be outside of the Governor’s office in order to keep the office objective and free from in-fluence. His point was that that since the Governor has a background of being a prosecutor and attorney general, an in-house office would lend itself to more access and inclination to prosecutors and police than to defense counsel, and that relationships and trust that naturally form over time could impact upon objectivity.
Scott Christianson, Ph.D, author of the book Innocent: Inside New York Wrongful Convictions, which is the only book dedicated specifically to the subject, includes some cases wherein the defendant was still incarcerated at the time but would go on to be cleared after
the book’s publication. He recounted how one of the problems with wrongful convictions and the difficulty of undoing them is the unwillingness of those in power to acknowledge when a miscarriage of justice had taken place. He mentioned how an unnamed official
once bragged about how, in their county, there was a 100% conviction rate, and that there were no wrongful convictions in New York.
All in all, I was pleased that everybody who spoke was against the one-year time limit for the bringing of 440.10 appeals, and that so many
people were concerned enough that they came. I was disappointed, however, that there was not similar universal support for the expansion of the DNA Databank. I had hoped for the expansion of the databank, and the adoption of other changes spoken of and long-championed by The Innocence Project.
I came away with the sense that the one-year time limit, changed on the hearing day to three years, would not pass because the assemblymen
and women realized the lack of wisdom inherent in such a law, and how it ignores the hard-learned lessons of history about such matters,
gleaned on the backs and sufferings of those who had been wrongly convicted and served lengthy prison sentences.
Our Readers Respond...
A Father’s Desperate Plight
Dear Editor:
I’m a parent of two young daughters, 6 and 8, one of whom is in the first grade. Their mother and I are divorced, and she has remarried and
has been granted residential custody. I recently received the following note from my daughter’s first grade teacher:
“Right now I am just trying to get her to stay ‘in this world’ without aliens, nightmares etc. Children are shying away again and she’s not in
a good place. That’s just my thought. If something changes, I’ll let you know.”What would you do if a teacher with over 20 years experience wrote this to you about your child?
What if you were powerless to help your child or the teacher? If the school sent notes home to you saying that your 6-year-old
child was spitting at, and hitting children on the school bus, what would you do?
If you received notice that there was an attempted abduction of your child from a school gym by a man in a black ski mask and your child
struggled to break free, what would you do? If your 6-year-old child came home and said that two first grade boys threatened to cut her throat with a razor blade the following day at recess, what would you do?
If you learned that your ex-spouse and her partner began hitting your child when she was 3 years old child with a wooden spoon as punishment for not coming to the dinner table on time, what would you do? Would you call CPS (Child Protective Services), go to court, call the police? What would you do if your child was subjected to over 20 interviews between the ages of 4 and 6 by just about every agency imaginable, DSS, CPS, doctors, forensic doctors, nurses, detectives, state troopers? Would you put your child into therapy? What if I were to tell you that I had four charges lodged against me by my ex-spouse, all of which were determined to be unfounded?
If you would like the answers to these questions you’ll have to ask the following people in the Westchester Court System: Ken Bunting, James Montagnino, Judge Edlitz, Judge Donovan, Gregory Salant, Rhona Bork, John Ruti, John Rubin, Judge Ratner, Judge Cooney, Judge Leibowitz, Sal Lagonia, Joan Iacono, Harriet Weinberger and others.
For four years my children and I have endured absolute horror at the hands of the Westchester Supreme Court - Matrimonial Part. I have
sat in court and endured Law Guardian Ken Bunting and former Referee James Montagnino making jokes about my children being hit. I have
been coerced, manipulated, and abused. I have watched witness tampering, forgery of court-subpoenaed documents. I have been denied counsel and forced into bankruptcy. I am on the verge of losing my home, the marital home. This is the home my children were born into.
I have spent two years trying to get my children back into therapy that was ordered by the Supreme Court. The accuser, their mother, refuses to bring my children to the therapist. After retaining yet another lawyer, John Rubin, at a cost of over $7,500 merely to fend off more absurd allegations by my ex-spouse, I once again tried to secure therapy for my children before Family Court Judge Edlitz. As a result, another “attorney-only conference” was held and another ludicrous decision with regard to my children’s welfare was generated.
Bill G.
More Kudos
Dear Editor:
Keep up the good work! Joe Pulitzer’s climbing out of the grave and coming over with a prize for the publication’s outstanding value as reporting Justice and its lack thereof.
Richard Gosselin, Jackson Heights
Editor’s Note: Thank you!
The Battle of Mount Vernon
Dear Editor:
Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! That’s all you get from corrupt Ernie Davis and cronies like Joan K. Battle who wrote the latter in the June 14 edition. Hey, Battle, if Ernie Davis isn’t corrupt why is the U.S. District Attorney and the FBI investigating him for taking federal money? Answer that.
Oh, I’m sure you go along with Davis’ excuse that the U.S. District Attorney and the FBI are conducting a political witchhunt. The investigation is the best thing the federal government can do for the people of Mount Vernon to clean out all of the corrupt politicians who enslave and oppress the people with high taxes, high crime, dirty streets, poor schools, no future for the youth. They grab everything for themselves, their families, their cronies – cronyism and nepotism is rampant.
This Battle person said she was an Assistant Property Manager for Levister Towers. I bet she had no experience. She probably got this as a no-show job because she was politically connected to Davis and Serapher Con Halevi. What a disgrace that the poor residents of Levister Towers had to pay high rents for her no-show salary. Her payback? Write a letter for Davis and Con Halevi. No more excuses. They all need to be in handcuffs.
Concerned Resident, Mount Vernon
Reader Responds to Judge Lange’s Column
Dear Editor:
Your paper has been a much-needed breath of fresh air ever since the first issue. I enjoy your features, including the informative articles by retired Judge Kenneth Lange.
But in his otherwise fascinating coverage of the September 21, 1938 hurricane, he states incorrectly that “Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia” on September 22nd. It’s true that most people’s attention was distracted from the hurricane by the threat of a new war in Europe, but September 22nd is significant only because the Munich conference began on that date. It ran for a week, and ended with Britain and France (Czechoslovakia wasn’t even represented!) giving in to Hitler’s threats and recognizing Germany’s “right” to annex Czechoslovakia’s mostly
German-speaking Sudeten border area.
In effect, Czechoslovakia was abandoned, and had to agree to Germany’s occupation of the Sudetenland, which took place on October 1st without armed resistance. By March 15, 1939, Czechoslovakia--- already gravely weakened by the loss of the Sudetenland, the Munich pact’s requirement that she demobilize most of her armed forces, and the desertion of her main allies, Britain and France---was helpless to resist Hitler’s demand that she allow Germany to “protectively” occupy her two western provinces, Bohemia and Moravia.
That occupation took place on March 15th, again with no armed resistance. So I don’t think it can be said that Hitler ever invaded
Czechoslovakia, and in any case not on September 22, 1938.
Al Raymond,
Croton on-Hudson
In Our Opinion...
Anybody Seen George Pataki Lately?
We haven’t heard anything lately from George Pataki. Wasn’t he running for President? We seem to recall an exploratory committee and fundraising effort headquartered in Virginia. And, didn’t he open an office, with great fanfare, in downtown Peekskill sometime back in December? A check with the phone company revealed no number at either location. A Yale graduate, with a law degree from Columbia, George seemed to offer such promise when he moved into the Governor’s Mansion, having defeated three-term Governor Mario Cuomo. He entered with the promise that, unlike Mario, he would only serve two terms. It would be eight years before the People of New York would discover how hollow that commitment was. But, there were harbingers very early on that his performance would fall far short of his rhetoric.
That’s not to suggest that he didn’t keep any of his promises. He brought back the Death Penalty as promised, and eliminated vocational and college education in the penal system. However, he did parole some inmates early; those whose father’s contributed five million dollars. He balanced his budget, as promised, albeit on the backs of the physically and mentally disabled and the elderly infirm. After all, he needed to make cuts somewhere, didn’t he?
In 2002, after he had been governor for two terms, Andrew Cuomo decided to run against him, even though Carl McCall was the Democratic Party’s favorite. Cuomo, taking some bad advice from his campaign director Josh Isay, attacked Pataki for how little he had done in response to the World Trade Center disaster, characterizing the Governor as having, “held Giuliani’s coat.” Perhaps Andy might of fared better had he, instead of pointing to what Pataki hadn’t done, pointed to all the wrong he had done.
George Pataki distinguished himself amongst governors of New York State, by bringing a new dimension -well, maybe not an entirely new dimension - to state government, but clearly, a lot more of it: Corruption. From Day One George made no secret about the kinds of characters he would be appointing to high state office, and giving sweet deals to. For five years, until he was convicted of massive tax fraud in Federal Court, in June 2000; Al Pirro was repeatedly referred to, by Pataki, as his “best friend and fundraiser.”
Pirro, in his capacity as a lobbyist, walked away with numerous sweetheart deals for himself and his clients, as did many other Pataki insiders. At the same time, Pataki had a penchant for appointing some of the most criminal, and scandalous individuals, many of them Peekskill cronies, such as Robert Boyle who, together with Al Pirro, had ripped of the Hudson Valley Hospital Center, and who was forced from office in disgrace over the Javits Center Scandal while he was Chairman of the Port Authority.
Then there was Jack Gaffney, former Supervisor of the Town of Cortlandt, and father-inlaw of Kieran Mahoney, Pataki’s campaign director. Gaffney, appointed to a $138,000- a-year position as Chairman of the State Bridge Authority, first investigated by the State Inspector General, was ultimately indicted and prosecuted, and forced from office by Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams, for some $188,000 in over-charges, charges for personal travel, and false charges for compensatory time.
As time went on the rampant corruption, and blatant failures of the Pataki Administration; the World Trade Center paralysis, the starved up-state economy, the inability to pass a budget on time, and run-away taxes, highest in the nation, came to be viewed as the Pataki Legacy by most New Yorkers. The notion that he could seriously suggest he was seeking higher office, the Presidency, seemed ludicrous, even more so than his ‘comb-over.’ Nevertheless, there were numerous trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, states with early presidential primaries, to “test the waters.”
All that presidential campaign talk has somehow faded to silence. Nobody has seen, much less heard from, George Elmer Pataki in months. Maybe, just maybe, his pollsters discovered that the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, and elsewhere decided that, if elected President, he might do for them what he did for New York.
A Father’s Desperate Plight
Dear Editor:
I’m a parent of two young daughters, 6 and 8, one of whom is in the first grade. Their mother and I are divorced, and she has remarried and
has been granted residential custody. I recently received the following note from my daughter’s first grade teacher:
“Right now I am just trying to get her to stay ‘in this world’ without aliens, nightmares etc. Children are shying away again and she’s not in
a good place. That’s just my thought. If something changes, I’ll let you know.”What would you do if a teacher with over 20 years experience wrote this to you about your child?
What if you were powerless to help your child or the teacher? If the school sent notes home to you saying that your 6-year-old
child was spitting at, and hitting children on the school bus, what would you do?
If you received notice that there was an attempted abduction of your child from a school gym by a man in a black ski mask and your child
struggled to break free, what would you do? If your 6-year-old child came home and said that two first grade boys threatened to cut her throat with a razor blade the following day at recess, what would you do?
If you learned that your ex-spouse and her partner began hitting your child when she was 3 years old child with a wooden spoon as punishment for not coming to the dinner table on time, what would you do? Would you call CPS (Child Protective Services), go to court, call the police? What would you do if your child was subjected to over 20 interviews between the ages of 4 and 6 by just about every agency imaginable, DSS, CPS, doctors, forensic doctors, nurses, detectives, state troopers? Would you put your child into therapy? What if I were to tell you that I had four charges lodged against me by my ex-spouse, all of which were determined to be unfounded?
If you would like the answers to these questions you’ll have to ask the following people in the Westchester Court System: Ken Bunting, James Montagnino, Judge Edlitz, Judge Donovan, Gregory Salant, Rhona Bork, John Ruti, John Rubin, Judge Ratner, Judge Cooney, Judge Leibowitz, Sal Lagonia, Joan Iacono, Harriet Weinberger and others.
For four years my children and I have endured absolute horror at the hands of the Westchester Supreme Court - Matrimonial Part. I have
sat in court and endured Law Guardian Ken Bunting and former Referee James Montagnino making jokes about my children being hit. I have
been coerced, manipulated, and abused. I have watched witness tampering, forgery of court-subpoenaed documents. I have been denied counsel and forced into bankruptcy. I am on the verge of losing my home, the marital home. This is the home my children were born into.
I have spent two years trying to get my children back into therapy that was ordered by the Supreme Court. The accuser, their mother, refuses to bring my children to the therapist. After retaining yet another lawyer, John Rubin, at a cost of over $7,500 merely to fend off more absurd allegations by my ex-spouse, I once again tried to secure therapy for my children before Family Court Judge Edlitz. As a result, another “attorney-only conference” was held and another ludicrous decision with regard to my children’s welfare was generated.
Bill G.
More Kudos
Dear Editor:
Keep up the good work! Joe Pulitzer’s climbing out of the grave and coming over with a prize for the publication’s outstanding value as reporting Justice and its lack thereof.
Richard Gosselin, Jackson Heights
Editor’s Note: Thank you!
The Battle of Mount Vernon
Dear Editor:
Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! That’s all you get from corrupt Ernie Davis and cronies like Joan K. Battle who wrote the latter in the June 14 edition. Hey, Battle, if Ernie Davis isn’t corrupt why is the U.S. District Attorney and the FBI investigating him for taking federal money? Answer that.
Oh, I’m sure you go along with Davis’ excuse that the U.S. District Attorney and the FBI are conducting a political witchhunt. The investigation is the best thing the federal government can do for the people of Mount Vernon to clean out all of the corrupt politicians who enslave and oppress the people with high taxes, high crime, dirty streets, poor schools, no future for the youth. They grab everything for themselves, their families, their cronies – cronyism and nepotism is rampant.
This Battle person said she was an Assistant Property Manager for Levister Towers. I bet she had no experience. She probably got this as a no-show job because she was politically connected to Davis and Serapher Con Halevi. What a disgrace that the poor residents of Levister Towers had to pay high rents for her no-show salary. Her payback? Write a letter for Davis and Con Halevi. No more excuses. They all need to be in handcuffs.
Concerned Resident, Mount Vernon
Reader Responds to Judge Lange’s Column
Dear Editor:
Your paper has been a much-needed breath of fresh air ever since the first issue. I enjoy your features, including the informative articles by retired Judge Kenneth Lange.
But in his otherwise fascinating coverage of the September 21, 1938 hurricane, he states incorrectly that “Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia” on September 22nd. It’s true that most people’s attention was distracted from the hurricane by the threat of a new war in Europe, but September 22nd is significant only because the Munich conference began on that date. It ran for a week, and ended with Britain and France (Czechoslovakia wasn’t even represented!) giving in to Hitler’s threats and recognizing Germany’s “right” to annex Czechoslovakia’s mostly
German-speaking Sudeten border area.
In effect, Czechoslovakia was abandoned, and had to agree to Germany’s occupation of the Sudetenland, which took place on October 1st without armed resistance. By March 15, 1939, Czechoslovakia--- already gravely weakened by the loss of the Sudetenland, the Munich pact’s requirement that she demobilize most of her armed forces, and the desertion of her main allies, Britain and France---was helpless to resist Hitler’s demand that she allow Germany to “protectively” occupy her two western provinces, Bohemia and Moravia.
That occupation took place on March 15th, again with no armed resistance. So I don’t think it can be said that Hitler ever invaded
Czechoslovakia, and in any case not on September 22, 1938.
Al Raymond,
Croton on-Hudson
In Our Opinion...
Anybody Seen George Pataki Lately?
We haven’t heard anything lately from George Pataki. Wasn’t he running for President? We seem to recall an exploratory committee and fundraising effort headquartered in Virginia. And, didn’t he open an office, with great fanfare, in downtown Peekskill sometime back in December? A check with the phone company revealed no number at either location. A Yale graduate, with a law degree from Columbia, George seemed to offer such promise when he moved into the Governor’s Mansion, having defeated three-term Governor Mario Cuomo. He entered with the promise that, unlike Mario, he would only serve two terms. It would be eight years before the People of New York would discover how hollow that commitment was. But, there were harbingers very early on that his performance would fall far short of his rhetoric.
That’s not to suggest that he didn’t keep any of his promises. He brought back the Death Penalty as promised, and eliminated vocational and college education in the penal system. However, he did parole some inmates early; those whose father’s contributed five million dollars. He balanced his budget, as promised, albeit on the backs of the physically and mentally disabled and the elderly infirm. After all, he needed to make cuts somewhere, didn’t he?
In 2002, after he had been governor for two terms, Andrew Cuomo decided to run against him, even though Carl McCall was the Democratic Party’s favorite. Cuomo, taking some bad advice from his campaign director Josh Isay, attacked Pataki for how little he had done in response to the World Trade Center disaster, characterizing the Governor as having, “held Giuliani’s coat.” Perhaps Andy might of fared better had he, instead of pointing to what Pataki hadn’t done, pointed to all the wrong he had done.
George Pataki distinguished himself amongst governors of New York State, by bringing a new dimension -well, maybe not an entirely new dimension - to state government, but clearly, a lot more of it: Corruption. From Day One George made no secret about the kinds of characters he would be appointing to high state office, and giving sweet deals to. For five years, until he was convicted of massive tax fraud in Federal Court, in June 2000; Al Pirro was repeatedly referred to, by Pataki, as his “best friend and fundraiser.”
Pirro, in his capacity as a lobbyist, walked away with numerous sweetheart deals for himself and his clients, as did many other Pataki insiders. At the same time, Pataki had a penchant for appointing some of the most criminal, and scandalous individuals, many of them Peekskill cronies, such as Robert Boyle who, together with Al Pirro, had ripped of the Hudson Valley Hospital Center, and who was forced from office in disgrace over the Javits Center Scandal while he was Chairman of the Port Authority.
Then there was Jack Gaffney, former Supervisor of the Town of Cortlandt, and father-inlaw of Kieran Mahoney, Pataki’s campaign director. Gaffney, appointed to a $138,000- a-year position as Chairman of the State Bridge Authority, first investigated by the State Inspector General, was ultimately indicted and prosecuted, and forced from office by Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams, for some $188,000 in over-charges, charges for personal travel, and false charges for compensatory time.
As time went on the rampant corruption, and blatant failures of the Pataki Administration; the World Trade Center paralysis, the starved up-state economy, the inability to pass a budget on time, and run-away taxes, highest in the nation, came to be viewed as the Pataki Legacy by most New Yorkers. The notion that he could seriously suggest he was seeking higher office, the Presidency, seemed ludicrous, even more so than his ‘comb-over.’ Nevertheless, there were numerous trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, states with early presidential primaries, to “test the waters.”
All that presidential campaign talk has somehow faded to silence. Nobody has seen, much less heard from, George Elmer Pataki in months. Maybe, just maybe, his pollsters discovered that the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, and elsewhere decided that, if elected President, he might do for them what he did for New York.
Janet Difiore.
The Advocate
Richard Blassberg
Pirro-Gate: No One Is Above The Law
As with another power-hungry wrongdoer, who severely abused the authority entrusted by those who elected him, Richard Nixon, tape recording her own misconduct, and that of her co-conspirators, may very well contribute to the ultimate complete exposure and successful prosecution of Jeanine Pirro. And, more importantly, may provide new evidence helpful in the exoneration of numerous victims of her extreme prosecutorial misconduct, and that of many of her assistant DAs, as well as others under her control, operating under the color of law.
The continued existence of tapes that Pirro had ordered destroyed by one of her investigators, was brought to light only recently in connection with the Anthony DiSimone case. DiSimone, who was released from Greenhaven State Prison a few months ago by the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals, on a habeas corpus petition, had compelled District Attorney Janet DiFiore to reveal the existence of 376 pages, and 52 boxes of exhibits, all Brady material, exculpatory evidence, clearly pointing to the fact, from the outset, that DiSimone
was not the murderer of Louis Balancio. DA DiFiore was also compelled to reveal to his defense attorneys that there was even “more Brady
material,” a box filled with secretly recorded tapes that, amongst other things, contained conversations between Pirro, her top level deputies Clement Patti, and Steven Bender, in telephone communication with a top level Assistant United States Attorney, with regard to the Balancio murder and prosecution.
It was no coincidence that at least one of those taped conversations occurred on December 18, 1997. In fact, in December of 1997 then-United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mary Jo White, cleverly “leaked” to Al and Jeanine Pirro the fact that they were both under investigation by her office for a massive, joint, ten-year tax fraud scheme. Whether it was merely a precautionary move, in light of the tip, or more likely, an affirmative attempt to entangle White’s Office in her prosecutorial misconduct, for possible later use as a bargaining tool in dealing with the federal prosecution she feared she and Al might soon face, the recently re-elected Westchester DA
wasn’t letting any control opportunity pass her by.
Not unlike Richard Nixon, who had won his second term by a landslide against George Mc Govern, Pirro, in December, 1997, had just been re-elected to a second term by a two-to-one plurality, albeit, in a fixed race. She was entering her fifth year as DA, at the top of her game, the center of the cabal in total control of Westchester, having already sent numerous innocent indi-viduals to prison for crimes that she knew very well they had not committed, including Police Officer Richard DiGuglielmo, convicted only weeks earlier for Depraved Indifference Murder, having saved his middle-aged father’s life from a bat-wielding violent assailant with a long criminal record. Emboldened by her conviction of Officer DiGuglielmo as the result of extreme prosecutorial misconduct, she was now convinced that she could not only
“indict a ham sandwich,” but also convict it. Constitutional rights, the Rule of Law, to Pirro, were mere technicalities. Even a confession from the actual killer of Louis Balancio, six days after his brutal stabbing by Albanian youth, Nick Djonovic, in February of 1994, wouldn’t stop her from inventing a scenario more politically useful, to prosecute an Italian, preferably someone, somehow, connected to Organized Crime.
She would not be deterred from her evil mission, not even by more than two dozen witnesses, young men and women who were present inside and outside the bar, the murder scene, who refused to lie for her. She would send many of them to prison on trumped-up charges, as she pursued that someone, amongst the crowd, having been involved in the rumble on the sidewalk outside the “bucket of blood” - the Strike Zone Bar - in the Tanglewood Shopping Center, Central Avenue, Yonkers. One way or another Jeanine Pirro was out to establish that she could prosecute Organized Crime. And, the fact that the Assistant United States Attorney she was tape recording was telling her, and two of her top deputies, that there was significant evidence that Balancio was murdered by Nick Djonovic, who had escaped to Albania, was not going to alter her plans.
We know there are many tapes, and that not all that was recorded by Pirro necessarily involved criminal investigations. Several current, and former, public office holders, including many judges, as well as political operatives such as Giulio Cavallo, Larry Schwartz, Anthony Mangone, and numerous other co-conspirators had routine telephone access to her. They are now experiencing high anxiety knowing that they were taped, and that those tapes have fallen into the hands of federal investigators.
The Feds have good reason to be very upset with former DA Pirro. After all, she swindled the FBI into putting Nick and Darren Mazzarella, two multiple murderers, who were in federal custody, into the Witness Protection Program in exchange for Darren’s perjured testimony against Anthony DiSimone. Hopefully, they will diligently investigate not only her transgressions against them, but also her horrific prosecutorial misconduct against scores of innocent individuals, conduct, compared to which Michael Nifong was a “choirboy.”
It is understandable that Pirro has very likely already been indicted by sealed indictment, and that the Government is in no particular rush to reveal their hand to other possible targets by unsealing it. Still, for those who languish in prison cells, convicted of crimes they did not commit, and for those who have already done their ‘hard time’ and emerged, the announcement of Mrs. Pirro’s indictment cannot come soon enough. They know that 376 pages, and 52 boxes, of withheld and concealed Brady material was not the exception under DA Pirro, but the rule. Pirro and many of her top assistants, much like Nixon, Haldeman, Erlichman, and crew, simply did not play by the rules.
Given the existence of the Pirro tapes; numerous tapes; in the interest of Justice, the United States Attorney’s Office has a clear obligation to turn copies of them over to defense counsel whose clients are engaged in the appeals process, as relevant discovery, if called upon to do so. It is fair to say that Michael Garcia had no idea as to the scope and depth of the corruption and the injustice that would emerge in response to his ‘tip line,’ 1-877-363-4723. However, having secured additional staff, Mr. Garcia, must now proceed full throttle to aggressively apprehend and prosecute all who have committed crime, and, particularly those who have violated the civil rights of innocent individuals
under the color of law.
Jeanine Pirro, and her henchmen, and co-conspirators, must come to understand what Richard Nixon and his pack learned more than thirty years ago. No one is above the law!
Richard Blassberg
Pirro-Gate: No One Is Above The Law
As with another power-hungry wrongdoer, who severely abused the authority entrusted by those who elected him, Richard Nixon, tape recording her own misconduct, and that of her co-conspirators, may very well contribute to the ultimate complete exposure and successful prosecution of Jeanine Pirro. And, more importantly, may provide new evidence helpful in the exoneration of numerous victims of her extreme prosecutorial misconduct, and that of many of her assistant DAs, as well as others under her control, operating under the color of law.
The continued existence of tapes that Pirro had ordered destroyed by one of her investigators, was brought to light only recently in connection with the Anthony DiSimone case. DiSimone, who was released from Greenhaven State Prison a few months ago by the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals, on a habeas corpus petition, had compelled District Attorney Janet DiFiore to reveal the existence of 376 pages, and 52 boxes of exhibits, all Brady material, exculpatory evidence, clearly pointing to the fact, from the outset, that DiSimone
was not the murderer of Louis Balancio. DA DiFiore was also compelled to reveal to his defense attorneys that there was even “more Brady
material,” a box filled with secretly recorded tapes that, amongst other things, contained conversations between Pirro, her top level deputies Clement Patti, and Steven Bender, in telephone communication with a top level Assistant United States Attorney, with regard to the Balancio murder and prosecution.
It was no coincidence that at least one of those taped conversations occurred on December 18, 1997. In fact, in December of 1997 then-United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mary Jo White, cleverly “leaked” to Al and Jeanine Pirro the fact that they were both under investigation by her office for a massive, joint, ten-year tax fraud scheme. Whether it was merely a precautionary move, in light of the tip, or more likely, an affirmative attempt to entangle White’s Office in her prosecutorial misconduct, for possible later use as a bargaining tool in dealing with the federal prosecution she feared she and Al might soon face, the recently re-elected Westchester DA
wasn’t letting any control opportunity pass her by.
Not unlike Richard Nixon, who had won his second term by a landslide against George Mc Govern, Pirro, in December, 1997, had just been re-elected to a second term by a two-to-one plurality, albeit, in a fixed race. She was entering her fifth year as DA, at the top of her game, the center of the cabal in total control of Westchester, having already sent numerous innocent indi-viduals to prison for crimes that she knew very well they had not committed, including Police Officer Richard DiGuglielmo, convicted only weeks earlier for Depraved Indifference Murder, having saved his middle-aged father’s life from a bat-wielding violent assailant with a long criminal record. Emboldened by her conviction of Officer DiGuglielmo as the result of extreme prosecutorial misconduct, she was now convinced that she could not only
“indict a ham sandwich,” but also convict it. Constitutional rights, the Rule of Law, to Pirro, were mere technicalities. Even a confession from the actual killer of Louis Balancio, six days after his brutal stabbing by Albanian youth, Nick Djonovic, in February of 1994, wouldn’t stop her from inventing a scenario more politically useful, to prosecute an Italian, preferably someone, somehow, connected to Organized Crime.
She would not be deterred from her evil mission, not even by more than two dozen witnesses, young men and women who were present inside and outside the bar, the murder scene, who refused to lie for her. She would send many of them to prison on trumped-up charges, as she pursued that someone, amongst the crowd, having been involved in the rumble on the sidewalk outside the “bucket of blood” - the Strike Zone Bar - in the Tanglewood Shopping Center, Central Avenue, Yonkers. One way or another Jeanine Pirro was out to establish that she could prosecute Organized Crime. And, the fact that the Assistant United States Attorney she was tape recording was telling her, and two of her top deputies, that there was significant evidence that Balancio was murdered by Nick Djonovic, who had escaped to Albania, was not going to alter her plans.
We know there are many tapes, and that not all that was recorded by Pirro necessarily involved criminal investigations. Several current, and former, public office holders, including many judges, as well as political operatives such as Giulio Cavallo, Larry Schwartz, Anthony Mangone, and numerous other co-conspirators had routine telephone access to her. They are now experiencing high anxiety knowing that they were taped, and that those tapes have fallen into the hands of federal investigators.
The Feds have good reason to be very upset with former DA Pirro. After all, she swindled the FBI into putting Nick and Darren Mazzarella, two multiple murderers, who were in federal custody, into the Witness Protection Program in exchange for Darren’s perjured testimony against Anthony DiSimone. Hopefully, they will diligently investigate not only her transgressions against them, but also her horrific prosecutorial misconduct against scores of innocent individuals, conduct, compared to which Michael Nifong was a “choirboy.”
It is understandable that Pirro has very likely already been indicted by sealed indictment, and that the Government is in no particular rush to reveal their hand to other possible targets by unsealing it. Still, for those who languish in prison cells, convicted of crimes they did not commit, and for those who have already done their ‘hard time’ and emerged, the announcement of Mrs. Pirro’s indictment cannot come soon enough. They know that 376 pages, and 52 boxes, of withheld and concealed Brady material was not the exception under DA Pirro, but the rule. Pirro and many of her top assistants, much like Nixon, Haldeman, Erlichman, and crew, simply did not play by the rules.
Given the existence of the Pirro tapes; numerous tapes; in the interest of Justice, the United States Attorney’s Office has a clear obligation to turn copies of them over to defense counsel whose clients are engaged in the appeals process, as relevant discovery, if called upon to do so. It is fair to say that Michael Garcia had no idea as to the scope and depth of the corruption and the injustice that would emerge in response to his ‘tip line,’ 1-877-363-4723. However, having secured additional staff, Mr. Garcia, must now proceed full throttle to aggressively apprehend and prosecute all who have committed crime, and, particularly those who have violated the civil rights of innocent individuals
under the color of law.
Jeanine Pirro, and her henchmen, and co-conspirators, must come to understand what Richard Nixon and his pack learned more than thirty years ago. No one is above the law!
Janet Difiore.
The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg
Hendrick Hudson High Seniors Arraigned on Felony Charges
Cortlandt Town Court, Cortlandt Manor
Town Justice Gerald Klein Presiding
Last Monday morning 19 seniors from Hendrick Hudson High School in Montrose appeared in Cortlandt Town Court for arraignment before Town Justice Gerald Klein, the result of a ‘senior prank’ that somehow garnered a more harsh reaction from the school administration, and police, than the kids had anticipated. The prank, involved some 67 inexpensive wind-up, butterfly shaped, alarm clocks that were all set to ring at the same time, the previous Monday morning. They had been planted all over the high school, on walls, and in lockers, held in place with duct tape, by students who had gotten into the school late Sunday night, June 10th. Picked up on motion detectors, their activity quickly brought police with bomb sniffing canines to the school. The youngsters, all charged with 240.61 of the Penal Law, Placing A False Bomb or Hazardous Substance, a Felony, were accompanied to court by their attorneys, their parents and other family members, as well as several uncharged schoolmates, who had come to support them.
Despite the large turnout, Justice Klein managed to quickly complete the arraignment proceedings for all but two of the youngsters, who had failed to bring legal representation, and, who required assigned counsel. Following the arraignment, a group of six seniors, young men and women who had come to support their classmates, told The Guardian, “Nobody could have taken the butterfly alarm clocks seriously. They weren’t made up to look like bombs, or anything dangerous. They were just supposed to ring at the same time.”
A mother of one of the charged students, who had just come from the courtroom, seemed to express the sentiments of several parents, declaring, “They’re not punishing the kids; they’re punishing us. We had to go out and hire lawyers, and lose time from work. They’re over-reacting to what they, (the kids) did.”
White Plains Attorney Peter Goodrich, a former Westchester Assistant District Attorney, who represents one of the charged students, told The Guardian, “It was a total over-reaction to have charged these youngsters with a felony once they discovered they were harmless clocks. They knew there was no malicious intent, just a senior prank.”
Proceeding to the high school, The Guardian met with Youth Resource Officer Velez, a New York State Trooper, who indicated that he knew the students. He told us, “They are good kids. They just made a poor decision.”
Analysis
Most observers are in agreement that the youngsters involved in the Hendrick Hudson High senior prank have been over-charged and dealt
with too severely. Given the fact that there was never any attempt to imply that there were bombs, or any explosive devices, but merely to have the alarm clocks all going off simultaneously on Monday morning, it is apparent that there was really no malicious intent. Furthermore, the fact that those involved voluntarily turned themselves in and, also, that classes were conducted Monday morning, June 11th, without interruption, should have mitigated for a lesser charge.
The students involved will not be allowed to attend their graduation ceremony, a painful consequence in itself. Perhaps a better course of action might have been to couple their absence from their graduation with a mandated forty hours, or so, of community service.
Hopefully, District Attorney Janet DiFiore may be persuaded to reconsider the impact that having been charged with a felony will have upon the future prospects of so many basically decent kids, and will opt for the more constructive, and reasonable, community service approach. Surely, no good purpose can be served by causing so much more in the way of judicial, prosecutorial, and parental resources, to be expended, than has already been, should the District Attorney’s Office persist in its pursuit of felony charges against these youngsters.
After all, had the same prank been attempted just six years ago, prior to 9/11 and, prior to some of the high school and college incidents that
have spawned the hyper-reactive mentality with which many now approach any departure from routine at any public gathering place, these
kids, now facing felony charges, and 1½ to 4 years in prison, would merely be experiencing the embarrassment of having had their senior prank foiled, and the pain of missing graduation.
By Richard Blassberg
Hendrick Hudson High Seniors Arraigned on Felony Charges
Cortlandt Town Court, Cortlandt Manor
Town Justice Gerald Klein Presiding
Last Monday morning 19 seniors from Hendrick Hudson High School in Montrose appeared in Cortlandt Town Court for arraignment before Town Justice Gerald Klein, the result of a ‘senior prank’ that somehow garnered a more harsh reaction from the school administration, and police, than the kids had anticipated. The prank, involved some 67 inexpensive wind-up, butterfly shaped, alarm clocks that were all set to ring at the same time, the previous Monday morning. They had been planted all over the high school, on walls, and in lockers, held in place with duct tape, by students who had gotten into the school late Sunday night, June 10th. Picked up on motion detectors, their activity quickly brought police with bomb sniffing canines to the school. The youngsters, all charged with 240.61 of the Penal Law, Placing A False Bomb or Hazardous Substance, a Felony, were accompanied to court by their attorneys, their parents and other family members, as well as several uncharged schoolmates, who had come to support them.
Despite the large turnout, Justice Klein managed to quickly complete the arraignment proceedings for all but two of the youngsters, who had failed to bring legal representation, and, who required assigned counsel. Following the arraignment, a group of six seniors, young men and women who had come to support their classmates, told The Guardian, “Nobody could have taken the butterfly alarm clocks seriously. They weren’t made up to look like bombs, or anything dangerous. They were just supposed to ring at the same time.”
A mother of one of the charged students, who had just come from the courtroom, seemed to express the sentiments of several parents, declaring, “They’re not punishing the kids; they’re punishing us. We had to go out and hire lawyers, and lose time from work. They’re over-reacting to what they, (the kids) did.”
White Plains Attorney Peter Goodrich, a former Westchester Assistant District Attorney, who represents one of the charged students, told The Guardian, “It was a total over-reaction to have charged these youngsters with a felony once they discovered they were harmless clocks. They knew there was no malicious intent, just a senior prank.”
Proceeding to the high school, The Guardian met with Youth Resource Officer Velez, a New York State Trooper, who indicated that he knew the students. He told us, “They are good kids. They just made a poor decision.”
Analysis
Most observers are in agreement that the youngsters involved in the Hendrick Hudson High senior prank have been over-charged and dealt
with too severely. Given the fact that there was never any attempt to imply that there were bombs, or any explosive devices, but merely to have the alarm clocks all going off simultaneously on Monday morning, it is apparent that there was really no malicious intent. Furthermore, the fact that those involved voluntarily turned themselves in and, also, that classes were conducted Monday morning, June 11th, without interruption, should have mitigated for a lesser charge.
The students involved will not be allowed to attend their graduation ceremony, a painful consequence in itself. Perhaps a better course of action might have been to couple their absence from their graduation with a mandated forty hours, or so, of community service.
Hopefully, District Attorney Janet DiFiore may be persuaded to reconsider the impact that having been charged with a felony will have upon the future prospects of so many basically decent kids, and will opt for the more constructive, and reasonable, community service approach. Surely, no good purpose can be served by causing so much more in the way of judicial, prosecutorial, and parental resources, to be expended, than has already been, should the District Attorney’s Office persist in its pursuit of felony charges against these youngsters.
After all, had the same prank been attempted just six years ago, prior to 9/11 and, prior to some of the high school and college incidents that
have spawned the hyper-reactive mentality with which many now approach any departure from routine at any public gathering place, these
kids, now facing felony charges, and 1½ to 4 years in prison, would merely be experiencing the embarrassment of having had their senior prank foiled, and the pain of missing graduation.
Lesnick Access Concept Moves Forward With Ridge Hill Task Force Appointment Mary Ann Crotty, Director of Operations & Policy Management Under Former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Hired As Manager
Last Monday, June 18, members of the inter-municipal Ridge Hill Task Force gathered on the southbound shoulder of the Sprain Brook Parkway, just south of Jackson Ave., site of the proposed access ramp to the Ridge Hill development to announce the appointment of Mary
Ann Crotty as Manager. Under the terms of agreement between the Town of Greenburgh, the Villages of Ardsley and Hastings-on-Hudson and the municipal and corporate entities engaged in the development of Ridge Hill Village, a Task Force consisting of representatives of each of the villages, the Town of Greenburgh, the City of Yonkers, and developer Forest City Ratner, were charged with employing a manager to assist with the investigation of a potential Sprain Brook Parkway access as well as the obtaining of the necessary local, state and federal
approvals. Ms. Crotty, with more than 25 years’ experience in the public and private sectors, at one time serving as the New York State Assistant Secretary of Transportation involved with funding, additionally brings a decade of experience with a major engineering rm where she worked on implementation of global transportation projects.
Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick, who has advocated for the Sprain Brook Parkway access right along, expressed his delight with Crotty’s appointment, declaring, “I worked with Mary Ann Crotty on several New York State Transportation Bond Act projects during Governor Cuomo’s administration and, if anyone can identify funding sources, and coordinate among governmental agencies, utilities
and engineers, she can.”
Not too coincidentally, former Governor Mario Cuomo has simultaneously been retained, at no fee, to serve as a Special Advisor to the Task
Force. Mary Jane Shimsky, Task Force member and community activist from the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, expressed her delight with Cuomo’s involvement, stating, “He would not get involved with the project unless it was important to the region and had a reasonable likelihood of success.”
The project, which has encountered some frustration in negotiations with the County regarding access over County parkland, despite recent disparaging remarks by Larry Schwartz, would nevertheless appear closer to fruition in light of comments by County Executive Andrew Spano, who said, “I look forward to working with Mary Ann Crotty and Governor Cuomo to reach a consensus on a plan that bene ts all citizens of Westchester County.”
Last Monday, June 18, members of the inter-municipal Ridge Hill Task Force gathered on the southbound shoulder of the Sprain Brook Parkway, just south of Jackson Ave., site of the proposed access ramp to the Ridge Hill development to announce the appointment of Mary
Ann Crotty as Manager. Under the terms of agreement between the Town of Greenburgh, the Villages of Ardsley and Hastings-on-Hudson and the municipal and corporate entities engaged in the development of Ridge Hill Village, a Task Force consisting of representatives of each of the villages, the Town of Greenburgh, the City of Yonkers, and developer Forest City Ratner, were charged with employing a manager to assist with the investigation of a potential Sprain Brook Parkway access as well as the obtaining of the necessary local, state and federal
approvals. Ms. Crotty, with more than 25 years’ experience in the public and private sectors, at one time serving as the New York State Assistant Secretary of Transportation involved with funding, additionally brings a decade of experience with a major engineering rm where she worked on implementation of global transportation projects.
Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick, who has advocated for the Sprain Brook Parkway access right along, expressed his delight with Crotty’s appointment, declaring, “I worked with Mary Ann Crotty on several New York State Transportation Bond Act projects during Governor Cuomo’s administration and, if anyone can identify funding sources, and coordinate among governmental agencies, utilities
and engineers, she can.”
Not too coincidentally, former Governor Mario Cuomo has simultaneously been retained, at no fee, to serve as a Special Advisor to the Task
Force. Mary Jane Shimsky, Task Force member and community activist from the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, expressed her delight with Cuomo’s involvement, stating, “He would not get involved with the project unless it was important to the region and had a reasonable likelihood of success.”
The project, which has encountered some frustration in negotiations with the County regarding access over County parkland, despite recent disparaging remarks by Larry Schwartz, would nevertheless appear closer to fruition in light of comments by County Executive Andrew Spano, who said, “I look forward to working with Mary Ann Crotty and Governor Cuomo to reach a consensus on a plan that bene ts all citizens of Westchester County.”
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