Albany district legal professional calls submitting of legal criticism towards former Gov. Andrew Cuomo 'probably faulty'

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In his letter, District Legal professional David Soares questioned the validity of the criticism filed by the county sheriff’s workplace — which didn’t embrace a sworn assertion from the alleged sufferer, former Cuomo aide Brittany Commisso — and slammed the decision to file it without his knowledge.

Cuomo, a Democrat who resigned from his post in August after a number of girls accused him of sexual harassment, has unequivocally denied the allegations, which accused him of forcible touching.

Soares additionally claimed that the criticism “misstates the related legislation” and failed to incorporate items of testimony from Commisso that might probably be considered as “exculpatory” in court docket, although he didn’t provide particulars in regards to the extent or worth of what had been neglected.

CNN has reached out to Commisso’s legal professional for remark. Rita Glavin, Cuomo’s lawyer, didn’t reply to request for touch upon Soares’ letter and Cuomo spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi declined to remark.

The exceptional request to place off Cuomo’s arraignment for 60 days, from November 17 to early January of subsequent 12 months, was accepted by the decide within the case, Holly Trexler, and assured that the political wrangling over the cost will transfer into a brand new and extra explosive stage over the approaching weeks. Glavin instantly denied the allegations when the criticism was first filed and has accused Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple of “patently improper” motives.

The legal criticism, filed October 28 in Albany Metropolis Courtroom, accused Cuomo of 1 depend of misdemeanor forcible touching that allegedly passed off on the governor’s Government Mansion in late 2020.

Apple has rejected the claims by Cuomo’s crew that he acted improperly, calling it a smear and insisting, “We receives a commission to guard individuals and assist individuals. That is precisely what we’re doing.”

The criticism, signed by Amy Kowalski, an investigator with the Albany Sheriff’s Workplace, was filed final week. However in an announcement early that night, shortly after information of it broke, Soares mentioned he had been caught off guard.

“Like the remainder of the general public, we have been shocked to be taught at present {that a} legal criticism was filed in Albany Metropolis Courtroom by the Albany County Sheriff’s Workplace towards Andrew Cuomo,” Soares mentioned. “The Workplace of Courtroom Administration has since made that submitting public. Our workplace won’t be commenting additional on this case.”

Brian Premo, the legal professional for Commisso, did an interview final weekend with Discuss 1300 Radio in Albany by which he stopped in need of criticizing the sheriff, however expressed shock at how the method had unfolded. Commisso, he mentioned, had “religion within the DA’s workplace to analyze the matter and make a prosecutorial choice on the problems.”

“It was my consumer’s understanding that the district legal professional’s workplace was going to guide an intensive, apolitical investigation into the matter after which focus on the problems with my consumer after which my consumer would give her knowledgeable consent,” Premo mentioned. “It was our understanding that the sheriff was in settlement with that course of, so she was simply shocked by the way it took place and what had occurred, however, once more, she has been — at all times shall be — a cooperative sufferer and she or he simply needs justice.”

Additionally final weekend, Glavin launched a letter requesting that the Albany County Sheriff’s Workplace protect all data referring to the investigation into the previous governor.

In her letter, tweeted by the former governor, Glavin requested that Apple protect all communication between his workplace and the accuser and her legal professional, in addition to all communication between the Albany County Sheriff’s Workplace and the press and some other legislators.

As well as, Glavin has alleged that both Apple or somebody in his workplace leaked grand jury info to a reporter in August and mentioned that Cuomo’s authorized crew will name for an investigation into “illegal grand jury leaks” from the sheriff’s workplace.

“What did happen right here was a transparent abuse of energy by the Sheriff and we plan to unravel it,” Azzopardi, the Cuomo spokesperson, mentioned in an announcement launched on Saturday.

Azzopardi referred to as the sheriff’s workplace investigation “unprofessional rogue,” and that “there’s zero corroborating proof {that a} crime occurred.”

On August 3, New York Legal professional Basic Letitia James issued a report detailing repeated incidents of alleged sexual harassment by Cuomo, who left workplace every week after the investigation was made public. He was changed by then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The criticism now in query is just not instantly predicated on the James report, which was performed by a pair of outdoor investigators. However it does state that the allegations are supported by documentation, together with testimony present in that report by an unnamed lady, in addition to mobile phone data, New York State Capitol entry “swipes” belonging to an unnamed particular person, New York State Police aviation data for December 7, 2020, and a textual content message from Cuomo’s cellphone.

In an announcement final Thursday, James described the costs towards Cuomo as a vindication of her workplace’s report, which Cuomo has tried to discredit.

“From the second my workplace obtained the referral to analyze allegations that former Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed a number of girls, we proceeded with out concern or favor,” James mentioned. “The legal costs introduced at present towards Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching additional validate the findings in our report.”

This story has been up to date with extra particulars Friday.

CNN’s Melanie Schuman and Mark Morales contributed to this report.

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