Post by onthejob on Dec 18, 2013 15:02:03 GMT -5
www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/letter-questions-why-nassau-da-rice-hasn-t-filed-charges-in-dale-case-1.6634308
Letter questions why Nassau DA Rice hasn't filed charges in Dale case
December 18, 2013 by CELESTE HADRICK / celeste.hadrick@newsday.com
Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs on Wednesday questioned why District Attorney Kathleen Rice has not filed criminal charges of witness tampering or election law violations against former Police Commissioner Thomas Dale and other people involved with the campaigns of County Executive Edward Mangano and former Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick.
In an 11-page letter to Rice, a fellow Democrat, and other officials, Jacobs suggests Rice should have appointed a special prosecutor or asked another county district attorney to handle the investigation because the involved individuals, including Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius, are "well known to her" and her chief investigator, Chuck Ribando.
Jacobs noted that Rice recently won re-election with the support of the Nassau Independence Party, whose chairman, Rick Bellando, is Melius' catering manager at the Huntington hotel and catering hall.
Jacobs also contended that Republican Mangano, his chief deputy Rob Walker, Sheriff Michael Sposato, Dale, Ribando and Hardwick have regularly attended "private, invitation-only dinner and cigar parties hosted by Melius."
"I'm doing this because something is very wrong here in Nassau County. And people in authority need to pay attention, Jacobs said in an interview. "This is pervasive, continuous and malignant. It transcends party. The election is over. We lost. I sat patiently through the campaign and was assured justice will be done. Now I see it wasn't."
In response, Rice spokesman Shams Tarek said, "The politically-motivated accusations concerning this ongoing investigation are full of assumptions, false assertions and misleading characterizations and it shouldn't be a shock to anyone that facts are being misrepresented to fit particular political interests. This is an ongoing case, and while anyone can distort before investigations are complete, prosecutors follow the facts and act on the law, not politics.
"The DA has successfully prosecuted people associated with all major political parties and to suggest that there's a conflict of interest in this case is wholly inconsistent with the facts and completely reckless," Tarek said.
Events leading to Dale's forced resignation last week began to unfold when Randy White, 29, of Roosevelt, testified in a lawsuit in October that Hardwick paid him for each signature collected for Hardwick's failed county executive campaign. Petitioners legally can be paid per hour but not per signature. Hardwick, whose sole contributor was Melius, denied White's claim.
Democrats had challenged the validity of Hardwick's petitions and alleged that his attempt to run on an independent "We Count" ballot line was intended to siphon votes from Democrat candidate Thomas Suozzi, Mangano's predecessor.
Days after White's testimony, a Nassau police sergeant and two detectives pulled White off a Nassau bus to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for not paying a $250 civil court fine. An off-duty county police sergeant, Sal Mistretta, arrived at the facility and White was served with a civil subpoena drafted by Hardwick's attorney, Rice said in a letter to Mangano detailing the findings of her investigation into the chain of events.
Rice is continuing to investigate the subpoena.
White, represented by Democratic Party official Robert McDonald, filed a complaint with Rice alleging witness tampering. Supreme Court Justice Dana Winslow subsequently found that Hardwick's petitions were "permeated with fraudulent practices" and threw Hardwick off the ballot.
Dale resigned last week after Rice reported that Melius had called Dale to tell him that the Hardwick campaign wanted to file a perjury charge against White. Police declined to charge White with perjury. But after they located an outstanding warrant for White's arrest, Dale ordered that White be located and arrested on the warrant, Rice write.
In her four-page letter to Mangano, Rice that she had found no criminal wrongdoing and "nothing to suggest that either you or members of your administration" were involved.
In his letter, Jacobs questions why nobody was charged with witness intimidation, which state law defines as compelling another person to refrain from communicating knowledge of a criminal transaction to the court or other investigators by instilling fear of physical injury.
"This was witness intimidation through the unlawful use of the Nassau County Police Department plain and simple, and should have been prosecuted," Jacobs write.
He noted that state election law says that "a police commissioner or any officer or member of any police force in this state" who uses their authority to affect any political party, action or affiliation is guilty of misdemeanor.
Current and incoming Democratic county legislators this week asked for a federal investigation.
Letter questions why Nassau DA Rice hasn't filed charges in Dale case
December 18, 2013 by CELESTE HADRICK / celeste.hadrick@newsday.com
Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs on Wednesday questioned why District Attorney Kathleen Rice has not filed criminal charges of witness tampering or election law violations against former Police Commissioner Thomas Dale and other people involved with the campaigns of County Executive Edward Mangano and former Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick.
In an 11-page letter to Rice, a fellow Democrat, and other officials, Jacobs suggests Rice should have appointed a special prosecutor or asked another county district attorney to handle the investigation because the involved individuals, including Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius, are "well known to her" and her chief investigator, Chuck Ribando.
Jacobs noted that Rice recently won re-election with the support of the Nassau Independence Party, whose chairman, Rick Bellando, is Melius' catering manager at the Huntington hotel and catering hall.
Jacobs also contended that Republican Mangano, his chief deputy Rob Walker, Sheriff Michael Sposato, Dale, Ribando and Hardwick have regularly attended "private, invitation-only dinner and cigar parties hosted by Melius."
"I'm doing this because something is very wrong here in Nassau County. And people in authority need to pay attention, Jacobs said in an interview. "This is pervasive, continuous and malignant. It transcends party. The election is over. We lost. I sat patiently through the campaign and was assured justice will be done. Now I see it wasn't."
In response, Rice spokesman Shams Tarek said, "The politically-motivated accusations concerning this ongoing investigation are full of assumptions, false assertions and misleading characterizations and it shouldn't be a shock to anyone that facts are being misrepresented to fit particular political interests. This is an ongoing case, and while anyone can distort before investigations are complete, prosecutors follow the facts and act on the law, not politics.
"The DA has successfully prosecuted people associated with all major political parties and to suggest that there's a conflict of interest in this case is wholly inconsistent with the facts and completely reckless," Tarek said.
Events leading to Dale's forced resignation last week began to unfold when Randy White, 29, of Roosevelt, testified in a lawsuit in October that Hardwick paid him for each signature collected for Hardwick's failed county executive campaign. Petitioners legally can be paid per hour but not per signature. Hardwick, whose sole contributor was Melius, denied White's claim.
Democrats had challenged the validity of Hardwick's petitions and alleged that his attempt to run on an independent "We Count" ballot line was intended to siphon votes from Democrat candidate Thomas Suozzi, Mangano's predecessor.
Days after White's testimony, a Nassau police sergeant and two detectives pulled White off a Nassau bus to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for not paying a $250 civil court fine. An off-duty county police sergeant, Sal Mistretta, arrived at the facility and White was served with a civil subpoena drafted by Hardwick's attorney, Rice said in a letter to Mangano detailing the findings of her investigation into the chain of events.
Rice is continuing to investigate the subpoena.
White, represented by Democratic Party official Robert McDonald, filed a complaint with Rice alleging witness tampering. Supreme Court Justice Dana Winslow subsequently found that Hardwick's petitions were "permeated with fraudulent practices" and threw Hardwick off the ballot.
Dale resigned last week after Rice reported that Melius had called Dale to tell him that the Hardwick campaign wanted to file a perjury charge against White. Police declined to charge White with perjury. But after they located an outstanding warrant for White's arrest, Dale ordered that White be located and arrested on the warrant, Rice write.
In her four-page letter to Mangano, Rice that she had found no criminal wrongdoing and "nothing to suggest that either you or members of your administration" were involved.
In his letter, Jacobs questions why nobody was charged with witness intimidation, which state law defines as compelling another person to refrain from communicating knowledge of a criminal transaction to the court or other investigators by instilling fear of physical injury.
"This was witness intimidation through the unlawful use of the Nassau County Police Department plain and simple, and should have been prosecuted," Jacobs write.
He noted that state election law says that "a police commissioner or any officer or member of any police force in this state" who uses their authority to affect any political party, action or affiliation is guilty of misdemeanor.
Current and incoming Democratic county legislators this week asked for a federal investigation.
