A New York sheriff stated Friday that “we now have an awesome quantity of proof” towards former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a day after a criminal complaint accused him of a sex crime against an aide.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple additionally revealed that he, together with everybody else concerned within the case, was caught abruptly by the abrupt docketing of the grievance and its leak to media shortly after his workplace filed it in Albany Metropolis Courtroom on Thursday.
Apple advised reporters that he had anticipated the grievance to be reviewed by courtroom officers to find out the subsequent steps within the case, not formally filed.
The grievance accuses Cuomo, 63, of forcible touching of a feminine government assistant in December within the governor’s mansion. The cost is a misdemeanor.
Cuomo is because of seem in courtroom Nov. 17 within the case. Apple stated the disgraced Democrat can be arrested in some unspecified time in the future.
“We sort of obtained sandbagged ourselves,” Apple advised reporters, saying he deliberate for the grievance to be publicly filed a lot later than Thursday after he had an opportunity to tell the county district legal professional and Cuomo’s lawyer. The accuser within the case likewise was not notified that paperwork was filed in courtroom proper earlier than the grievance was issued.
“Every thing moved too quick,” Apple stated. “We had been anticipating the paperwork to be reviewed. We weren’t anticipating a five-minute turnaround.”
However Apple repeatedly stated that the sudden launch of the grievance by the courtroom wouldn’t have an effect on the energy of the case towards Cuomo.
“It is a strong case,” he stated.
Albany County District Legal professional David Soares, whose workplace is answerable for prosecuting felony instances, in an announcement Thursday stated, “Like the remainder of the general public, we had been shocked to study in the present day {that a} felony grievance was filed in Albany Metropolis Courtroom by the Albany County Sheriff’s Workplace towards Andrew Cuomo.”
Apple on Friday brushed apart options by Cuomo’s camp that he was politically motivated to file a felony cost towards Cuomo, saying his workplace had handled the investigation like every other probe involving a misdemeanor.
Cuomo’s crew has argued that the investigation that led to his resignation in August was politically tainted by state Legal professional Basic Letitia James, a Democrat who delegated the duty of conducting the probe to attorneys in personal observe.
James on Friday announced she will run for governor, looking for to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant governor earlier than he resigned.
The probe discovered that Cuomo had sexually harassed practically a dozen ladies, together with present and former staffers, amongst them the manager assistant who accused him of groping her breast throughout an encounter within the governor’s mansion final yr.
On Thursday, James issued an announcement after the felony grievance was launched, saying, “The felony expenses introduced in the present day towards Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching additional validate the findings in our report.”
Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, in a written assertion Friday stated, “The Governor didn’t assault [the accuser] November 16, November 25, some day in November when she was tasked with taking {a photograph}, December 7, or every other date.”
“What Sheriff Apple didn’t say in the present day is that the allegation is completely uncorroborated, and has been evolving since March,” Glavin stated. “What Sheriff Apple did say about doing a ‘separate’ investigation from the DA, with ‘our sufferer,’ speaks volumes about his professed objectivity.”
“The timing of this cost, on the eve of Tish James saying her run for Governor, is extremely suspect and will give all of us pause that the heavy hand of politics is behind this resolution,” Glavin stated.
“We anticipate clear-headed folks will make higher selections going ahead, however ought to this case transfer ahead we’re ready to vigorously defend the Governor and problem each facet of the specious, inconsistent and uncorroborated allegations made towards him.”
The felony grievance says that Cuomo deliberately “and for no legit function, forcibly [placed] his hand underneath the shirt shirt of the sufferer …. and onto her intimate physique half. Particularly, the victims left breast for the needs of degrading and gratifying his sexual wishes.”
Forcible touching is a Class A misdemeanor. If convicted, Cuomo could possibly be sentenced to as much as a yr in jail or as much as three years of probation.
