A New York decide postponed a courtroom look for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reply to a misdemeanor forcible touching cost after a prosecutor known as the prison criticism in opposition to him “probably faulty” and requested for extra time.
In a letter to Albany Metropolis Court docket Decide Holly Trexler, Albany District Legal professional David Soares requested that Cuomo’s arraignment, which had been scheduled for Nov. 17, be delayed for 60 days “to scale back the danger of a procedural dismissal of the case.”
The criticism charged Cuomo with forcible touching, a category A misdemeanor that’s punishable by as much as a 12 months in jail or three years probation, for allegedly groping an government assistant on the governor’s mansion in December.
The prison criticism was filed final week after Sheriff Craig D. Apple Sr. stated he offered proof for the courtroom to “decide essentially the most acceptable authorized pathway” for the investigation into Cuomo.
Soares, whose workplace would prosecute the case, stated he wasn’t consulted beforehand, and Apple later informed reporters that he hadn’t anticipated the courtroom to right away concern a criticism however would “roll with it.”
In his letter to the decide made public Friday, Soares wrote that his workplace was “within the center” of a monthslong investigation into the allegations in opposition to Cuomo “when the Sheriff unilaterally and inexplicably filed a criticism on this Court docket.”
He stated the paperwork filed by regulation enforcement didn’t embody the required sworn assertion by the alleged sufferer, and different necessary data was omitted as nicely, together with a few of “an exculpatory nature.”
As well as, Soares stated he is acquired massive quantities of recent proof to evaluate from the state lawyer normal’s workplace, which initially investigated the manager assistant’s declare.
“Whereas we beforehand acquired some supplies from the AGs Workplace, because the submitting on this case we’ve got acquired a whole lot of hours of videotaped testimony that have to be reviewed and offered to the defendant. We anticipate receiving many different supplies that aren’t but in our precise possession,” Soares stated in his letter.
The decide agreed to the request for a delay — which was signed off on by Cuomo’s attorneys — and adjourned the case till Jan. 7.
Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, has stated her consumer “by no means assaulted anybody” and recommended final week that his prosecution was politically motivated.
Cuomo, a Democrat, resigned in August after a 165-page report issued by state Legal professional Normal Letitia James’s workplace alleged he had sexually harassed or inappropriately touched 11 ladies, together with the manager assistant.
The prison criticism doesn’t establish the alleged sufferer, however the lady recognized as “Government Assistant 1” within the lawyer normal’s report, Brittany Commisso, went public together with her id within the days after the criticism was issued.
Commisso filed a criticism with the Albany sheriff’s workplace in regards to the alleged groping in August. She informed “CBS This Morning” that she thought what Cuomo allegedly did to her “was against the law.”
“He broke the regulation,” she stated.
James, whose workplace issued the report that led to Cuomo’s resignation, introduced final week that she’s operating for governor in subsequent 12 months’s elections.
