![]() Lawrence County District Attorney’s office. The case is still in civil court.įarah, now a criminal defense attorney in Buffalo, is also a former prosecutor with the St. “It's absurd that a prosecutor would say, ‘I find this victim credible, I find her statements credible, but I just don't have the ability to prosecute.’”įarah worked for former state Assemblywoman Angela Wozniak, who he said sexually harassed him and then retaliated against him when he spoke up. “I find it absolutely ridiculous,” Farah said. He said he’s disappointed with the DA’s decision. He said the attorney general’s investigation was a civil proceeding, not a criminal one, and more evidence would be needed to prosecute.Įlias Farah is a member of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, which is made up of current and former New York state legislative staffers who say they were harassed by elected officials. “As a prosecutor, you have to ask yourself, can we establish every element of this offense beyond a reasonable doubt? And if you can, you proceed,” Soares said. He said his office’s special victims unit conducted an impartial review to reach their conclusion. But he said while he found Commisso’s account “credible,” there is a different level of burden of proof required for a criminal case. Soares - speaking Friday on Albany public radio station WAMC, where he is a regular guest on a roundtable panel - said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of the case. But Soares, saying he was unaware the complaint had been filed, asked for more time to review the case. “Not politics, rhetoric, or mob mentality.”įormer Cuomo staffer Brittany Commisso brought the criminal complaint, saying the former governor inappropriately groped her under her shirt after she was summoned to his office in the executive mansion in December 2020 to help him fix his phone.Īlbany County Sheriff Craig Apple filed the initial criminal complaint, praising Commisso for her courage in coming forward. “Today, reason and the rule of law prevailed,” Glavin said. She ordered the case dismissed and the records sealed.Ĭuomo attorney Rita Glavin said the incident that her client is accused of never happened. ![]() Judge Holly Trexler said Albany County District Attorney David Soares has “unfettered discretion” on whether to proceed with a case and she can’t interfere with his decision. ![]() Andrew Cuomo after the Albany County district attorney declined to prosecute, citing a lack of evidence to meet the burden of proof at a trial.Ĭuomo, who resigned in August after a report by State Attorney General Tish James found he sexually harassed 11 women, was seen in the virtual court proceeding briefly sitting beside his lawyers, but he did not speak. A city court judge in Albany has dismissed a charge of forcibly touching a former staffer against former New York Gov. ![]()
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