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Prosecutor drops groping charge against former NY Gov. Cuomo

January 4, 2022 Michael Hill and Marina Villeneuve, Associated Press
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Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won’t face criminal prosecution over an allegation that he fondled an aide after a prosecutor said Tuesday he couldn’t prove the case.

Three days before the Democratic ex-governor was due to answer the misdemeanor charge in court, Albany County District Attorney David Soares asked a judge to dismissĀ a criminal complaint that the county sheriff filed in October.

ā€œWhile we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence, we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial,ā€ Soares said in a statement, adding that he was ā€œdeeply troubledā€ by the allegation.

Soares, a Democrat, didn’t detail why he felt it would be tough to win a conviction.

In a letter to the judge, he said ā€œstatutory elements of New York law make this case impossible to prove.” He added that multiple government inquiries into Cuomo’s conduct had created ā€œtechnical and procedural hurdlesā€ regarding prosecutors’ obligations to disclose evidence to the defense.

Soares said his office considered other potential criminal charges, but none fit the allegations.

Cuomo, who has vehemently denied the allegation, had no immediate comment on the development, first reported by The Times-Union of Albany.

The charges against Cuomo were based on allegations by Brittany Commisso, one of the governor’s executive assistantsĀ before he resignedĀ amid sexual misconduct allegations in August.

Commisso says Cuomo slid his hand up her blouse and grabbed her breast when they were alone in an office at the governorā€™s mansion in Albany in late 2020.

Her lawyer, Brian Premo, said in a statement Tuesday that she ā€œhad no control over the filing or prosecution of criminal charges. She had no authority or voice in those decisions.ā€

ā€œThe only thing she has any power over is her resolution to continue to speak the truth and seek justice in an appropriate civil action, which she will do in due course,ā€ he added.

Her testimony was included in a report, released in August by Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James, that concluded Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo announced his resignation a week after the report’s release, which he’s attacked as inaccurate and biased.

ā€œI knew, and he knew, too, that that was wrong,ā€ Commisso told investigators for the attorney generalā€™s office.

Cuomo denied that he had groped her, telling the attorney general’s investigators ā€œit would be an act of insanity to touch a womanā€™s breast and make myself vulnerable to a woman for such an accusation.ā€

Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin has said Commisso had an ā€œevolving versionā€ of what happened.

In October, Albany County Sheriff Craig Appleā€™s office filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo in connection with Commissoā€™s allegation.

Soares later criticized Apple for ā€œunilaterally and inexplicablyā€ filing the complaint without first consulting with his office. The prosecutor criticized Appleā€™s filing as ā€œpotentially defectiveā€ in asking a judge to delay Cuomoā€™s arraignment from November to January.

Apple has said the court paperwork was processed quickly, before he had a chance to consult with the district attorney. But he said he was confident in the case’s strength.

The Associated Press doesnā€™t identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Commisso has done in interviews.

The development in Albany comes after two prosecutors in New York City suburbs separately announced Cuomo wouldnā€™t face criminal charges for allegations involving other women.

A Long Island prosecutorĀ announced on Dec. 23Ā that there would be no charges after a state trooper on Cuomoā€™s security detail told state investigators that he ran his hand across her abdomen at an event at Belmont Park in September 2019.

Five days later, the district attorney in Westchester CountyĀ announced Cuomo would not face chargesĀ stemming from allegations from that same trooper and another woman that the former governor planted unwanted kisses on their cheeks.

In both instances, the prosecutors said that the allegations were credible, but they could not pursue criminal charges.

Mariann Wang, a lawyer for two women who told independent investigators Cuomo harassed them, said her clients were disappointed by the news Tuesday, but not surprised.

ā€œUnfortunately, our penal laws and system frequently do not properly punish the acts of so many abusive men in power,ā€ Wang said. ā€œCuomoā€™s conduct was nonetheless unlawful and deeply harmful to the women who were subjected to it, as the Attorney General and Assembly found in their reports.ā€

A November report from a law firm hired by the state Assemblyā€™s Judiciary Committee said it found ā€œoverwhelming evidenceā€ that Cuomo sexually harassed state employees.

Cuomo could face civil litigation by Commisso and others.

On Monday, a lawyer for Cuomo said the Manhattan district attorneyā€™s office told him it had closed an investigation into how Cuomoā€™s office handled nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The office declined to comment.

The office didnā€™t disclose what it was looking into, but CuomoĀ faced scrutinyĀ overĀ his administrationā€™s reporting of nursing home residentsā€™ deathsĀ and over an order thatĀ barred the homesĀ from turning away recovering hospital patients because they had COVID-19.

Federal prosecutors have also been investigating the nursing home death data issue.

The state attorney general, meanwhile, has been investigating Cuomoā€™s use of aides to help craft and promote his pandemic memoir. Cuomo said they volunteered, using their personal time.

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