Albany City Court Judge Holly Trexler presided over the hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. He heard from Assistant District Attorney Jennifer McCanney, who said she would not object to Cuomo’s attorney’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
“This court is well aware that the fact that the district attorney’s office has unlimited discretion to determine whether to prosecute a particular suspect or case, and that higher courts have long and consistently held that Courts cannot and should not interfere with the discretion of a district attorney, “Trexler said.
The woman behind the charge, Brittany Commisso, was one of 11 accusers who spoke with investigators hired by the New York Attorney General’s office, Letitia James, to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by the former governor. CNN has reached out to an attorney for Commisso for comment.
At a press conference shortly after the hearing, Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, said: “Today reason and the rule of law prevail. Not politics, rhetoric or mob mentality.”
Albany County Sheriff’s Office Craig Apple filed the misdemeanor charge in October, alleging that the former governor reached under his shirt and groped a woman who worked as his executive assistant in late 2020. But in late 2020. November, Albany District Attorney David Soares pointed out problems with the case. , qualifying the complaint filed as “potentially defective”. It said the complaint incorrectly contained the relevant law, did not include an affidavit from the alleged victim, and did not include testimony from the accuser that could have been considered potentially exculpatory. Cuomo has consistently denied the allegations against him.
Both the Westchester and Nassau County district attorneys recently concluded their investigations into the allegations against Cuomo without charges to the former governor, with both offices calling the allegations against him “credible” but cannot be charged under the law of New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Will Not Criminally Charge Former Governor
In the latest investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against the governor to close, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office decided in recent weeks that it would not criminally charge Cuomo after two women claimed he touched them inappropriately, according to a source. familiar with the matter.
The source said the decision not to press charges against the former governor was left to outgoing district attorney Cy Vance before new district attorney Alvin Bragg took office on January 1.
CNN reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Friday for comment, as well as a spokesperson for Cuomo. The former governor has consistently denied the accusations against him.
The district attorney’s investigation focused on state employees, including a state trooper who served on Cuomo’s protective detachment. The first time the police officer recalled being touched in an unwanted way by Cuomo, they were in his New York City office when Cuomo allegedly “placed his finger on the top of his neck and ran his finger down the center of your spine to the middle of your back. ” , “and said,” Hello, “according to a report by investigators from the New York attorney general.
The report indicates that in his testimony, Cuomo denied that he intentionally touched the police on his stomach, as they had also accused him, or ran his fingers down his back.
Another woman whose accusation was examined by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was an employee of an unidentified state entity. She testified that in September 2019, Cuomo intentionally touched her buttocks “in an unwanted way” while the two took a photo together during a work event.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into the allegations of the two women was confirmed in an Aug. 4 letter to the New York Attorney General’s office, Letitia James, obtained by CNN, requesting the names and information of contact victims, as well as relevant investigative materials. to your accusations and any incidents that may have taken place in Manhattan.
While Cuomo will no longer face a charge of tampering in Albany and the Manhattan district attorney will not criminally charge him, this is not the end of the former governor’s legal battles.
Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes told CNN on Friday that his office’s investigation into the allegations against Cuomo “is still under review.”
This story has been updated with additional reports on Friday.
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