Posted Wednesday July 28, 2010 1 month, 1 week ago
By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor David Paterson's intervention in a domestic violence case involving a top aide showed errors in judgment but he will not face charges, according to a special counsel report released on Wednesday.
The findings by an independent counsel looked into allegations that Paterson and state police contacted a woman after she accused his aide of assault late last year.
"The Independent Counsel has concluded based on her review that no criminal charges should be brought" against the governor, said the report, released by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
"There is no evidence that Governor Paterson committed witness tampering or any related offense," it said.
The case raised questions of possible impropriety by the governor and, in February, prompted him to abandon his nascent campaign bid for a new term.
Paterson has admitted calling the woman but said he was not trying to intimidate her or to influence the case.
"Regardless of any good faith reasons on the part of the Governor for contacts that he initiated, these were errors of judgment," the report said.
The governor, speaking to reporters following a meeting of the New York State Financial Control Board, declined to comment on the report by special counsel Judith Kaye.
"I haven't read it, and it would be remiss of me to comment on a report I have not read," Paterson said.
His attorney Theodore Wells issued a statement saying: "Governor Paterson has always maintained that he did nothing improper regarding a domestic violence incident involving a former aide.
"The governor is pleased that Judge Kaye after a thorough and independent investigation has exonerated him of any wrongdoing in this matter."
Paterson has resisted calls to resign from office, although several top-ranking aides, critical of his actions, left their jobs when the story unfolded earlier this year.
The report also said it found errors by the New York Police Department and errors in judgment by the head of the governor's State Police protection detail and by the aide, David Johnson, who no longer works for Paterson.
It noted that the Bronx district attorney could decide whether to pursue charges against Johnson, whose ex-girlfriend accused him of domestic violence.
The report also noted that Paterson pursued no action against his aide although he knew of the woman's accusations.
"It is hard to reconcile this conduct with the Governor's expressed commitment to the cause of domestic violence prevention," it said.
Paterson took over the governor's job in 2008 when former Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal, and the term expires at the end of this year.
Cuomo, a Democrat, is running to succeed Paterson and is considered a front-runner in the race.
(Additional reporting by Joan Gralla; editing by Michelle Nichols and Mohammad Zargham)
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