Cuomo charged in complaint
Sources: Summons alleging misdemeanor forcible touching was filed prematurely
A summons charging former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo with misdemeanor forcible touching was prematurely issued on Thursday after a sheriff ’s investigator filed paperwork with the court summarizing the investigation and seeking to begin the process of obtaining a criminal complaint.
No final decision had been made by the sheriff ’s department or the Albany County district attorney’s office on whether to formally file charges, but the issuance of the summons was authorized by a judge based on the documents received by the court, according to sources familiar with the matter. A spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration confirmed that a misdemeanor complaint against Cuomo was filed Thursday in Albany City Court.
The summons, which has not been served on the former governor, directs Cuomo to appear in City Court on Nov. 17. A law enforcement source said the sheriff ’s department did not expect the summons to be issued on Thursday — or to be made public.
The summons was issued without the consent of the alleged victim, Brittany Commisso, or her attorney, Brian D. Premo, according to sources familiar with the matter. Commisso, an Executive Chamber employee, has been cooperating with investigators and was planning to move forward with the criminal complaint, according to law enforcement sources.
“It was my client’s understanding that the district attorney’s office was in agreement with the sheriff ’s department that it was going to conduct a thorough, impartial and apolitical evaluation of the case, and
only after completion of the investigation, speak to my client to allow her to make an informed decision as to whether she would proceed as a victim in the case,” Premo said. “Like the district attorney’s office, she was informed about this recent filing through media.” In a follow-up statement hours later, Premo said his client “was surprised by the turn of events but she has been and will remain a resolute cooperating victim in pursuit of blind justice.”
A sheriff ’s investigator who had been a lead investigator in the case, in which the governor was accused of groping Commisso at the Executive Mansion last year, had met with a City Court official on Thursday to receive “guidance” if the department were to move forward with filing a complaint — something that was supposed to happen next week at the earliest, according to a law enforcement source.
It’s unclear what happened after that, but a person briefed on the matter and not authorized to comment publicly said that someone in City Court issued the summons after determining the paperwork submitted by the investigator was sufficient to do so. The investigator had apparently filed the paperwork in anticipation of obtaining a summons next week if the victim agreed to go forward with any charges, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The issuance of the summons was leaked almost immediately to a news organization, New York Focus.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple issued a statement late Thursday confirming that “sheriff ’s investigators presented Albany City Court with evidence for their review to determine the most appropriate legal pathway moving forward on the investigation. Sheriff ’s investigators ... have determined that there was enough probable cause to present evidence to the court.”
Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ office and the sheriff ’s department had been scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss whether to move forward with any criminal case against Cuomo. It’s unclear whether that meeting will still take place.
The district attorney’s office issued a statement late Thursday afternoon confirming it had not been aware the sheriff ’s department had filed a complaint with City Court until it was reported publicly.
“Like the rest of the public, we were surprised to learn today that a criminal complaint was filed in Albany City Court by the Albany County Sheriff ’s Office against Andrew Cuomo,” the statement says. “The Office of Court Administration has since made that filing public. Our office will not be commenting further on this case.”
Premo, Commisso’s attorney, said he and his client also were caught off-guard.
The evidence gathered by sheriff ’s investigators in the case included text messages, Blackberry “PIN” messages between state troopers who staff the Executive Mansion, cellphone records, and Capitol swipe-card access records that confirmed Commisso’s return to her Capitol office after visiting the mansion on Dec. 7, the day of the alleged incident.
The evidence also includes information confirming Cuomo held a news conference in central New York earlier that day — an event that Commisso had told investigators she remembered occurred before she was summoned to the governor’s mansion that afternoon.
The complaint filed in Albany City Court was signed by Albany County sheriff ’s Investigator Amy Kowalski, who has been the lead investigator on the case. It states the incident took place between the hours of 3:51 and 4:07 p.m. at the governor’s mansion, and that Cuomo “did knowingly, and intentionally commit the class A misdemeanor of Forcible Touching.”
The complaint adds that Cuomo “did intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim and onto her intimate body part” for “the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires.”
The sheriff ’s department has been investigating groping allegations against Cuomo since August. The criminal investigation followed an attorney general’s report that led to Cuomo’s resignation following a four-month investigation that included interviews with the women who accused him of conduct ranging from making sexually charged remarks to grooming and Commisso’s groping allegation.
Despite the confusion over the filing of the complaint, state Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying her office had “proceeded without fear or favor” in its investigation.
“The criminal charges brought today against Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching further validate the findings in our report,” James said.
Rita Glavin, Cuomo’s attorney, had previously filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office about the sheriff ’s department’s actions in the investigation. On Thursday, she seized on the confusion created by the issuance of the summons.
“Gov. Cuomo has never assaulted anyone, and Sheriff Apple’s motives here are patently improper. Sheriff Apple didn’t even tell the district attorney what he was doing,” Glavin said. “This is not professional law enforcement; this is politics.”
Commisso’s allegation is the most incendiary to be leveled against Cuomo, who has dismissed his workplace behavior as “playful” and an attempt to “make jokes that I think are funny.”
The governor stated earlier this year that he “never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to.”
In the wake of the earliest allegations — before the groping account was first reported by the Times Union in March — Cuomo had authorized the attorney general’s office to commence a “review” of the complaints. But that directive did not authorize the attorney general to conduct a criminal investigation or to subpoena witnesses before a grand jury. That authority would have needed to be given to James under a separate provision in Executive Law.
On Oct. 11, the Times Union reported that electronic records gathered by investigators for the state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, which is expected to issue a report on their investigation that began as an impeachment proceeding, showed Commisso was at the governor’s mansion with Cuomo on Dec. 7.