Ex-DA sued in bad voting rap
NOW IT’S John O’Hara’s turn.
A candidate for Brooklyn civil court judge is filing a federal malicious prosecution lawsuit against ex-DA Charles Hynes, who he says used staffers and politicians to wrongfully prosecute him for voter fraud, the Daily News has learned.
As a result of O’Hara’s conviction — which took three trials by former prosecutor John O’Mara to land the guilty verdict — his law license was revoked and he became a felon, served 1,500 hours of community service and paid $20,000 in fines.
Two decades later, the district attorney’s Conviction Review Unit overturned O’Hara’s conviction — fulfilling a promise the late DA Ken Thompson made to during his 2013 campaign.
According to the lawsuit O’Hara plans to file Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court, the spiteful investigation began more than 30 years ago because O’Hara “made enemies” with those who ran the Brooklyn Democratic machine, specifically then-Assemblyman James Brennan.
From 1988 until O’Hara was indicted in 1996, he unsuccessfully ran five times for various elected positions, and his eligibility was challenged by Brennan, Hynes and various employees of Hynes’, the lawsuit says.
Messages left for Brennan and O’Mara were not returned. A woman answering the phone at Hynes’ address said he was unavailable.