Pay hit for bogus bigs in Albany
THE NYPD hid an Italian model who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault from prosecutors because detectives believed Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.’s sex crimes unit was trying to derail the case, according to a bombshell report in New York magazine.
In 2015, 22-year-old model Ambra Battilana became one of the first women to come forward charging the disgraced movie mogul with a sex attack, claiming he grabbed her breasts, put his hand on her thigh and tried to kiss her. But the case was swiftly dismissed and she was discredited by anonymous sources in the press as a gold digger.
The case became a sore point between the Police Department and the DA’s office after Vance’s people blamed police for botching the case.
The district attorney opted not to bring charges against Weinstein at the time, saying there was insufficient evidence of a crime.
For the first time, a former detective who worked on the case has come forward with the inside story of how it unraveled.
Retired NYPD detective Michael Bock told the magazine that his fellow investigators reluctantly brought the DA’s office in at the early stages of the case and came to regret it almost instantly.
“We decided we’re going to hide the victim,” Bock says. “From the DA.”
In the days after March 27, 2015, when Battilana went to police with the accusation that she was attacked, the NYPD’s Special Victims Division set her up with a wiretap. Weinstein was allegedly heard on tape seeming to admit that he had grabbed the model’s breasts.
When detectives arrested Weinstein, he tried to bully them telling them he was going to call former commissioners Ray Kelly and Bernard Kerik and former mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to the report.
Instead of going after the powerful Hollywood producer, sources told the Daily News that the DA’s office went into overdrive, aggressively interviewing Battilana’s roommates. Prosecutors grilled her friends, asking if she was a prostitute or a stripper and if she brought a lot of strange men home.
DA spokeswoman Joan Vollero denied the roommates were ever questioned, a fact she told the magazine factchecker because she says the reporter never reached out to their office for comment.
“Nothing about this report is particularly accurate from our perspective,” Vollero said.
The head of the Special Victims Division, Chief Michael Osgood believed that prosecutors were trying to undermine the case, so they hid Battilana away in a hotel room under a false name, the magazine reported.
Later, Battilana agreed to meet with Martha Bashford, who runs the DA’s sex-crime unit.“The questioning was aggressive and accusatory,” he told New York. “Again, the victim was upset. She felt like she was under attack.”
Three days later, Bashford called to tell detectives that they would not pursue the case.
According to the magazine, Weinstein’s lawyers reached a settlement with the DA’s office, which was forced to turn over the tape police made of the movie executive.
Detectives rushed the case, sources told the magazine, and did not bring prosecutors in quickly enough to coach Battilana during the wiretap.
The detective was still annoyed by the decision.
“This is only a misdemeanor case!” Bock told New York. “We gave them beyond a reasonable doubt. We obviously know who this man is. We obviously know we have a different burden of proof. So to go above and beyond as we did, he should’ve been arrested. ”
The Manhattan DA’s office maintains that they did the right thing on the Battilana case. MOTION PICTURE Academy President John Bailey has become the latest big-name Hollywood honcho to face sexual harassment accusations. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the organization that governs the Oscars — launched an investigation after three harassment allegations were made against Bailey on Wednesday, Variety reported Friday. The nature of the accusations is currently unclear. The Academy addressed the report in a statement, without specifically naming Bailey, 75. “The Academy treats any complaints confidentially to protect all parties,” reads the statement obtained by the Daily News. “The Membership Committee reviews all complaints brought against Academy members according to our Standards of Conduct process, and after completing reviews, reports to the Board of Governors. We will not comment further on such matters until the full review is completed.” ALBANY — State Controller Thomas DiNapoli is threatening to withhold controversial committee chairman stipends doled out to those who don’t actually head committees.
Deputy Controller Christopher Gorka sent a letter to the Senate Secretary Francis Patience on March 9 expressing concerns that at least five senators were certified by the Senate to receive chairmen and chairwomen stipends even though they are actually vice chairs, which don’t carry any extra pay.
The letter, obtained through a freedom of information request by the Daily News, says the controller’s office will pay out in total the first 25% of the annual stipends to each member due March 21.
But Gorka went on to warn that unless the Senate can reconcile the inconsistencies of having vice committee chairs paid the stipends meant for chairmen and chairwomen, the controller’s office will withhold the remaining 75% of the stipends due to be paid in April.
He also raised the possibility of seeking a repayment of the 25% from those deemed not entitled to it.
The potentially impacted senators are Republicans Thomas O’Mara, Patrick Gallivan and Patti Ritchie as well as breakaway Democrats Diane Savino and Jose Peralta.
“We continue to maintain that everything has been done in accordance with the law,” Senate spokesman Scott Reif said. “To the extent that the Comptroller has any additional questions, we will work with him to answer and resolve those questions, just like we would on any other issue.”
Candice Giove, spokeswoman for the Independent Democratic Conference added that “we expect the Secretary of the Senate will answer all of the comptroller’s questions to his satisfaction.”
The News previously reported that the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office in May issued a subpoena seeking documents related to the Senate stipends. But it’s unclear if any formal probe is underway.