Abelove indicted in probe of deadly shooting
Republican faces misconduct, perjury charges in handling of 2016 incident that left Watervliet man dead
TROY, N.Y. » Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove was indicted Friday by a grand jury over his handling of a deadly police-involved 2016 shooting in Troy, but Abelove vowed to fight the charges and said he would not resign.
Columbia County Court Judge Jonathan Nichols unsealed the indictment Friday afternoon in Rensselaer County Court, charging Abelove with a felony count of first- degree perjury and two misdemeanor counts of official misconduct. Abelove pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on his own recognizance, then ripped the charges and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s decision to prosecute him as he stood outside the courtroom with his attorneys, William Dreyer and John Bailey.
“I want to assure the residents of Rensselaer County that I acted properly and within my authority and I have done nothing wrong,” Abelove said outside the courtroom Friday. “I intend to vigorously defend myself against what is frivolous and overreaching allegations by the attorney general. I intend to stay on the job and continue to serve the residents of Rensselaer County as their elected district attorney. I will not be distracted because I am confident in my position.”
Schneiderman claims Abelove withheld material evidence from a grand jury that led that group to decide not to indict city police Sgt. Randy French, who fatally shot and killed Edson Thevenin, 37, of Watervliet, during a drunkendriving stop at the foot of the Collar City Bridge on April 17, 2016. Furthermore, Schneiderman
said, Abelove took the “extraordinary step” of giving French immunity before the grand jury even took a vote, a move the attorney general claims was done to protect the officer from any future prosecution.
Officials representing Schneiderman’s office in court Friday declined comment after the proceeding, but members of the victim’s family said they were hopeful that they will see justice for Thevenin’s death. “The family has felt very undermined in the justice process during that time, but it looks like there will be some restoration of justice,” said Pastor Tre’ Stanton of the Empire Christian Center in Albany, who has served as a family spokesman throughout the investigations, “so the family’s quite happy with the finds so far, and we’ll continue to pray for a complete override of what took place initially and that justice be served.”
Police said Thevenin was killed at the end of a brief chase that began about 3:15 a.m. after French tried to stop a suspected drunken driver on 6th Avenue. After initially pulling over, police said, Thevenin sped off, nearly running French down before he made his way up Hoosick Street and tried to make a U-turn onto the westbound entrance to the Collar City Bridge.
Police said Thevenin hit a barricade, however, and was quickly boxed in by French and Capt. Matthew Montanino, the shift supervisor, who responded to French’s call for assistance. At that point, police said, Thevenin first backed into Montanino’s car, then pulled forward, pinning French between his cruiser and Thevenin’s vehicle. Police said French responded by firing eight shots from his service weapon into the windshield of Thevenin’s car.
In presenting the case to a grand jury, Schneiderman claims Abelove knowingly withheld material evidence, though the indictment does not detail what specifically was withheld, and knowingly failed to have French sign a waiver of immunity before testifying. The perjury charge involves testi- mony Abelove gave to the grand jury investigating his handling of the case, specifically his claim that his office similarly did not seek a waiver from one of the officers involved in a shootout a year earlier that left Thaddeus Faison dead and two cops wounded after a shootout in Lansingburgh.
Schneiderman filed suit against Abelove 10 days after the shooting, claiming the district attorney continually blocked attempts to determine if Thevenin’s death fell within the terms of an executive order signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015 that gave Schneiderman was authority to take over the investigation of any officer-involved shooting in which a civilian was killed and the victim was either unarmed or there was a question whether that victim could have been considered armed and dangerous. Schneiderman claimed in the suit that Abelove refused to turn over his files on the case, lied to the media in saying representatives from Schneiderman’s office had said their office would not take charge of the investigation and presented the case to a grand jury just five days after the incident without informing the Attorney General’s Office. Schneiderman claims that following the shooting, his special investigations and prosecutions unit informed Abelove it needed more information to determine whether the death fell within the attorney general’s jurisdiction. However, instead of providing that information, Schneiderman said Abelove “quickly and surreptitiously presented” the case to a grand jury.
“District Attorney Abelove’s actions violated the law and undermined a criminal investigation,” Schneiderman said in the release. “The governor’s executive order was designed to restore public confidence in our criminal justice system – yet the actions we detail today only served to further erode that confidence. My office will continue to work collaboratively with law enforcement agencies across the state, including district attorneys, to ensure fair, comprehensive and independent investigations of every case within our jurisdiction, so that families like the Thevenins get the answers they deserve.”