Cuomo attorney questions AG’s motives before impeachment report
ALBANY, N.Y. — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lawyer is back on the attack, once again claiming the damning report that led to his downfall is biased and cryptically warning others they could face a similar fate.
Attorney Rita Glavin sent a letter to lawmakers Friday, rehashing many of Cuomo’s arguments and claims of innocence despite resigning amid sexual harassment allegations in August. Glavin is again castigating Attorney General James’ investigation into her client’s alleged behavior.
In the missive, Glavin cautions lawmakers that should the Assembly “go along with this false narrative, you will be creating a new standard for sexual harassment that every member of the legislature must be prepared to be judged by.”
Investigators working under James detailed dozens of claims of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment made against the disgraced Democrat by multiple women.
The letter comes as the Assembly readies to release the results of its aborted impeachment probe, which is expected to back many of the allegations outlined in James’ report.
Lawmakers, who cut their work short when Cuomo resigned, were also probing several other scandals that had engulfed the administration including allegations that family and associates of the governor received preferential treatment for COVID-19 testing as well as issues related to the former governor’s $5.1 million pandemic-themed book.
Glavin claims that timesheets prove that Cuomo aides who assisted him with the tome did so on their own time and argues that legislative staffers frequently partake in fundraising and campaign activities during the workday.
The letter, addressed to Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine, a Democrat, and lawyers working for the panel, again questions the credibility and motivations of several of Cuomo’s accusers.
—New York Daily News
Funeral home accused of giving widow fake urn denies fraud
BALTIMORE — A Baltimore funeral home accused of throwing a fake funeral and giving a widow a fake urn said in a court filing that its employees didn’t commit fraud because they never explicitly told her the dead man’s ashes were in the urn.
That was one of several defenses made by lawyers for the Wylie Funeral Home in response to a lawsuit by Demetra Street, who said the funeral home buried Ivan Street despite the couple’s wishes that he be cremated, and then staged a phony funeral to trick her.
The attorneys also wrote that, among other things, because Street didn’t pay in full, they weren’t obligated to fulfill her wishes; that the funeral home is covered by a law protecting medical professionals from being sued for fraud; and that Street couldn’t claim emotional distress because she didn’t prove “Defendants’ alleged conduct was intentional or reckless and extreme and outrageous.”
In the filing, Wylie’s attorneys allege that a second woman also claimed to be Ivan Street’s wife, and that they followed that woman’s wishes that he be buried.
The court filing did not deny that Wylie then held a second service and provided an urn for Demetra Street, but said that it did not deceive her.
“Plaintiff did not allege any specific representations made to her about the urn and its purported contents at the memorial service,” Attorney Christian Mann wrote in response.
—The Baltimore Sun
Army sergeant charged with killing mother of their unborn child
ATLANTA — A U.S. Army sergeant accused of fatally shooting a pregnant woman who was carrying their unborn son in Troup County earlier this week was arrested this week in North Carolina, authorities said.
Alonzo Dargan Jr., 30, was taken into custody Thursday at Fort Bragg, where he was on active duty as a staff sergeant, Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff said Friday morning during a news conference. Dargan has been charged with murder, feticide and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in the Tuesday killing of Akeila Ware, 29, of LaGrange, and their unborn child on a Troup highway. Ware was a mother of five.
“I could not believe somebody had shot and killed a young mother with five children,” Woodruff said. “And on top of that, killed her and she had a baby inside her that resulted in the death of that baby.”
On Tuesday, deputies and Georgia State Patrol troopers were called to Ga. 18 near East Drummond Road around 12:50 p.m. about a single-car crash, Troup sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Stewart Smith said. Authorities found Ware shot and unresponsive inside a bullet-riddled Honda Accord, authorities said.
Troup County Capt. Kelli Ellington confirmed that Ware was 33 weeks pregnant with a boy and that Dargan was the father.
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Crew shortages cancel dozens of runs for Washington ferries
SEATTLE — Washington State Ferries is warning travelers that seven of its 10 routes are operating with fewer boats Friday, as chronic crew shortages suddenly worsened and left a key transportation system in disarray.
The cutbacks are unprecedented in the nation’s largest ferry system.
Seattle routes to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton, and the Edmonds-Kingston and Mukilteo-Clinton routes, are all down to one boat each, half the usual capacity. The Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth triangle and San Juan Islands routes are a boat short, and the Point Defiance-Tahlequah route is canceled Friday.
Drivers were already facing delays of three hours to catch a ferry at Mukilteo and two hours at Edmonds at noontime, according to WSF e-mailed updates.
Several sailings have been late in what the agency called “a rough service day due to lack of crew.”
Ferries managers are already drawing up plans for reduced service the next few days, said spokesperson Justin Fujioka.
The agency hasn’t heard of any specific or organized sickouts, but one factor is the governor’s looming Oct. 18 deadline to be vaccinated or terminated, ferries spokesperson Justin Fujioka said. Related to that, it’s possible some workers intend to quit and are cashing in their sick days now, he said.
—The Seattle Times
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