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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Paterson Is Said to Have Ordered Calls in Abuse Case |
| 2010-03-03 |
| Gov. David A. Paterson personally directed two state employees to contact the woman who had accused his close aide of assaulting her, according to two people with direct knowledge of the governor's actions. Mr. Paterson instructed his press secretary, Marissa Shorenstein, to ask the woman to publicly describe the episode as nonviolent, according to a third person, who was briefed on the matter. That description would contradict the woman's accounts to the police and in court. Mr. Paterson also enlisted another state employee, Deneane Brown, a friend of both the governor and the accuser, to make contact with the woman before she was due in court to finalize an order of protection against the aide, David W. Johnson, the two people with direct knowledge said. Ms. Brown, an employee of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, reached out to the woman on more than one occasion over a period of several days and arranged a phone call between the governor and the woman, Mr. Johnson's companion. After the calls from Ms. Brown and the conversation with the governor, the woman failed to appear for the court hearing on Feb. 8, and the case was dropped. These accounts provide the first evidence that Mr. Paterson helped direct an effort to influence the accuser. Of Ms. Shorenstein's call, the person briefed on the matter described it as an effort to "reconfirm what the governor had said before, that it was not an acrimonious -- it was not a friendly breakup but it wasn't acrimonious, that the allegation itself was not true." In an interview with The New York Times, the governor had characterized the fight as being "like breakups you hear about all the time." The call from Ms. Shorenstein to the woman came on the evening The Times was preparing to publish an article about Mr. Johnson, his past episodes with women and the police, and his ascent to the top ranks of the Paterson administration. The person briefed on the matter said that at the time of the call, Ms. Shorenstein was not aware of the severity of the alleged assault, and that she did not believe that Mr. Paterson was aware of it either. Ms. Shorenstein failed to reach the woman, who has never spoken publicly about the episode. Last Friday, Mr. Paterson ended his campaign for election, after The Times first disclosed that he and his State Police detail had intervened in a domestic abuse case involving Mr. Johnson, one of his closest aides. Mr. Johnson's girlfriend had accused him of choking her, smashing her into a mirrored dresser and preventing her from calling for help during a Halloween altercation in the Bronx apartment they shared. Mr. Paterson has stated that he was unaware of the details of the case until The Times reported them, and has said he did nothing improper. After the news reports, he suspended Mr. Johnson and asked Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to begin an investigation. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Beechwood 4-5789 by The Marvelettes Simply unbelievable, what an abuse. |
| Posted by: Don Vito Snamble3185 2010-03-03 07:02 |