Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg
Once Again, DA DiFiore Punishes Still
Another Victim Of Yonkers Police Brutality
The Guardian, in its August 14, 2008 edition, revealed that District Attorney Janet DiFiore was proceeding to prosecute a man, Rui
Florim, who was so badly beaten by Yonkers police officers two and a half years earlier, that it required 70 stitches and staples to close
the wounds to his face and head, not to mention five days in the Intensive Care Ward at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
We pointed out the fact that she had pursued a similar mode of operation with respect to Irma Marquez, the woman who Yonkers Police Officer Wayne Simoes had nearly killed by body-slamming her on the hard tile floor of a bar and grill on Palisade Avenue in Yonkers at 1:30am after her niece, who was struck on the head by another patron, passed out on the floor, requiring emergency medical attention.
Marquez was prosecuted, but acquitted of all charges following a jury trial. It did not matter to DA DiFiore, who had been shown the security camera videotape that clearly established Marquez’ innocence and the brutal insanity of Officer Simoes’ assault on her. It did not matter to DiFiore what had actually occurred because she had a predetermined response with respect to any and all cases of police brutality involving Yonkers police officers: Cover up the misconduct, both civil and criminal, of the Yonkers Police, and, charge the innocent, brutalized civilian victim.
That Guardian report, indicating that Florim had filed a federal lawsuit against the six police officers who beat him, the Commissioner,
and the Department, was two and a half months ago. Last Tuesday, word came down that Rui Florim had been indicted. That move was
like the behavior of a jackass, both stubborn and stupid. However, we must consider the source, and the motive.
It is indisputable that Janet Di-Fiore is unfit to be District Attorney for a whole host of reasons, perhaps none more obvious, and
disabling, than her incestuous relationship with the Yonkers Police Department; the Department that openly endorsed her; the Department that sponsored the rally at the Polish Center for her; and, the Department that provided “security” for the 330 voting machines ordered
impounded for her incredibly three days before the election of 2005.
If her conduct, in case after case of Yonkers police brutality, points to some unnatural power that that police department holds
over her, it’s only because they do. And, it’s not just about her “installation” as District Attorney three years ago, but other issues involving Janet DiFiore and the City of Yonkers as well.
Why else would she spit in the face of Justice, and proceed, more than two and a half years after the incident at Tyrone House, a bar near
the waterfront in Yonkers, to bring about an indictment charging Rui Florim with First Degree Assault, Second Degree Assault, Third Degree
Assault, and Second Degree Robbery. What, other than Florim’s recent filing of charges in Federal Court, has occurred to bring about his sudden indictment on trumped up charges? Her move was clearly retaliatory; an abuse of process designed to assist the six rogue Yonkers
cops, Commissioner Hartnett, to whom she owes other favors, and Mayor Amicone, with whom she is mixed up in other misbehavior in
retaliation against the Westchester Guardian, its Publisher and its Editor-In-Chief.
It was crystal clear that DA Janet DiFiore, even after viewing the shocking Marquez videotape, had absolutely no intention of prosecuting
Yonkers Police Of-ficer Wayne Simoes. In fact, were it not for the repeated public exposure of that tape, the federal prosecutors might
not have sought and achieved the indictment they now have against him for one count of Assault in violation of Ms. Marquez’ civil rights.
One cannot dispute attorney Jonathan Lovett’s observation two months ago at the time he filed a federal suit on behalf of Mr. Florim. Lovett
declared, “The DA is affirmatively encouraging police brutality.” As if to prove her mentality, it’s not as though she affords other police departments this same kind of wrongful protection, this same kind of cover. Consider her handling of Officer George Bubaris, of the
Mount Kisco Police Department, earlier this year. She sent her assistant DAs, including James McCarty, into court, “with their tanks on empty,” believing she could convince a jury that Bubaris was responsible for the death of Rene Perez, without a shred of evidence.
Consider, too, the secretive and disrespectful handling, from the very start, of the killing of Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher
Ridley, her total manipulation of the grand jury; refusing to let them hear what many eyewitnesses, within a few feet of the incident,
reported; leaking out information on Officer Martin, while withholding information on his three fellow County Police Officers; redacting
portions of videotapes, and not releasing any tapes to the public. And, finally, refusing to return Christopher’s clothing and personal
effects to his family.
Back on August 14th we declared that the FBI and Justice Department needed to get involved. We asked, “How many more innocent men, women, and children must suffer under this sick, unjust scheme before DA DiFiore is apprehended and removed?” It is not unreasonable
to conclude, in light of her continuing, and predictable, cover up of Yonkers Police Brutality, that she has become a menace to public safety.
Numerous other innocent individuals have had violent experiences with the Yonkers Police, over the last three years, similar to what Marquez and Florim reported, with similar, if not identical, outcomes.
It is known to The Guardian that James McCarty, one of DiFiore’s top-level assistants, has been hard at work engaged in prosecutorial
misconduct, over the last two months, since the ling of Rui Florim’s civil action in federal court, attempting to intimidate and influence witnesses, amongst other forbidden acts. It is appalling that even when “caught red-handed”, such self-serving betrayors of the Public
Trust escape, free from any consequences.
One who would enforce the law must live by it!
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