June 15, 1998

Governor George E. Pataki
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Re:   Coercion by Bronx Public Official
        Robert Johnson, Bronx County District Attorney
        Request for Supersedure

Dear Governor Pataki:

I write to bring to your attention the admission by Bronx State Senator David Rosado that - with the apparent cooperation of Bronx County District Attorney Robert Johnson - he has engaged in a campaign of criminal coercion against former State Senator Pedro Espada. Under the circumstances, supersedure of Mr. Johnson in any investigation of Rosado and in a continuing prosecutorial witch-hunt of Senator Espada is appropriate. See Article IV, § 3 of the New York State Constitution and Executive Law § 63(2).

In support of this request, I submit the following physical evidence:

1. A video tape of a conversation in May 1998, between Rosado and Senator Espada's son, N.Y. City Councilor Pedro Gaultiere Espada;

2. A Friday, June 12, 1998 Daily News article in which Rosado admits his statements that Senator Espada would be indicted if he sought public office and could escape indictment if he chose not to run;3. A press release from Johnson's officer exonerating a Judge who was a functionary of the Bronx Democratic organization from prosecution even though the prosecutors found that he had engaged in criminal fraud;

4. A decision by Judge Bamberger dismissing the indictment of a Bronx Democratic organization opponent who was prosecuted for the same conduct for which Judge was exonerated.

5. A 1996 report from the New York Post reporting claims that Rosado engaged in criminal activity including extortion and arson. A tape recording of Rosado engaged in such was submitted to Johnson and ignored. A copy of that tape will be forwarded to you under separate cover.

Rosado's recorded statements constitute criminal coercion under New York State law. The Penal Law provides:

"§ 135.60. Coercion in the second degree

"A person is guilty of coercion in the second degree when he compels or induces a person to engage in conduct which the latter has a legal right to abstain from engaging in, or to abstain from engaging in conduct in which he has a legal right to engage, by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the actor or another will: * * * 4. Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him;…" (Emphasis supplied)

One outstanding issue is the personal involvement of the Bronx County District Attorney. While that must be resolved by further investigation, for the past two years, Mr. Johnson has been engaged in a personal vendetta against Senator Espada and his associates raising in their own right issues of prosecutorial abuse and selective prosecution.

The principal victims of Mr. Johnson's dereliction of duty have been former Senator Espada, his son Councilor Espada, their political supporters and the Comprehensive Community Development Corporation which does business as the Soundview Health Center, (Soundview"). Soundview is the largest and most effective health care organization in the South Bronx. However, because Senator Espada has dissented from the dictatorial rule of the Bronx Democratic bosses, District Attorney Johnson has been conducting a wide-ranging grand jury investigation of Senator Espada, his son and Soundview. Given the recorded admissions of Rosado, it's clear that the motivation for the investigation is not evidence of criminal activity, but Senator Espada's political activity.

Here are a few lowlights of Mr. Johnson's activities:

1. Children are held hostage. An administrator at Soundview has three sons who have been charged with crimes for which there is little evidence and to which, they have adamantly insisted on their innocence. Her attorney informed her that the charges against her children could be disposed of if she provided evidence incriminating Senator Espada. She has not done so because she has no such evidence.

2. Intimidation of campaign workers and contributors. Investigators have accosted scores of campaign workers. The investigators have made unfounded accusations about Senator Espada to his supporters, repeated salacious gossip and threatened reprisals if the campaign workers did not give information incriminating Senator Espada.

3. Abuse of Grand Jury process. Numerous individuals have been hauled before the Grand Jury on the flimsiest of pretexts. On one occasion, a woman who had received payment for distributing health care literature was accused of distributing campaign literature. When she mentioned she might have been with her 14-year daughter on one occasion when she distributed literature, the 14-year-old was then subpoenaed in an attempt to impeach her mother's testimony. Shades of Ken Starr. Prosecutorial abuse knows no party affiliation.

4. Vendors who do supply Soundview have been intimidated and harassed. Some clients have been told they'd be better off if they took their business elsewhere.

While opponents of the Bronx County Democratic organization are harassed at every step, those with connections to the same Democratic organization are allowed to roam free although engaging in the same or similar misconduct. There is convincing evidence that he is using the prosecutorial power of his office to enforce discipline in the Democratic Party and squelch political dissent. His oppressive investigations of opponents of the Democratic Party Bronx County organization violate their rights to freedom of speech, association and assembly. His failure to investigate and prosecute the likes of Rosado are another.

The selectiveness of his investigations is a matter of public record. In 1994, a Bronx Democratic Party District Leader Gerald Esposito was elected to the New York State Supreme Court even though evidence was overwhelming that he was voting from a fraudulent residence and according to the Village Voice had "not lived in the Bronx since 1966, preferring instead the leafier, homogenous surroundings of Westchester and Rockland counties." Although Johnson admitted the truth of the charges against Esposito, he publicly stated that he would use his "prosecutorial" discretion not to prosecute him. Mr. Esposito was a staunch member of the Bronx County Democratic organization and a supporter of Mr. Johnson. (See copy Johnson Press release submitted in appendix.)

Yet, against an opponent of the Bronx Democratic organization, Mr. Johnson has been rigorous in pursuing similar charges of false residence. Those charges were ultimately dismissed. (Opinion of Judge Bamberger, annexed; affirmed 223 A.D.2d 495; 637 N.Y.S.2d 93 (1^st Dept. 1996)). In one bizarre twist, the attorney for Mr. Ramos introduced the Johnson press release into evidence to support dismissal of the indictment.

The only important distinction between the charges brought against Mr. Ramos, and the conduct of Judge Esposito, is that Judge Esposito was a candidate of the Bronx Democratic organization.

The public prosecutor is a man of very personal power. It is not an illusory power but a very real ability to alter drastically the life of anyone touched by his office. He can convene a grand jury, call citizens to account, accuse and destroy. It is an intimate power touching the most private aspects of our lives. He can set us apart, hold us up to scorn and ridicule, render us unemployable, destroy a cherished reputation and turn to ashes the work of a lifetime. At his command, midnight raiders are loosed, crashing into our houses, rousing us from bed. He, more than anyone else, can set in motion the process by which freedom is irreparably wrenched from us by imprisonment.

He is given the power in order to protect us from the predators who lurk in our alleys and our boardrooms. How he chooses to exercise that power is a crucial test of democratic government. If he does well, our social fabric will be stronger, more resilient. If he does poorly, seeking not justice but vengeance, to project himself for personal aggrandizement, or to protect his friends from just retribution, we are much weaker as a nation, that much more likely as individuals to get what we can for ourselves.

The conduct of Senator Rosado and Mr. Johnson are an affront to the basic concept of equal justice under the law. Soundview, Senator Espada, his son and political supporters have no recourse but your power of supersedure.

It is respectfully requested on behalf of Soundview, its officers, directors and employees; Senator Espada and his son; and the people of the Bronx; that your supersede District Attorney Johnson in the investigation of Rosado's conduct, as well as for any claims of political corruption against either the Bronx Democratic organization or its political adversaries.
 

Sincerely yours,

JOHN C. KLOTZ

Encl.