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An arraignment for the sex-crime case against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been postponed after an Albany County district attorney wrote a letter saying the criminal complaint against Cuomo is “potentially defective.”
In a letter to a judge in Albany, New York, District Attorney David Soares criticized the Albany County sheriff for “unilaterally and inexplicably” filing the complaint against Cuomo without his knowledge while his own investigation was still active, according to the New York Times.
Soares wrote that the complaint was “potentially defective” due to the fact it did not include a sworn statement by the victim, Brittany Commisso, allowing the prosecution to proceed.
Soares also contended that parts of Commisso’s testimony were excluded and suggested one part of the complaint misstated the laws the law that was potentially violated.
Soares, a Democrat, asked for the arraignment to be moved from November 17 to at least January 7 “to reduce the risk of a procedural dismissal of this case” and to allow time for the district attorney “to continue with our independent and unbiased review of the facts in this case.”
The original one-page complaint, filed by an investigator with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, late last month, accused Cuomo of putting his hand under a woman’s shirt on Dec. 7, 2020. The document didn’t name the woman but Cuomo had been publicly accused of groping an aide, Brittany Commisso, at the executive mansion in Albany last year around that date.
The office of the county’s district attorney, David Soares, which would handle any prosecution and was involved in the investigation, issued a statement saying it had been caught off guard by the filing.
“Like the rest of the public, we were surprised to learn today that a criminal complaint was filed in Albany City Court by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office against Andrew Cuomo,” it said. “The Office of Court Administration has since made that filing public. Our office will not be commenting further on this case.”
The Times Union newspaper quoted unnamed officials as saying the complaint had been issued “prematurely” before a final decision had been made about whether Cuomo would face charges.
Cuomo, a Democrat, resigned from office in August over multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
Associated Press contributed to this report