The Albany District Attorney has dropped the groping case against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying that although the allegations are credible and troubling, they wouldn’t be able to “prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“While many have an opinion regarding the allegations against the former Governor, the Albany County DA’s Office is the only one who has a burden to prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial. As such we have notified the Court that we are declining to prosecute this matter and requesting the charges filed by the Albany County Sheriff be dismissed,” district attorney David Soares said in a statement.
“I, like most New Yorkers, remain deeply troubled by allegations like the ones at issue here. Such conduct has no place in government or in any workplace,” the statement went on to say.
The decision to discontinue criminal prosecution is unrelated to any possible civil liability, which is beyond the scope of a District Attorney’s jurisdiction.
Andrew Cuomo’s arraignment was initially postponed from November until January after the Albany County district attorney told the court that the misdemeanor sex-crime complaint against the former New York governor is “potentially defective.”
In November, the Soares told the judge in Albany City court that the complaint was “unilaterally and inexplicably filed” by Albany Sheriff Craig Apple in the middle of an investigation by Soares’ office, and that it excluded key testimony from the alleged victim.
The complaint was filed in late October, two months after Cuomo resigned as New York’s governor following a damning report from the office of Attorney General Letitia James detailing multiple accusations of sexual harassment from nearly a dozen women. James announced last week that she will run for governor in 2022.
