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Judge tosses out rape case against City Councilman Dennis GallagherBY NICOLE BODE and DAVE GOLDINERDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Courtesy of the New York Daily News See next Thursday's Queens Courier for more information City Councilman Dennis Gallagher won a legal round Thursday when a judge tossed out the rape charge against him because prosecution tactics poisoned the grand jury. Authorities can still recharge and reindict the Queens Republican if they steer clear of the humiliating questions that "prejudiced" the first panel into indicting Gallagher, the judge said. "The prosecutor exceeded the limits of cross-examination in many instances and breached his duty," Supreme Court Judge Sheri Roman ruled. Gallagher, 43, said he was happy to be cleared - even if it is just for now. "I'm thankful to my family and friends, who have all stood by me during this very, very difficult time," Gallagher said, flanked by relatives and defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said prosecutors will present the case to a new grand jury. Gallagher, who faces 25 years in prison, is accused of raping a 52-year-old woman he picked up in a bar near his Middle Village office last summer. The woman told cops he offered to take her home, then took her to the office and attacked her. The married Gallagher has insisted the sex was consensual. The judge chided Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Applebaum for failing to stick to the facts of the sex case. Instead, he asked Gallagher embarrassing questions about his position as a married man and an elected official. "The grand jury proceedings were impaired to such an extent that prejudice to the defendant clearly resulted," Roman said in a 26-page ruling. The judge also cited a grand juror who was disturbed by the grilling. "From your questions, there was an attempt to make him look foolish," the juror complained to Applebaum. Still, the judge said there was enough evidence to support the charges against Gallagher. |
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of queenscourier.com.
Lorraine wrote on Jan 25, 2008 5:43 PM:
" Read your article on Pigeon Poop is dangerous by Elana Moriarty in the Jan 24th issue. I was really disturbed by the article. I have a neighbor who feeds about 100 pigeons if not more. The droppings are all over my property as at night they nest between my house and another neighbor. I also find dead pigeons. Have a petition signed with over 100 store owners and homeowners names regarding the matter. Called 311 and was told that it is not illegal to feed pigeons on your own property. Is this true? I would appreciate if you could answer this question for me. Also went to Councilman Gallagher, Bob Holden and also the Health Dept. No one seems to be able to do anything. This person said she will not stop feeding them and will pay any summons that she gets. She has a lot of money and does not care.
You can reach me at LorraineNY@aol.com
I would appreciate any advice you can give me in this matter.
\
"
You can reach me at LorraineNY@aol.com
I would appreciate any advice you can give me in this matter.
\
"
Frederick R. Bedell Jr. wrote on Jan 25, 2008 8:19 PM:
" The charges aganist the councilman ought to be reinstated. There is a victim here who had her rights violated and that must not be forgotten. "
Donald Jenner wrote on Jan 29, 2008 5:39 PM:
" In the January 23 number of Queens Courier, you publish an article by someone who works for a local exterminator agency, one Elana Moriarty. It would be helpful to note the errors in this article.
Moriarty claims "Ocular histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that eats away at the eyeball is just one of over sixty diseases that birds can transfer to humans." Histoplasmosis is caused by a common soil fungus; all gardeners are exposed to this regulary (it helps their plants grow). The New York City Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene observes that "high exposure" — more than usual cleanup activities, occurring only when very lazy people have let years of accumulation build up — is necessary for the spores in bird droppings to infect people. Ordinary care — hand washing after cleanup, e. g. — is more than adequate caution.
Moriarty claims "Directly after last summer’s collapse of the Minnesota Bridge, readers heard about the structural damage that droppings and their acidic nature can cause." This canard was lofted by the rather foolish Simcha Felder, from the city's 44th councilmanic district; he has acknowledged deliberately misquoting his putative source, who has denied any such claim. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and other investigators have found that the bridge collapse resulted from poor engineering and the use of inadequate truss-plates — nothing to do with pigeons or bird dropping, in short.
Moriarty claims "Still, beyond avian flu and West Nile virus, diseases from birds are often glossed over." Avian flu has yet to be transmitted to the Americas. There is limited evidence that pigeons are vulnerable to avian flu in any case; one reputable scientist observes "Pigeons do not get avian influenza and don't carry the virus." [Dr. Cornelius Kiley, DVM, Canadian Food Inspection Agency] The evidence on West Nile Virus is mixed, but the most recent data indicates that pigeons, in particular, are neither vectors in themselves nor reservoirs for this disease. The one disease that was previously connected to pigeons — C. neaformens — is no longer considered to be thus connected, in recent Center for Disease Control announcements.
Moriarty has a litany of diseases that she trots out, presumably as reasons to employ the exterminators that employ her. Contrary to the claims of this press release, published as if real in the Queens Courier, it is good to consider the view of public health scientists:
"The New York City Department of Health has no documented cases of communicable disease transmitted from pigeons to humans." - Dr. Manuel Vargas, New York City Department of Health.
"Pigeons are not a public health hazard. Nobody in public health is losing any sleep over pigeons." - Dr. Joel McCullough, Medical Director, Environmental Health, Chicago Department of Public Health.
"[...the Arizona Department of Health Services does] not have any documented human cases of disease which have been definitively linked to outdoor pigeons or pigeon droppings. When cases of diseases are reported (and by law [certain bird related zoonoses are] reportable diseases), VBZD staff conduct complete investigations to confirm the diagnosis and identify the source of infection. …Our case investigation data gathered so far, would suggest that pigeons are not significant as a cause of human disease in Arizona."
“We don’t see pigeon-related-disease problems...” “I don’t think they’re seeing them anywhere..." - Bill Kottkamp, Supervisor, Vector Control, St. Louis County Health Department
In short, Moriarty seeks to scare people in to hiring her employers. Apparently there are people foolish enough to listen to such drivel, without attention to fact.
Pigeons are nice birdies. Each of them poops a bit (something like a tablespoon or so a day, from what I can observe, having cared for a few injured birds). It cleans up pretty easily (a good rainstorm does the job — or 15 minutes with a garden hose). As fellow-urbanites, these birds are models of tolerance (other birds cohabit with pigeons in the same territory). Pigeons even like people — they'd even be nice to Moriarty, I suspect, if she offered them peanuts (though in her case, she'd probably lace the nuts with cyanide — or avitrol, even if it is illegal in New York City). Most New Yorkers realize this — always have; they feed the birds, they generally think the birds are an asset and if poop is a bit inæsthetic, well, adults can deal with this.
Shame on the Queens Courier staff; get yourself a better advertiser. "
Moriarty claims "Ocular histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that eats away at the eyeball is just one of over sixty diseases that birds can transfer to humans." Histoplasmosis is caused by a common soil fungus; all gardeners are exposed to this regulary (it helps their plants grow). The New York City Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene observes that "high exposure" — more than usual cleanup activities, occurring only when very lazy people have let years of accumulation build up — is necessary for the spores in bird droppings to infect people. Ordinary care — hand washing after cleanup, e. g. — is more than adequate caution.
Moriarty claims "Directly after last summer’s collapse of the Minnesota Bridge, readers heard about the structural damage that droppings and their acidic nature can cause." This canard was lofted by the rather foolish Simcha Felder, from the city's 44th councilmanic district; he has acknowledged deliberately misquoting his putative source, who has denied any such claim. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and other investigators have found that the bridge collapse resulted from poor engineering and the use of inadequate truss-plates — nothing to do with pigeons or bird dropping, in short.
Moriarty claims "Still, beyond avian flu and West Nile virus, diseases from birds are often glossed over." Avian flu has yet to be transmitted to the Americas. There is limited evidence that pigeons are vulnerable to avian flu in any case; one reputable scientist observes "Pigeons do not get avian influenza and don't carry the virus." [Dr. Cornelius Kiley, DVM, Canadian Food Inspection Agency] The evidence on West Nile Virus is mixed, but the most recent data indicates that pigeons, in particular, are neither vectors in themselves nor reservoirs for this disease. The one disease that was previously connected to pigeons — C. neaformens — is no longer considered to be thus connected, in recent Center for Disease Control announcements.
Moriarty has a litany of diseases that she trots out, presumably as reasons to employ the exterminators that employ her. Contrary to the claims of this press release, published as if real in the Queens Courier, it is good to consider the view of public health scientists:
"The New York City Department of Health has no documented cases of communicable disease transmitted from pigeons to humans." - Dr. Manuel Vargas, New York City Department of Health.
"Pigeons are not a public health hazard. Nobody in public health is losing any sleep over pigeons." - Dr. Joel McCullough, Medical Director, Environmental Health, Chicago Department of Public Health.
"[...the Arizona Department of Health Services does] not have any documented human cases of disease which have been definitively linked to outdoor pigeons or pigeon droppings. When cases of diseases are reported (and by law [certain bird related zoonoses are] reportable diseases), VBZD staff conduct complete investigations to confirm the diagnosis and identify the source of infection. …Our case investigation data gathered so far, would suggest that pigeons are not significant as a cause of human disease in Arizona."
“We don’t see pigeon-related-disease problems...” “I don’t think they’re seeing them anywhere..." - Bill Kottkamp, Supervisor, Vector Control, St. Louis County Health Department
In short, Moriarty seeks to scare people in to hiring her employers. Apparently there are people foolish enough to listen to such drivel, without attention to fact.
Pigeons are nice birdies. Each of them poops a bit (something like a tablespoon or so a day, from what I can observe, having cared for a few injured birds). It cleans up pretty easily (a good rainstorm does the job — or 15 minutes with a garden hose). As fellow-urbanites, these birds are models of tolerance (other birds cohabit with pigeons in the same territory). Pigeons even like people — they'd even be nice to Moriarty, I suspect, if she offered them peanuts (though in her case, she'd probably lace the nuts with cyanide — or avitrol, even if it is illegal in New York City). Most New Yorkers realize this — always have; they feed the birds, they generally think the birds are an asset and if poop is a bit inæsthetic, well, adults can deal with this.
Shame on the Queens Courier staff; get yourself a better advertiser. "
John Smythe wrote on Jan 31, 2008 10:59 PM:
" Who is I. Pariah? I saw this somewhere and I find it very strange:
"Courier reply:
"WE DO NOT APOLOGIZE FOR OP-ED PAGE OPINIONS.
"OPINIONS ARE ALWAYS BIASED!
"OPINIONS ARE ALSO NOT ARTICLES...
"PIGEONS COST OUR CITY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR."
So far as I can tell, pigeons cost the city very little. If Councilman Felder gets his way, they will then cost a lot, though: A Pigeon Czar + office + staff + perqs = $1 million. Pigeon birth control + seed + staff to deliver it and see it is eaten + testing +... = about $10 million. Staff overtime to process $1000 tickets for people who feed birds = $incalculable — not to mention the union beefs about the lost donut eating and beer swilling time. Not to mention the lost revenue to Dunkin' Donut. None of those costs apply now.
There are costs to lazy landlords — the ones who employ merely decorative staff, who find wielding the garden hose and deck broom a too-tough chore, and therefore don't clean up each week. But how is this a city cost? Or is it the contention of the Queens Courier that landlords and mortgage lenders and other real estate operators and those in related fields are the predominant economic force in Queens?
Or perhaps it is that I. Pariah has some sort of close personal relationship with Elana?
Or has Elana bought her "Op-Ed" rights?
Very puzzling, but the sort of thing that suggests the Queens Courier is not a place to look for news and views? "
"Courier reply:
"WE DO NOT APOLOGIZE FOR OP-ED PAGE OPINIONS.
"OPINIONS ARE ALWAYS BIASED!
"OPINIONS ARE ALSO NOT ARTICLES...
"PIGEONS COST OUR CITY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR."
So far as I can tell, pigeons cost the city very little. If Councilman Felder gets his way, they will then cost a lot, though: A Pigeon Czar + office + staff + perqs = $1 million. Pigeon birth control + seed + staff to deliver it and see it is eaten + testing +... = about $10 million. Staff overtime to process $1000 tickets for people who feed birds = $incalculable — not to mention the union beefs about the lost donut eating and beer swilling time. Not to mention the lost revenue to Dunkin' Donut. None of those costs apply now.
There are costs to lazy landlords — the ones who employ merely decorative staff, who find wielding the garden hose and deck broom a too-tough chore, and therefore don't clean up each week. But how is this a city cost? Or is it the contention of the Queens Courier that landlords and mortgage lenders and other real estate operators and those in related fields are the predominant economic force in Queens?
Or perhaps it is that I. Pariah has some sort of close personal relationship with Elana?
Or has Elana bought her "Op-Ed" rights?
Very puzzling, but the sort of thing that suggests the Queens Courier is not a place to look for news and views? "
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