Letters From The Inside -- Justice for Jack

Summer 2005

Greetings friends! For the last month or so I periodically wondered exactly what topic I was going to write about for this edition. I should have known if I waited long enough one of the corrupt soldiers from Rensselaer County would end up making the news, thus giving me an interesting subject to write about "From the Inside."

Before I get into the latest round of disgrace in Rensselaer County, I want to just take a moment and touch base on the most recent development in my case. On or about May 25, 2005, the NYS Appellate Division denied my request to appeal Judge McGrath's denial of my 440 motion. Now, if I said I wasn't disappointed I wouldn't exactly be telling the truth. The fact of the matter is that I am very disappointed. This same Court has turned over cases from Rensselaer County; more specifically, convictions handled by the current District Attorney, Patricia DeAngelis, for the identical conduct exhibited in the courtroom during both of my trials. So one has to ask why wasn't I granted the same relief as these other cases?

Folks, our so-called justice system is beyond funny, it's frightening. Although our constitution provides that all of us are to receive equal protection under the law, that protection is more or less left up to the powerful and unchallenged people in the black robes. If this makes no sense to you, it's because it's not supposed to.

So what is next? Well, we will now file what is called a Coram Nobis. In simple terms, this is a claim of ineffective appellate counsel. Essentially what we will be saying is that my direct appeal attorney failed to address the issues that were improper and resulted in my conviction; for example, prosecutorial misconduct. Our claim is that had our attorney argued that point on direct appeal, my conviction would have been overturned.

This motion will be submitted to the very judges who just denied my 440 Leave to Appeal. While that may seem futile, there is a legal reason for this. Starting with Judge McGrath's denial, he basically said that the 440 motion that we put before him was based on issues inappropriate for the county court venue. He stated that the issues in the 440 should be brought to the court in a Coram Nobis, which is only heard in the Appellate Court. When we appealed to the Appellate Division recently we were asking them to disagree with Judge McGrath. They did not. So this means we will now submit the issues before the court of proper venue.

The good news is this: neither Judge McGrath nor the Appellate Division denied my motion on the merits. Which means they never said my issues did not rise to the level of a reversal, only that we improperly presented them. The arguments will now be presented in the Coram Nobis. In a recent conversation, my attorney, E Stewart Jones, told me he is unable to predict a time frame for submission of the Coram Nobis. So, as we have done so often in the past 8 years, we sit back and wait.

Now, on to my featured thought. I recently learned that the former Rensselaer County District Attorney Ken Bruno has made the news again. This time the story was one from his personal life: his divorce from his estranged wife. From what I understand, several newspapers ran stories quoting allegations made by Mrs. Bruno. According to the reports, Mrs. Bruno claimed that Ken Bruno engaged in conduct and behavior that, if true, would certainly be illegal. It seems the alleged behavior of Mr. Bruno was meant to serve one purpose only and that would be to instill fear into Mrs. Bruno. The alleged intimidating acts raised by Mrs. Bruno are nothing short of spousal abuse--a crime. Such crimes are the reason that the New York State Department of Corrections has a specific program for those convicted of domestic violence crimes.

Many of you probably already know this but for the benefit of those who don't, Ken Bruno is the son of New York State Majority Leader, Joseph Bruno. Back in 1997 when I was originally arrested for the allegations of my bitter ex-wife, Ken Bruno was the Rensselaer County District Attorney. At that time, he had not been out of law school for long before he was obviously assisted into the Rensselaer County chief prosecutor position by someone. The decision to arrest me for the baseless allegations of my ex-wife rested solely in the hands of Ken Bruno.

Ironically, 1997 was not my first experience with Mr. Bruno. As most of you know, from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s, I owned a boat business in Wynantskill, NY. Sometime in the early 1990s I received in my service department a small boat that belonged to the Bruno family. One day as I neared the completion of service on this boat, this brand new Mustang convertible pulled into my parking lot. Out steps Ken Bruno. Of course, keep in mind folks at that time I had no idea who Ken Bruno or Senator Bruno was. Anyhow, Ken Bruno was there to arrange delivery of the boat to their camp, which was located on Dyken Pond in Rensselaer County. Once he instructed me where to deliver their craft, I informed Ken Bruno that I believed the area he was referring to was restricted and the launching of boats was prohibited. He responded by asking me, "Do you know who my father is?" I replied that I did not and he said, "My father is Senator Joseph Bruno and I can do anything I want." At that time I thought the kid was exaggerating a bit, but with time I would wonder otherwise.

So getting back to the recent allegations against Ken Bruno, it seems that the Senator's son has denied them. I am not able to give the exact quote from Mr. Bruno because the article is still on its way to me in the mail, but in sum and substance Ken Bruno said he was innocent of the allegations and that his bitter ex-wife should not be believed.

My, my, what do we have here friends? Mr. Bruno, welcome to my world! Could this possibly be part of that proverbial "full circle?" I see that Mr. Bruno suddenly finds himself in the position of having to deny allegations being made against him in a classic case of he said/she said. This definitely has a familiar ring to it!

Now, I refuse to do to Ken Bruno what he did to me, which is to pass judgment on allegations without evidence. And at the same time if what Mrs. Bruno says is true, my sympathy goes out to her. I know all too well what its like to cross paths with the Brunos.

As for the allegations? Well, Mr. Bruno better hope that he is not dragged in for an "interview" by the credible and upstanding "investigators" Edmund Girtler and Steven Weber. And he better not expect to be allowed to call his attorney, no matter how often he asks. And he better watch out how he sits in his chair and be careful of his body language. And whatever he does, he better not look at the door. Oh, and he better forget about going out to his vehicle because leaving the room is not an option, though Girtler and Weber will swear otherwise. And should Mr. Bruno continue to stand by his innocence, he better hope Ms. Dancing DeAngelis has been put out to pasture, otherwise he can forget any shot at a fair trial.

Finally and most importantly, Ken Bruno really needs to stop denying these allegations. He needs to know there is a new thing created by "investigators" for use in cases where there is no evidence. It's called "admission by denial." And although he may think that sounds ridiculous, I am here to assure Mr. Bruno that it appears to carry some weight in the courtroom, at least in Rensselaer County courtrooms.

On the other hand, while this advice may be helpful to the average person, I should remember this is Ken Bruno that I am talking about. Perhaps what he said to me in my Wynantskill shop all those years ago is all he will need to get out of his current situation, "My dad is Senator Joseph Bruno and I can do anything I want."