Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Startling Sidebar: Brooklyn Judge Gave Political Advice to Borough’s Top Prosecutor - ProPublica

Startling Sidebar: Brooklyn Judge Gave Political Advice to Borough’s Top Prosecutor - ProPublica:
by Joe Sexton
The correspondence between the senior Brooklyn judge and the longtime district attorney is remarkable even for the often troubled world of Brooklyn politics. On a near daily basis, the judge advised the district attorney—on how to get re-elected, on how to deal with his own legal problems, and, perhaps most importantly, on how to manage any damage from an investigation into possibly wrongful convictions won by the district attorney's office over the years.
The judge is Barry Kamins, the man who during the correspondence was in charge of all criminal courts in Brooklyn. The district attorney is Charles J. Hynes, who served as the top prosecutor in Brooklyn for 24 years before, despite Kamins's campaign advice, he lost his bid for a seventh term last fall. Their communications became public Monday when the New York City Department of Investigation issued a damning 27-page report into how Hynes financed and conducted his 2013 re-election campaign.
Kamins, who had recently been promoted to an even more senior job in the New York State court system, has been relieved of his duties, and it is possible he will ultimately retire. Hynes could face criminal charges, and the office he once ran could find itself the target of more investigations.

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