28 October 2021: Cuomo Charged with "Forcible Touching" in Criminal Misdemeanor

Cuomo accused of forcible touching in criminal complaint

This report is from the Associated Press, but was covered in the Albany Times-Union, which presumably has good contacts within the Albany County prosecutor's and sheriff's offices:

A criminal complaint filed by a police investigator with a court in Albany has accused former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of committing a misdemeanor sex crime, though there was confusion Thursday over whether the document was made public by mistake.

The one-page complaint, filed by an investigator with the Albany County Sheriff's Office, 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, of Albany, quoted unnamed officials as saying the complaint had been issued “prematurely" before a final decision had been made about whether Cuomo would face charges.

The office of Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple didn't directly address that report, but confirmed in a statement that a criminal summons had been issued by Albany City Court ordering Cuomo to appear there at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 17....

The crime of forcible touching is punishable in New York by up to year in jail and up to three years probation, with discretion for the court to impose lesser penalties including no jail time....

The complaint filed by the sheriff's department investigator said evidence in the case included police BlackBerry messages, cell phone records, building security records and a text message from Cuomo's mobile phone. The complaint was signed by the officer Monday and stamped by the court as received Thursday.

The report also captures the reaction of NY State Attorney General Letitia James:

James, whose office is not involved in the criminal investigation of Cuomo, issued a statement saying her civil probe had been conducted “without fear or favor.”

“The criminal charges brought today against Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching further validate the findings in our report,” she said.

James is said to be close to announcing that she will run for governor, multiple people with knowledge of her plans have told The Associated Press.

And here we thought it was going to be a relatively slow news day....