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  28º

Updated 07/28/2010 08:02 PM

No Charges For Paterson In Aide Scandal

By: Erin Billups

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Governor David Paterson says he has no comments yet about a report released Wednesday by the former state chief judge following a four-month long investigation, which did not recommend that criminal charges be filed against the governor in connection with a domestic violence case involving a former aide.

In her report, former State Chief Judge Judith Kaye says Paterson did not break the law when he contacted Sherr-Una Booker, a woman who was allegedly abused by Paterson former top aide David Johnson.

However, the report says Paterson and the State Police executed "errors in judgment" for getting involved in the incident's aftermath.

"The governor relied solely on Johnson as a basis to make denials to the media," said Kaye in the report. "It is hard to reconcile this conduct with the governor's expressed commitment to the cause of domestic violence prevention."

Kaye's report also recommends possible charges against Johnson relating to the domestic abuse incident. The Bronx district attorney is currently reviewing whether to pursue charges.

Asked by reporters in Midtown to comment on the report Wednesday, Paterson said he had not yet read the report.

"I'd like to thank Judge Kaye and the attorney general for continuing the investigation that I instituted on February 24. I can't comment on it because I haven't read the report yet, " said Paterson.

The governor said he would give comments after he read the entire report.

Kaye was asked to take over the investigation by State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who recused himself from the case in March, shortly before he announced his candidacy for governor.

The investigation included taken sworn testimony of more than 30 witnesses, including the governor, and reviewing electronic and documentary evidence like 911 audio recordings, travel and medical records, and tens of thousands of emails.

Johnson is accused of brutally attacking Booker on Halloween night of last year. Booker filed charges, but then failed to show up to court – a day after Paterson contacted her by phone.

However, Kaye found no evidence that the governor had committed witness tampering.

The report also says Paterson called Booker again after a New York Times story broke in February about the governor's possible involvement with the incident, and left a voice mail saying, "I hope you remember that I was not trying to make you do anything, and I hope your lawyer will do something to help me here, because this doesn't look good for me, and I wasn't in this."

The fallout in the Booker case prompted Paterson to announce that he would not seek a full term in office this fall, paving the way for Cuomo.

Some Albany lawmakers said that Paterson called a special legislative session for the state budget Wednesday to distract attention from the release of Kaye's report, but Paterson said that was simply not true.

"The Legislature always finds a reason why they're the victim, when in fact the people of the State of New York are the victims," said Paterson. "They are the ones who are now approaching 120 days late on a budget. And every excuse [says] everything happens because no one is respecting these legislators. Apparently not enough of them have gotten here to take any action. They left before July 4th."

Kaye is still investigating charges that the governor improperly obtained Yankees World Series tickets last year, and then lied about it under oath.