Statement from Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco:
Today the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office realized that its attempt to defend and minimize the outrageous misconduct of the lead prosecutor in altering material evidence presented to a Grand Jury was no longer going to work. So rather than go down with the ship, the District Attorney completely reversed course, suddenly agreeing to dismiss the indictment against the Datre family, to entirely forego prosecution of multiple charges, and to remove the lead prosecutor from the case.
From day one, the Datres have vehemently denied any wrongdoing, maintained that the prosecution against them was political in nature, biased, and unscrupulous. The fact the indictment was obtained after critical documents were altered by prosecutors, proves the Datres were correct. This prosecution should now end and we will fight as long as necessary to clear the Datre family’s name.
The unethical and likely criminal conduct of a member or members of the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office is outrageous and must be investigated by a special prosecutor.
The public is entitled to know how many prosecutors were involved or had knowledge of the wrongdoing and remained silent. Only an independent investigation will answer these questions.
The District Attorney should cooperate fully with any such investigations, should welcome the appointment of a special prosecutor, and should step aside on the Datre cases.
While the District Attorney may attempt to tout today’s concessions as evidence of their good faith, we note that they have admitted only what they could not deny. They had no choice but to agree to a dismissal of an indictment that was, at least in part, fraudulently procured. The DA has consented to the legally necessary remedy of dismissal not for the sake of fairness, but for the strategic purpose of avoiding disclosure of the Grand Jury minutes to which we otherwise would have been entitled, and which we have good reason to believe would reveal further — and even more egregious — misconduct. Too many cover-ups have already clouded this case. It is time for an independent special prosecutor to take a clean look at the evidence. It is time for the truth to be revealed.
