Judge Bars Crawford Case Tape

(adapted from The Times Herald-Record October 18, 2007)

By Oliver Mackson

New City - A judge yesterday threw a one-two punch that could hurt the corruption case against two officials from the Town of Crawford.

Judge Victor J. Alfieri barred prosecutors from using taped conversations, made by a key prosecution witness, as evidence when the two officials go on trial later this month. Alfieri also described that same witness as "incredible," which isn't a compliment. It means that the judge doesn't consider the witness, Crawford businessman Kevin McGill, to be credible when it comes to vouching for the authenticity of the tape.

A spokesman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office declined to discuss the judge's ruling.
McGill, who owns a dog-training school on Route 17K, has accused Councilman Daniel Flanick, Building Inspector John Calaca and former Police Advisory Board member James Detch of using their power to coerce him into dropping a harassment complaint against a friend of Flanick in the fall of 2005. The three officials were indicted on March 1, after an investigation by the district attorney's office.
Detch has already "flipped," pleading guilty weeks after the indictment to a minor corruption charge, in exchange for testifying against Flanick and Calaca during a trial later this month.
Defense lawyers are trying to convince Alfieri not to let the case get that far. They contend that the indictment is tainted because the grand jury heard the same tape whose authenticity has now been questioned by the judge.

In yesterday's decision, Alfieri said the tape that the grand jury heard is "clearly" not the same tape that prosecutors played during a pretrial hearing last month, when defense lawyers challenged the tape's audibility and McGill testified about how he made the tape.
"I think what it (the decision) does is give impetus to our prior application, for the judge to re-examine the grand jury minutes - with an eye toward dismissing the indictment," said Bernard D. Brady, Calaca's lawyer.

Alfieri, who's a Rockland County Court judge, will discuss the case further with defense lawyers and prosecutors on Monday. He's hearing the case because Orange County's three criminal court judges recused themselves.

The tape contains conversations between McGill and Detch. Prosecutors contend that the tape helps to show how Detch acted as a go-between for the other two officials.