BETSY COMBIER
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Betsy.combier@gmail.com

District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.
One Hogan Place
New York, NY 10013

Dear Mr. Vance, March 21, 2010


I am writing a story about a disturbing series of incidents that occurred at the District Attorney’s office over the past year, and respectfully ask for a detailed response from you as to the justification for the actions described herein. Full disclosure: my dad, the Hon. P. Hodges Combier, worked as Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York under Louis Lefkowitz for 35 years. I am, therefore, well aware of many of the procedures used by your office to access information and act as a publicly funded officer of the State of New York. Mr. Galison’s story appears to represent a departure from those procedures, and indeed a willful, officially sanctioned violation of his constitutional rights under color of law.

The evidence presented by Mr. Galison seems to conclusively comport to the following account. If you have any evidence that contradicts Mr. Galison’s account or justifies the actions of the DA in this matter, I would like to present it in my article. Likewise, f you possess any evidence or information that Mr. Galison’s evidence is fraudulent or misleading, I hope you will present it to me.

Mr. William Galison, a United States citizen, has been permanently denied access to your office and numerous other government offices, upon threat of physical harm, arrest and imprisonment without receiving due process of law, or having any charges or allegations filed against him that he is aware of.

Mr. Galison has been barred from entering the District Attorney’s building at One Hogan Place in Manhattan as a result of his filing a criminal complaint against a retired Supreme Court Judge in 2006. When, over the course of two years, he received no written confirmation of the complaint and no update as to its disposition or investigation, Mr. Galison visited the DA’s office in December 2008 to ascertain the status of his complaint. While standing outside the DA’s office in the hallway of 100 Center street, he was illegally detained by two operatives of the DA’s office, one NYPD DA squad detective and one DA Investigator. These two men denied Mr. Galison entrance to the DA’s office, threatened him with physical harm, arrest and summary incarceration if he did not leave, and violently ejected him from the building.

Mr. Galison recorded the entire incident, from the moment he entered 100 Center Street, to after he was thrown out of that building.

The tape proves establishes that:

-Mr. Galison neither did nor said anything belligerent, provocative nor inappropriate in any way during the time he was in 100 Center street, and never set foot in the District Attorney’s office during the incident;

-Mr. Galison was told by the Court Clerk to go to room 732 to obtain information on the status of his complaint, and that “he had every right” to do so;

- Denise Rivera, the NYPD officer at the seventh floor gate lied to Mr. Galison numerous times, telling him that the DA could not give him information on the case’s status and that room 732 was used for inmates to obtain their clothing after incarceration;

- the two officers, Detective Carlo Fargnoli and Investigator Ed Taachi grabbed Mr. Galison by his arms without justification or provocation despite Mr. Galison’s protest;

- Mr. Galison asked the officers numerous times why he was being asked to leave, but was only told, “because I am telling you to leave”, and “because we are the police”.

- Fargnoli and Taachi threatened Mr. Galison with severe physical harm, arrest and incarceration if he did not leave;

- Fargnoli and Tacchi criminally coerced Mr. Galison by forcefully preventing him from going to the Court Clerk’s office in Room 150, in 100 Center street;

When Mr. Galison went back to the DA’s office over a year later on March 17th 2010 to file a separate criminal complaint, he was prevented from entering 1 Hogan Place by the armed guards in the vestibule. He was threatened with arrest by Sergeant Rende and Investigator Anfang. Again Mr. Galison recorded the incident. This tape shows that:

- Mr. Galison explained his Constitutional right to redress and the Constitutional tenet of no punishment without due process of law;

- Sgt Rende told Galison that he was “playing games” when he asserted his right to access to a public service;

- Sgt. Rende refused to tell Galison who had given the order to forbid him entry;

- When Mr. Galison asked why he was forbidden from visiting Special Prosecutions, Mr. Anfang answered “because they don’t want to see you”. When Mr. Galison asked Mr. Anfang if he knew that he was committing a Federal RICO felony by denying Galison his Constitutional rights under color of law, Mr. Anfang replied that he did;

Mr. Anfang told Mr. Galison that he was prohibited forever from access to the DA’s office because he had become belligerent at some previous visit. The falsehood of that allegation can be proved by the recordings of every encounter Galison had with the DA, and by the security camera footage from each of those encounters.

As a reporter of corruption and fraud, I question this eternal ban from your building of Mr. Galison. I am not an Attorney, I am simply an American citizen who is a resident of Manhattan, however I believe that even if Galison had been belligerent, and even if he had been arrested and incarcerated for being so, there is no provision in the United States Constitution for his being permanently banned from public buildings.

Convicted murderers walk in and out of the DA’s office every day.

Mr. Galison’s only “crime” was that he had the audacity to believe that the Constitution of the United States would be honored by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

The acts of your officers are in direct violation of the first, fifth and fourteenth amendments of the US Constitution.

The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and the freedom to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances”. Both of these freedoms have been denied Mr. Galison in regard to his right to be heard at the DA’s office.

The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no citizen will be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

The Constitution grants Mr. Galison and all citizens the liberty to enter a public building as follows:

“No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”

According to our Constitution a citizen of the United States has the right to enter a public building for a legitimate reason; and, can expect to have his/her rights honored, namely

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

5th Amendment

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

14th Amendment

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Mr. Galison has been banned not only from visiting the District Attorney’s office, but from the six Government agencies in 100 Center Street. He has banned from these public institutions without legitimate cause, without due process, and indefinitely, presumably for the rest of his life, he was told, by the people who work for you directly, and represent your policies to the public.

I would respectfully request a detailed explanation for this, on or before Friday, April 2, 2010, to my email address at betsy.combier@gmail.com. If you do not respond by this date, I will assume that you have no justification for the actions described above, and I will inform Mr. Galison of this on April 2, 2010.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter,
Betsy Combier

RAMPANT CORRUPTION AT THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

The attached audio clip was recorded on December 30, 2008 outside the gate of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, 7th floor, 100 Center St.

I was at the DA to check the status of a criminal complaint against a Judge (Herman Cahn) who had committed various felonies and misdemeanors, including tampering with evidence.

The morning before the recorded incident occurred, I had gone to 1 Hogan Place, which is the entrance to the DA's office. I was told by the guard there that I was on a "list" of people banned from the DA's office, and that I could not enter. No reason was given.

Although 1 Hogan place shares a building with 100 Center street, they are entirely distinct and have separate access. 100 Center street houses numerous Government agencies, and several courtrooms.

Having been denied access to the DA's office, I went to the clerk at 100 Center street, and asked how I could obtain information on the status of the complaint. The clerk told me to go to room 732, where the records of complaints are kept.

Room 732 is in the DA's office, but is accessed through a guarded gate on the seventh floor of 100 Center street. The clerk told me that I had "Every right" to go to the DA's office to check my complaint.

The following recorded conversation took place at the gate.

The NYPD officer at the gate told lie after lie, trying to dissuade me from checking the status of the case.

When I failed to be dissuaded by her nonsensical arguments, she rang an alarm, and two thugs from the DA's office; NYPD Detective Carlo Fargnoli and DA investigator Ed Tacchi came out from the DA's office, threatened to beat and imprison me if I didn't leave 100 Center street. and proceeded to grab me by the arms, force me to go down the elevator and violently threw me into the street.

Later, I complained to Mr Terrance Mulderig of the the District Attorney's "internal affairs" office. He DENIED that there anyone named Fargnoli or Tacchi worked at the DA's office. The NYPD's internal affairs also denied that Fargnoli was a NYPD employee, but he is: NYPD Detective on the District Attorney squad.

Finally, I called the operator and asked to speak with Fargnoli and Tacchi. I was connected to their extensions. No action has been taken against any of the perpetrators. I am denied access to ALL of the public agencies and services in 100 Center Street as well as the DA's office. I cannot enter either building for fear of being beaten and imprisoned.

Ultimately, I complained about the DA to the Manhattan FBI, who told me there was no federal crime involved. In fact, there are numerous distinct violations of Title 18 USC, as well as "Pattern and Practice" and "Violations under Color of Law" which fall EXCLUSIVELY under the jurisdiction of the FBI.

Please consider that I am a well off, white, middle aged, male. If these thugs can deprive me of my civil liberties with utter impunity, what chance does a poor black single mother have to find justice in this toilet of a State?

This is the legacy of Robert Morganthau's District Attorney.

Will Cyrus Vance do any better? I wrote Mr. Vance two months ago with this audio attached, and have heard nothing. I understand he is busy, but he should have an assistant contact me.

There are criminals running his office.

The most shocking aspect of this recording is that the perpetrators are so utterly confident of their impunity, offering the careful spelling of their names, because they know that they are "untouchable".

I played harmonica on the score of the Movie "The Untouchables", but Elliot Ness was "Uncorruptable". These thugs are just "Unaccountable".

I have many colleagues who have suffered worse than I at the hands of these criminals. The DA has destroyed and altered evidence, ignored Police reports, held secret Grand juries and God only knows how many poeople they have killed. Who would investigate? They would make Joseph Stalin proud.

Cyrus, you made a lot of promises to clean up the DA. Are you a man of your word?

Stay tuned.

Will Galison

"When the Swamp gets Drained"
copyright 2008 wgalison

I can be reached at wgalison@aol.com
Category: News & Politics

Corruption at the Appellate Division, First Department Disciplinary Department (DDC)

The First Departmental Disciplinary Committee (DDC) is the body that is set up to investigate discipline bad lawyers in New York State. William Galisn filed a complaint three years ago against Leon Friedman esq (head of Civil Rights law at Hofstra University) . He has written nearly twenty letters over the past three years trying to determine the status of the complaint and have never received an answer. To this day no action has been taken. This is typical of the DDC's pattern of whitewashing complaints, that allows lawyers to break ethical and criminal laws and cause inestimable damage to many citizens like Mr. Galison.

In this video Mr. Galison is told by a hulking DDC employee (who refuses to give his name) that he must make his requests for information in writing. Galison responds that he has written for years and has never received a response. The thug will not tell Galison when an answer will be sent, and repeats, "you're done, Mr. Galison". He falsely tells Galison that filming is illegal, calls Galisn a "security threat" and threatens to call security, but never does, because Galison does nothing wrong.

In addition to destroying countless lives this DDC corruption has enabled the crooked dealings that has resulted in the global financial crisis. It also results in lawyers being the most despised and least trusted professional group in the country.
Category: Nonprofits & Activism

Milberg's New Hire
The plaintiffs firm has an eye for talent.
Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2009
LINK

Plaintiffs lawyers seem to operate on a different ethical plane than mere mortals, in case you hadn't noticed. Consider the latest news from the notorious Milberg law firm.

The class-action giant only last year settled a federal indictment over charges it had run a 30-year kickback scheme. The firm paved the way for this nonprosecution agreement by repudiating three partners -- Melvyn Weiss, David Bershad and Steven Schulman. Milberg claimed it had been in the dark as to their "illegal activities," and all three men later pleaded guilty to felonies.
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Only later did we learn and report that Milberg the law firm had agreed to pay indicted partner Melvyn Weiss a slice of the firm's future lawsuit winnings, and was also picking up his legal fees. The supposedly remorseful firm made sure its founding felon would receive this cash even if he went to prison -- which he did. The Justice Department later admitted it had inexplicably sanctioned this sweetheart deal.

Meantime, as a felon, Melvyn Weiss had to obtain court approval for any fees for legal services he provided. In July of 2008, New York Supreme Court Judge Herman Cahn was asked to pronounce judgment on the Milberg payoff. A month later he agreed to let Melvyn Weiss have his booty, even as the judge acknowledged that law firms are generally barred from sharing legal fees with nonlawyers, and that Melvyn Weiss had forfeited his right to practice law.

And now for the latest news: In December, Judge Cahn retired from the bench. Last week, the renamed Milberg LLP announced it had hired a "distinguished" new attorney: Herman Cahn. In its press release, the firm listed his most notable cases, though omitting any on which he'd ruled on its behalf.

To recap: A class-action firm's name partners are nailed in a 30-year fraud. Class-action firm rewards lead perpetrator with share of future earnings. State judge sanctions the earnings deal. Class-action firm hires state judge. We'll let our readers decide what they think of this "fact pattern," as a plaintiffs lawyer might put it.