It comes as no surprise that Rep. Michael Arcuri chose to endorse Scott McNamara for Oneida County district attorney yesterday. McNamara was Arcuri’s former deputy and got the nod to take over the office when Arcuri was elected to Congress.
What will be interesting to watch is how the endorsement impacts the ongoing investigation into Utica Police Officer Brandon Jones. The Utica O-D reported last week that no one wants to talk about the Jones case.
A reader e-mailed us to suggest the biggest beneficiary of Arcuri’s endorsement would be Jones.
Now that McNamara has Arcuri’s endorsement, there’s no possible way McNamara will indict Jones, or put much effort into investigating the incident for that matter. To do so would open up comparisons to Arcuri’s handling of the Franco pellet gun incident, another case of an assault on a suspect in handcuffs, and neither man wants that.
McNamara’s opponent, David Longeretta, has cited the Franco case as an example of Arcuri and McNamara’s incompetence during their reign at the DA’s office.
