No Surprise: Arcuri Endorses McNamara for DA

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.

Arcuri Boasts of Boehlert Being His Mentor

Throughout the 2006 campaign, Michael Arcuri called himself a “Boehlert Democrat” in reference to then-Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican who represented the area for 24 years. Much to the disappointment of Republicans, Boehlert did little to criticize the man who would eventually take his place.

We saw their chummy relationship on display again last week when Arcuri referred to Boehlert as his “mentor” during a dedication ceremony in Boehlert’s honor at Utica College.

“You can see the gleam in his eyes when he speaks of what he did in Washington,” said Boehlert’s successor, Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, who called Boehlert his mentor. “It’s not an easy task, but he made the job seem effortless.”

How sweet.

Arcuri’s Mismanagement Plays Role in DA Race

The brother of Republican David Longeretta, a candidate for Oneida County district attorney, placed an ad in the Utica Observer-Dispatch this week comparing former DA Michael Arcuri’s handling of the Desiree Case murder trail to the botched Duke lacrosse rape case.

In a story about the ad, the O-D compared the two cases:

Duke lacrosse case
* In the highly publicized Duke lacrosse case, a black stripper hired by the Duke lacrosse team to entertain at a party claimed she had been raped and sodomized in a bathroom by three white team members.

* The alleged incident took place in March 2006, at the same time Nifong was in the middle of a tough re-election campaign. He made numerous statements critical of the lacrosse team and the three suspects, leading to accusations he was trying to gain favor among black voters by prosecuting the white players.

* Flaws in evidence gathering came to light, including failure to disclose DNA evidence that would have helped the players’ defense.

* Ultimately, the case unraveled under the weight of inconsistencies in the stripper’s story, and Nifong was brought up on ethics charges and disbarred.

The Desiree Case murder
* Desiree Case, a Yorkville teen whose struggles led her to drugs and prostitution, was found beaten and stabbed to death in an abandoned West Utica house in February 2006.

* Then-DA Michael Arcuri prosecuted the case and won the murder conviction of Joseph Smith, an ex-Madison County correction officer who had lived with Case. After Smith was convicted, but before he was sentenced, documents were found among the case files that indicated another man, a drug dealer named Earl Wright, might have actually been responsible for the murder.

* Arcuri took the information to the court, and Smith was freed.

* Wright was convicted after a new trial and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Another man was also convicted in the case.

* McNamara became first assistant district attorney on Jan. 1, 2001, but says he did not work on the Desiree Case trial.

By drawing attention to Arcuri’s mismanagement as district attorney, Longeretta is doing Republicans in the district a favor. This issue wasn’t exploited by Ray Meier in 2006, but it’s a huge black eye Arcuri would rather forget. Longeretta seems to be laying the ground work for what could be a line of attack against Arcuri in 2008.

Arcuri to Play in Congressional Football Game

We learn something new about Rep. Michael Arcuri every day. Congressional Quarterly reports that Arcuri will play football as part of the lawmakers’ team against the Capitol Police. According to the article, Arcuri played football while attending the State University of New York at Albany.

Arcuri-Pylman Feud Back in the News

As news broke that Utica Police Officer Brandon Jones was suspended from the department this week, the Observer-Dispatch rehashed the feud between then-District Attorney Michael Arcuri and Police Chief Allen Pylman last year.

This incident comes amidst the Utica Common Council’s unresolved investigation of the way Pylman handled then-police Sgt. James Franco’s timecard falsification.

Some city Democrats have accused Pylman of covering up Franco’s illegal activity.

When then-DA Mike Arcuri prosecuted Franco, it caused chilly relations between the DA’s office and Pylman.

Arcuri told the O-D editorial board in December that when he began investigating the timecard incident, Pylman stopped working with his office.

This embarrassing episode between Arcuri and Pylman seemed like sour grapes at the time it happened, but when Arcuri took the low road in December, it proved he was nothing more than a petty politician trying to score points.

It’s not surprising, therefore, to read that relations between Pylman and the DA’s office improved once Arcuri moved to Washington.

Welcome to Eye on Arcuri

Try as they might, the local media of Central New York haven’t exactly done a great job covering Rep. Michael Arcuri during his first eight months in Washington as the 24th District’s congressman. In fact, it’s been pretty pathetic. This blog will try to fill that void. If you have a tip or suggestion, send an e-mail to eyeonarcuri@gmail.com.