Spain’s Lawyer Rolls the Dice

The attorney for the so called reform Democrats, Josuha Ehrlich will be in court today trying to prove more than a hundred false claims against Mark Premo’s Conservative Party petitions along with those filed on behalf of three Independence Party candidates who oppose the Connolly backed Casale GOP slate.

Judith Wos is the petitioner on the Conservative lawsuit and James Rich for the Independence Party. It would appear that neither Michael Casale, Chair of the Conservatives nor Tom Connolly, Chair for the Independence Party, wanted to dirty themselves by filing the lawsuits themselves. Might not look to good to be trying to remove from the ballot Mark Premo or a slate of Independence Party members in favor of a slate of Republican backed Conservatives. So the brave pair of Chairs got others to do the dirty work for them,accusing Premo of more forms of fraud than would fit in a Casale Cadillac.

Nevertheless, it should be quite a sight seeing a lawyer for Jeff Spain who also sued the Democratic Committee to reverse the new bylaws, now suing to stop two slates of candidates opposing the County GOP team Spain is supposed to be opposing as the Democratic town chair. Instead he is doing the opposite, helping the GOP supported slate by using his own party lawyer to attack the opposing petitions.
Now that’s party loyalty.

“Judge” Zwack Rules!

As expected Henry Zwack doesn’t disappoint when it comes to doing the wrong thing. He refused to recuse himself from the Spain-Wade lawsuit even though Wade testified against him in the criminal trial over the no show job scandal. Zwack is pictured above with his lawyer during that trial.

Under the Code of Judicial Conduct, a judge must recuse himself from a case in which his presence on the case would create even the appearance of a conflict of interest. In this case, Zwack’s decision creates the appearance of a political payback and backlash over Wade’s testimony in Zwack’s criminal trial.

Now Zwack faces a certain complaint to the Commission on Judicial Conduct and the likelihood of reprimand or censure. Removal would be too much to ask but well deserved since he should never had been allowed near a set of robes to begin with. This is a guy who as a lawyer cut himself into a client’s will for $500.00 which Zwack himself prepared. “Just a little piece of local action!” This so called “bad act” was introduced by the Special Prosecutor for the county Judge to consider as evidence before the jury, but Judge McGrath disallowed it because it was happened a while ago.

So while Zwack tries to embarrass an opponent and former witness against him, Zwack himself is the big looser because Wade will simply call another meeting, re-pass and file the bylaws making all of this a moot point.

Late Financial Disclosure Count:

Today is Day 23 for the North Greenbush Democratic and Conservative Committee violations of State Election Law requiring the filing of a Financial Disclosure Report due July 15, 2007. Laws apparently don’t apply to the “reformed” democrats under Jeff Spain and his Treasurer, Tax Collector Kyran Devery. Nor under Michael Casale and his Treasurer, J. David Wos.