Albany sheriff: Cuomo will be served criminal summons next week

CLARKSVILLE — Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo likely will be served with a criminal summons early next week and eventually will be arrested and arraigned on a sex charge, the Albany County sheriff said Friday.

"We have a solid case," Sheriff Craig Apple told reporters at a sheriff’s office substation here. "We have an overwhelming amount of evidence."

Meanwhile, a Cuomo lawyer said the allegation the ex-governor faces, forcible touching, which is a misdemeanor, is "uncorroborated" and questioned the Albany sheriff's objectivity as well as suggesting the timing was politically motivated.

Apple provided more details on the investigative process, one day after his agency filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo accusing him of fondling a then-administration staffer's breast and buttocks while in the governor’s mansion in December.

The alleged incident was one of multiple sexual harassment complaints against Cuomo, which led to an investigation and the governor’s resignation on Aug. 24. That probe was overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James, who announced her candidacy for governor Friday.

At a rural Albany County substation 45 minutes after James' announcement, the sheriff defended the probe and sought to clear up how the filing of the complaint on Thursday by one of his investigators caught off guard the local prosecutor, Cuomo's lawyer and the sheriff himself.

Apple said his office meant to alert the county district attorney and Cuomo’s lawyer when it filed the complaint with Albany City Court on Thursday. But he said a city judge issued the summons "about 10 minutes after" the complaint was filed and word quickly leaked to the news media. It set a Nov. 17 court date for Cuomo to appear.

That led Albany County District Attorney David Soares and the former staffer’s lawyer to say they were surprised by news reports of the complaint. It even "caught us off guard, needless to say," Apple said, adding that typically a complaint is released at the time of a person’s arrest or arraignment.

Soares' office declined to comment Friday.

Apple contended the case was not and will not be impacted by the fumbled rollout. "The way it went down has nothing to do with the case. The case is a very solid case," he said.

The summons likely will be served early next week.

Asked specifically if the governor definitely will be arrested at some point, Apple answered: "Yes."

That likely will occur when Cuomo appears at his court date and is processed — although the Nov. 17 court date could be fluid depending on prosecutors and defense attorneys, the sheriff said.

"At that date, Mr. Cuomo … will be arraigned, he will be processed, probably at our downtown (Albany) headquarters," Apple said.

Forcible touching is a misdemeanor in New York, punishable by up to a year in jail.

Cuomo resigned following a report by Attorney General Letitia James into harassment complaints by 11 women, including some who were on the governor’s staff. James’ investigators concluded Cuomo harassed multiple women and broke multiple laws.

Though the governor denied any wrongdoing, he announced his resignation shortly after the State Legislature outlined a schedule that likely would have resulted in an impeachment vote.

So far, only one of the women has pursued a criminal complaint against Cuomo.

Though it doesn’t reveal the woman by name, the Albany County complaint corresponds with details that Brittany Commisso, a former Cuomo aide, provided in an interview with CBS News in August and in interviews she gave to investigators with the state Attorney General’s Office.

Rita Glavin, Cuomo's defense lawyer, said Friday that Commisso's complaint has been "evolving since March." She also called the timing of the filing of the complaint suspect.

"The timing of this charge, on the eve of Tish James announcing her run for governor, is highly suspect and should give all of us pause that the heavy hand of politics is behind this decision," Glavin said in a statement. "We expect clearheaded people will make better decisions going forward, but should this case move forward we are prepared to vigorously defend the governor and challenge every aspect of the specious, inconsistent and uncorroborated allegations made against him."

Apple shrugged off the criticism.

"Listen, this is how they play," Apple said of the former governor’s administration. "I’d rather they throw this at me than at the victim. I’ve been called worse."