Berney vows to appeal ruling
Posted on August 20, 2010 by Howard Koplowitz in Congress, District 5, U.S. House
Congressional candidate Liz Berney said she plans to appeal a Nassau appellate court ruling that dismissed her claims of fraud against Republican primary opponent Dr. James Milano.
Berney, a Great Neck, L.I., attorney, said the court “ignored” her allegations of fraud against Milano.
She said she believed signatures on Milano’s petitions were forged but the Nassau court dismissed the claims.
Berney also said the court made a mischaracterization of her complaint when it said she was arguing that Bart Haggerty, not Phil Ragusa, was the rightful Queens GOP Chairman.
The attorney said both Haggerty and Ragusa are co-chairmen of the party and that Haggerty was not given notice of a meeting to issue a Wilson-Pakula to Milano, a registered Democrat.
Had Haggerty known about the meeting, Berney claimed, he would not have signed off on giving Milano the certificate.
But the Nassau appellate court threw out arguments saying Haggerty and Ragusa were co-chairmen and said Milano offered evidence that Ragusa is chairman of the party.
Berney said she plans to appeal to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
The winner of the GOP primary battle will go on to face off against U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside).
As of now, Milano is still on the Republican primary ballot.
Perhaps the plaintiff needed to produce witnesses rather than affidavits–just like on Judge Judy. If that’s the case, maybe Berney didn’t have a good lawyer. Oops! Berney is a lawyer.
This is not just a matter of Ms. Berney “believing” that Milano filed forged signatures. Ms. Berney actually submitted to the court sworn affidavits from voters, in which the voters stated that their signatures were forged on Milano’s petitions. In some cases, the voters were out of the district or out of the country at the time that their “signatures” found their way onto Milano’s petitions. It is outrageous that a candidate whose campaign motto is “leadership you can trust” is getting away with forgery.
In addition, this article failed to mention that Milano’s Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filings show that he paid $13,000 to the Queens GOP and entities at the same address as the Queens GOP just prior to their voting for Milano to receive a Wilson-Pakula (a special authorization to run on the Republican ballot line even though he is a Democrat). “Pay for play” is unlawful and should not be permitted. The Court completely ignored the FEC filings and “pay for play” issue.