-Judge revokes bail after sealed info leaked
A US judge yesterday revoked former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik’s bail after he revealed information under seal to a third party.
Days before Kerik- who was once hired as special advisor to President Bharrat Jagdeo, was due to go to trial on tax and wiretap conspiracy charges, Judge Stephen C. Robinson of Federal District Court in White Plains revoked his US$500,000 bail and ordered him jailed. Judge Robinson took this action at a court appearance yesterday, because Kerik disclosed case information that had been sealed, to the trustee of his legal defence fund.
The New York Times (NYT) reported yesterday that the judge said Kerik could not be trusted to honour the consent order that prohibits any involved party from revealing confidential information pertinent to the coming trial. The trustee shared some of the secret information with a newspaper. The information was not published.
The judge said he did not believe Kerik’s claim that the trustee had been hired as a lawyer and was therefore allowed to see the information. Reports are that the judge turned down a request by Kerik’s lawyers to keep him from being put behind bars for 48 hours while they prepare an appeal.
According to the NYT report, before revoking the bail Judge Robinson described Kerik as a “toxic combination of self-minded focus and arrogance, and I fear that combination leads him to believe his ends justify his means.”
“He sees the court’s rulings as an inconvenience,” Judge Robinson said, “something to be ignored, and an obstacle to be circumvented.”
After the proceedings, the report said, Kerik loosened his tie and removed papers and a wallet from his pockets. He then carefully took off a chain and medallion and handed it to one of his lawyers. He was led away, not in handcuffs, by court officers.
During a hearing last month, Judge Robinson criticized Kerik and his lawyers for what he said were various offences committed by an attorney who heads Kerik’s legal defence fund. The judge said the lawyer, Anthony K. Modafferi, sent e-mail messages to him and to The Washington Times that defamed government prosecutors.
Modafferi violated a consent order because in some of his e-mail messages, he leaked information that indicated he was privy to sealed court papers, Judge Robinson said. The judge had then ordered Kerik to file an affidavit detailing his legal arrangement with Modafferi, whom he said, may end up being called to testify in documents or in court.
Kerik, who is scheduled to go on trial on Monday, is accused of accepting apartment renovations from a construction company in exchange for recommending the company for city contracts. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Kerik, who was the NYPD Commissioner from 2000 to 2001, was offered a plea bargain in 2007 after he was slapped with the charges but rejected the deal as his lawyers said; he had paid his taxes and done nothing wrong. The deal would have seen him serving a two year sentence.
Kerik, who was at one point former US President George W. Bush’s nominee for Homeland Security Secretary, was hired in February 2007 by the Guyana Government as a security adviser. He was to provide general advisory services to Jagdeo and the Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee
His appointment had been greeted with much criticism, owing to growing allegations about professional misconduct. His contract, which was later ended, was for one year and was said to be renewable. His international security consultancy firm, the Kerik Group, was also contracted to provide its services to Trinidad and Tobago. He had held similar contracts in Jordan, Iraq and other Middle Eastern hotspots.
Reports were that federal investigators were exploring a range of allegations about Kerik, who was a leading official under former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The allegations included accusations he conspired to help a former district attorney, Jeanine Pirro, plant listening devices to catch her husband in an extramarital affair. Kerik and Pirro were captured on a state wiretap discussing such a plan.
He was also charged in connection with his acceptance of US$165,000 in free renovations to his Bronx apartment in 1999 from Interstate Industrial Corporation, a New Jersey contractor, or a subsidiary. Last summer in State Supreme Court in the Bronx, Kerik pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour counts and admitted accepting the free work. At the time, his lawyer said Kerik did not owe any federal taxes on the construction work