January 25, 1994, The Sullivan County Democrat

Lungen: Drop case against 'Monti 5'

MONTICELLO -- Sullivan County District Attorney Stephen Lungen is advising the dismissal of charges against five people who were arrested while protesting the Village of Monticello's "musical chairs" job swap.
Lungen wrote a letter to Town of Thompson Judges Burton Ledina and Perry Meltzer Wednesday requesting that they drop the disorderly conduct cases pending against Thomas Rue, Carmen Rue, and Mary Marino of Monticello, Glenn Pontier of Narrowsburg and Charles Stephenson of North Branch.
The five were arrested at an August 2, 1993 meeting of the Monticello Village Board based on their protests over the board's decisions to unilaterally appoint a new mayor, village attorney, deputy mayor, justice and trustee.
A January 7 ruling by state Supreme Court Justice Vincent Bradley, however, vindicated the "Monticello Five" and makes their continued prosecution inadvisable in the interest of justice, according to Lungen.
The prosecutor noted that he is not taking a position on the legal merits of the cases.
"I am simply struck with the fact that the five individuals protested, whether properly or imporperly, against a significant action taken by the village board and that action has been legally deemed improper. It makes no sense to me to further a prosection against those five indivudals when they were correct regarding the issue with which they protested," Lungen wrote.
The DA said that he based his recommendation on a thorough review of Judge Bradley's decision, interviews with witnesses to the arrests, the extent of harm caused by the alleged offenses, the history and character of each defendant, and the impact that a dismissal would have on the public's confidence in the criminal justice system.
The Rues' case is coming again before Judge Ledina on January 27, while Judge Meltzer was assigned the cases of Stephenson, Pontier and Marino, with no date available as yet.
--LER



Home | Public Issues | Sullivan County | New York State | Links |
Rue Questions or comments about this site: tom@rue-usa.net