By KATE PIERCE
News Editor
A crowd of over 400 gathered in the Lally School of Education at the College of Saint Rose on Thursday night to hear a panel discussion focused on state corruption and bribery for the fourth annual Jurist in Residence program.
The College’s president, Carolyn Stefanco, provided an opening for the discussion, briefly speaking on the perception of the issue locally.
“It is literally used as a synonym for corruption in headlines,” said Stefanco. “What will it take for Albany to regain its reputation?”
The panel discussion began with a background on relevant cases provided by U.S. District Judge and Saint Rose alum Loretta A. Preska.
Some of the cases Preska brought up were Skilling v. United States of 2006, in which former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was convicted of honest services and securities fraud, and United States v. Joseph L. Bruno of 2009 in which former New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was convicted of two counts of mail and wire fraud.
“For those of you who have studied law this may seem complex – so for those of you who haven’t it may seem like gobbledy-gook,” joked Daniel P. Nolan, the moderator for the discussion
Preska also brought up the Supreme Court case of McDonnell v. United States from this past June concerning the definition of an “official act,” which held that prosecutors must show a public official performed a clear government action in exchange for a bribe.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara also spoke of this case, and how it has made prosecutors’ jobs more difficult.
Bharara is the prosecutor whose office filed criminal complaints against Joseph Percoco, one of Governor Cuomo’s former top aides, SUNY Polytechnic President Alain Kaloyeros, among others in a widespread bribery case. His office also won the convictions of former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver last year.
Panelist E. Stewart Jones, a Capital Region defense attorney, did not agree with Bharara’s claim.
“I don’t think McDonnell really changes the game,” said Jones, speaking of both the defense and prosecution.
Bharara and Jones disagreed on another topic later in the discussion, in which Jones claimed that well-known figures with higher profiles had a greater risk of investigation. Bharara interjected, saying “I don’t agree with that.”
One topic that the panelists seemed to agree on was the role of the media and investigative journalism in corruption cases.
Bharara spoke of how, among other ways, cases are often brought to his office as a result of reporting concerning corruption.
“The press is the reason we look at a lot of things,” Bharara said.
Times Union vice president and Editor Rex Smith spoke of how several cases brought by the prosecutors sitting on the panel had been brought to attention by the work of journalists, including the case of Senator Bruno.
“We need to focus specifically on this role to keep corruption in line,” Smith said.
Towards the end of the discussion, Nolan relayed a question to the panelists that had been posed by an audience member asking about what advice they would give to young individuals starting their career in public service.
“Mostly we need people to have faith in our constitution, our country, and in public service,” said panelist Grant Jaquith, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.
Students on the mock trial team attended the discussion and were appreciative of the opportunity to hear from the panelists.
“With all the recent events in Albany, to have a hands-on learning opportunity in a closed-in forum was phenomenal,” said Andrea Caputo, a business management student in the pre-law colloquium.
“To get in close and get that kind of clarity is what the mock trial team looks for,” said Caputo. “We’re truth seekers.”
