Paterson Aide's Domestic Violence Case Leads Court System To Reconsider Practices

As a top aide to Gov. David Paterson faces charges for domestic violence, WNYC has learned from New York state court sources that the incident touched off an internal inquiry about how domestic violence cases should be handled by the family court system.

Sherr-una Booker, the ex-girlfriend of Paterson's aide, David Johnson, went to the Bronx County Family Court following an alleged assault last Halloween. She wanted a protective order after Johnson allegedly picked her up by the neck, threw her against a dresser and told her he would kill her before he'd let her go anywhere.

Transcripts show that Booker testified in family court that state troopers kept "calling and harassing" her to drop the charges. Judge Andrea Masley, who began serving as a state judge in 2008 and was assigned to Booker’s case, never asked Booker follow-up questions later about who was harassing her and what they were allegedly saying. Masley did not refer the matter to the District Attorney's office or to any other law enforcement authorities to conduct an investigation. When Booker failed to appear for a subsequent court hearing, the court dismissed her case.

Booker did receive three orders of protection from family court , but all of them had expired by the time her case was dismissed.* The first order, issued on November 2, 2009, was in effect for two days. The second, issued on November 4, 2009, lasted less than two weeks. One month passed before the third protective order was issued on December 17, 2009, which was in effect until February 8, 2010 -- the day her case was dismissed. Booker had no order of protection after her case was dismissed.

Journalists requested copies of the transcript and tapes of Booker's earlier court testimony, and news reports exploded in February about Booker's statements in family court indicating how she felt harassed by the state police.

Court spokesperson David Bookstaver says at that point, high-level court officials revisited Booker's case for review and an internal discussion followed among judges. "We are now looking at a whole host of issues on how orders of protection are handled," says Bookstaver, "in an effort to see if there is anything that needs to be done to improve the process."

The treatment of Booker in family court did not go unnoticed in the state review of the entire domestic violence case and the Paterson administration's involvement with it. Judith Kaye, the retired judge who was appointed to conduct the investigation, concluded in her final report that "Booker's experience merits the attention of the court system." But Kaye declined to specifically criticize Masley for failing to ask Booker follow-up questions at any point in the case about the alleged harassment by state troopers.

WNYC asked Kaye why she didn't address the issue more specifically, but Kaye simply said she is "standing on the report and not commenting further."

* Updated Aug. 17, 2010: WNYC originally incorrectly stated that Sherr-una Booker did not receive an order of protection from Bronx County Family Court. In fact, she received three. The first order was in effect for two days. The second order lasted less than two weeks. One month passed before the third protective order was issued to Booker on December 17, 2009, which was in effect until February 8, 2010, the day Booker's case was dismissed by the Family Court. Booker had no order of protection after her case was dismissed.

WNYC also stated that Sherr-una Booker testified to Judge Andrea Masley that state troopers were “calling and harassing” her to drop the charges. Booker actually made that statement in her testimony to a court attorney referee. An audio recording of the statement was made and included in the court's files on Booker's case.