Arroyo claims vindication with release of some investigatory files including ‘unfounded’ determination [+documents]

The Ricardo Arroyo district attorney campaign claims vindication after releasing documents that state that police determined that “there was no crime committed” to close out the 2005 investigation into the now-DA candidate.

For the record: Arroyo campaign documents

The campaign wrote in a press release that “this new information confirms what Ricardo Arroyo has been saying all along – he has never sexually assaulted anyone.” The redacted documents also included a couple of different instances of authorities writing that the case was determined to be “unfounded.”

This comes after a judge on Thursday sided with Arroyo in requiring the city on Friday to hand over nearly the full file — with redactions to protect the accuser — of the 2005 investigation into a claim of sexual misconduct against the teenage Arroyo.

The Arroyo campaign, though, would not put out more than the four pages that back up its conclusion.

That said, the campaign accurately notes that one email from a prosecutor says they’d called the woman who filed the complaint that “based on the assessment of the information we had, there was no crime committed.” The case, according to the documents, was deemed “unfounded.”

Mayor Michelle Wu’s press office continued throughout the afternoon to drag its feet in releasing the now-public full file, which it handed over to the Arroyo camp hours earlier at the behest of the courts. The city insisted they’d be ready to give out “soon,” but wouldn’t comment on what else the city could be doing to the already-redacted public documents.

An hour before the 2 p.m. deadline for the city to give over the file, Arroyo’s opponent, sitting DA Kevin Hayden, had his office blast out a press release slamming Arroyo, who’s currently a city councilor.

“We have thoroughly reviewed our entire unredacted file regarding the sexual assault allegations against Ricardo Arroyo,” a Suffolk DA spokeswoman said. “Nothing in the file suggests or indicates that the allegations were unfounded. Also, nothing in the file questions the validity of the victim’s statements. The campaign to sabotage this victim’s credibility is shameful.”

Arroyo’s campaign, in its statement, pointed out that this isn’t true as it again attempted to lay the leaks of these normally protected documents at Hayden’s feet.

“In addition, this document clearly shows that Kevin Hayden’s comments today about the case file were lies,” Arroyo’s campaign said. “His review and comments on the file were also likely illegal and unethical.”

Among the court filings in Arroyo’s case, though, was a different story. The accuser’s lawyer had shown up in court Thursday to push against the release of the documents, saying that would “destroy” the young woman.

In an affidavit, the lawyer, Leonard Kesten, wrote, “Jane Doe was I7 years old when she was sexually abused by the Plaintiff, Ricardo Arroyo.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/s35fa1c