Silver's Aide Placed on Leave

Newsday ^ | June 16, 2003

[NYer]

ALBANY, N.Y. --

A prominent legislative lawyer was placed on leave Monday after being charged with raping a 22-year-old co-worker at her apartment after a night of drinking.

Michael Boxley, who earned $130,395 as chief counsel to Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, had been absent from work since he was arrested last Wednesday and taken out of his Capitol office in handcuffs.

Boxley, 43, was charged with one count each of first- and third-degree rape. Police said Boxley offered the woman a ride home after the two met colleagues for drinks at a bar and sexually assaulted her at her apartment.

Toxicology results were pending to determine if a date-rape drug was slipped into the woman's drink. The woman told police she was unconscious during part of the incident.

Boxley had denied the rape charges through his lawyer. He was released on $25,000 bail.

Boxley requested to be placed on leave and "has ceased earning a salary as an Assembly employee," Silver said in a statement released by his office Monday. But Boxley has accrued leave credits and will continue getting paid, Silver said.

Silver's spokesman Charles Carrier could not immediately say how many leave credits Boxley has accrued.

[NYer]

Boxley was the center of a 2001 inquiry in which another Assembly staffer accused Boxley of sexually assaulting her at his apartment. The woman declined to press criminal charges and an internal Assembly investigation ended without sanctions.

[Darksheare]

Awww.. Shelly Silver's Lawyer got the shiny bracelets?
Too bad.
Silver himself needs a pair.

[NYer]

Boxley, 43, was charged with one count each of first- and third-degree rape.

The story continues to grow. Session ends this Wednesday.

[Nonstatist]

Boxley was the center of a 2001 inquiry in which another Assembly staffer accused Boxley of sexually assaulting her at his apartment. The woman declined to press criminal charges and an internal Assembly investigation ended without sanctions.

One rape is forgivable but I guess two is somewhat excessive ? What does Mr. Speaker think?

[martin_fierro]

I'm in a New York State of Ping.

[Tacis]

Hey, I thought one of the perqs of democratic office holders and their staffs was that you got to bang anyone on the public payroll. Willie, West Virginia, and Kentucky prove it. It is no fun being hated and having to take all those really dumb far left positions on issues without being able to tap the staff when the spirit moves.

[DoughtyOne]

I posted this before I realized the differences in age. While the comments may still be valid, I choose not to make them in light of the 43 vs 22 year old ages.

This puts the actions in a different light for me. Sorry to have posted my comments. Oh well.

For those who may not have seen it, I posted what I thought were some reasonable comments questioning if this was actually rape or simply a couple who got involved when they both were overy inebriated. While that still could be the case, I don't think I want to leave it up with the age difference I realized later on.

Why did she let this guy in? Big mistake IMO.

[concerned about politics]

Michael Boxley, who earned $130,395

He could have just bought Monica for the evening.

Boxley had denied the rape charges through his lawyer.

Liberals and their lawyers! They don't leave home without one! Sheeesh.

[Liz]

There's an ironic versimilitude here with the Jayson Blair case albeit in different milieus. Blair and Boxley both minorities in prestigious jobs, each with a history of playing fast and loose with the rules.

Blair, Boxley and his enablers were corrupted by their arrogance. Blair brought down powerful people with him. I'm betting so will Boxley. It has yet to be seen who were Boxley's enablers. Silver for sure, and the rape victim's boss Assemblywoman Susan John of Rochester is also at fault for not assisting the victim. Anyone who knew and colluded in keeping Boxley's behavior quiet is also culpable.

Blair and Boxley. It's PC deja vu all over again.

Knee-jerk liberals took the world's best meritocracy system and cannibalized it, putting it through the political correctness meatgrinder. Liberal effectively silenced free speech and all reasonable arguments against their PC atrocities by employing the club of hate crime laws (which penalizes only conservatives).

PC and hate crimes laws have outlived their usefulness. They are the Prohibition of this era. Prohibtion was necessarily repealed b/c it caused social chaos and a crime wave. We have yet to tally the crimes caused by PC atrocities and hate crimes laws, but it is huge.

The Blair, and now Boxley, debacles epitomizes the devastation wrought upon America due to hate crimes laws and PC.

Thankfully, astute conservatives have always seen right through these self-serving liberal phonies and their arrogant use of PC and hate crimes laws to stifle criticism.

[mewzilla]

I'd like to know more about that so-called internal investigation, namely who conducted it and to whom the results were reported.

[Liz]

The "internal investigation" is part of the cover-up. The powers that be in Albany are involved in this up to their eyeballs. However, as their house of cards starts collapsing, the internal investigation will be useful in determining who was in on the cover-up.

[Howlin]

What the HELL does "ceased earning a salary as an Assembly employee" mean??

[Liz]

Apparently Newsday thought Silver's statement was a little dicey too....in the way it's written up.

However, from what I can gather, Boxley is still collecting state monies, not as an (ahem) state employee on the regular payroll, but in accrued time compensation.

This tells me Silver knows he's in deep doodoo. As I posted above, when the powerful play the corrupt PC game and suckup to and cover-up for minorities -- as Raines and the lot covered-up for Jayson Blair -- they tend to go down with their protges. Silver and whoever covered-up for Boxley are in trouble.

[mewzilla]

I think you're right. So we should see the details of the alleged investigation. So that we know who knew what and when they knew it.

[Liz]

Yeah, would be nice to see the report. However, on the face of it a couple of names stand out. It is obvious who is leading the cover-up.

Silver is the headman and he is being aided and abetted by Assemblywoman Susan John of Rochester (who employed Boxley's latest rape victim).

The 2003 rape was covered-up, and a second rape in 2001, with possibly more victims to come forward. All in all, a massive cover-up by Albany political figures. Civil rights, state and federal laws, and even freedom of speech were routinely violated.

The Clinton Legacy continues.

[friendly]

Sheldon Silver is the ultimate crooked politician, a making himself a multi-millionaire by his confliceted financial interest in a Shyster business that corruptly gets hundreds of millions of dollars out of New York State, while refusing any and all efforts to legislatively reform the mess.

NO surprise that a sociopath like Silver hires other soulmate sociopaths.

[friendly]

Sheldon Silver is the ultimate crooked politician, making himself a multi-millionaire by his confliceted financial interest in a Shyster business that corruptly gets hundreds of millions of dollars out of New York State, while refusing any and all efforts to legislatively reform the mess.

NO surprise that a sociopath like Silver hires other soulmate sociopaths.

[NYer]

I'd like to know more about that so-called internal investigation, namely who conducted it and to whom the results were reported.

According to NY Post's Fred Dicker (who is also the political analyst for the CBS affiliate in Albany)

"Two years ago, another young legislative aide, Elizabeth Crothers, accused Boxley of raping her under disturbingly similar circumstances.

She never filed a criminal complaint, saying she didn't have the stomach for a long, drawn-out legal process.

That is to say, she feared she'd be slimed by Silver & Co.

Instead, she filed an administrative complaint with the Silver-controlled Assembly, which handled - and dismissed - the matter behind closed doors.

According to the woman, Silver - who publicly expressed his complete support for Boxley's integrity and character - told her privately that his solution for Boxley's "improprieties" was that he would no longer be allowed to go out drinking at bars. "

Silence is Silver

[malia]

" But Boxley has accrued leave credits and will continue getting paid, Silver said." --And I thought NY was in financial trouble!

Sheldon Silver is the ultimate crooked politician, a making himself a multi-millionaire by his confliceted financial interest in a Shyster business that corruptly gets hundreds of millions of dollars out of New York State, while refusing any and all efforts to legislatively reform the mess.------Now I know why H. Clinton choose NY. Easy money!!