ASSEMBLY 'RAPE' INDICTMENT LOOMS

July 28, 2003 -- A SSEMBLY Speaker Sheldon Silver's longtime chief counsel may be indicted on a rape charge later this week, The Post has learned.

The Albany County grand jury will take up the high-profile case of Michael Boxley - who was led away from his Assembly office in handcuffs last month after being charged with raping a 22-year-old Assembly staffer - within days, possibly as soon as Friday, a source familiar with the situation told The Post.

I wonder what this will mean for Sheldon Silver.

Thanks for the ping!

Doubtful it will make a difference. He has his district sewn up nice and tight. He will dissociate himself from the counsel. According to their web site ...

The Assembly is a political institution whose Members are responsible directly to the People. While staff is professional and eligible for the benefits shared by State employees (health insurance, retirement program, etc.), it is not subject to the protections or restrictions of the State Civil Service Department. A successful applicant is not required to take any examinations prior to appointment and he or she is strictly an "at will" employee without tenure.

I was wondering why I hadn't heard anything about this case in a while.

Probably b/c the Dim lowlifes were racking their puke brains to try to get this serial rapist off the hook. Apparently the evidence was so overwhelming, their corrupt hands were tied.

I wonder what this will mean for Sheldon Silver.

The Dim Protection Racket Goes on. Newspaper reports said Silver’s response to the rape victims’ plea for justice was to summon state police guards to prevent reporters from questioning the June 10 rape victim’s boss Assemblyman Susan John (D-Rochester)

Apparently Susan John, and/or staffers, and unknown legislators are tightly organized in a RICO-type collusion to cover-up and obstruct justice, and are using police state tactics to protect fellow legislators from possible legal ramifications. These people obviously have something to hide. Innocent people do not need police protection from reporters.

That Silver moonlights for one of the state's leading tort firms - Weitz & Luxenberg - speaks for itself. That wouldn't be a conflict of interest, would it (snicker)?

Gov. Pataki proposed a comprehensive criminal justice bill with a provision calling for a crackdown on date-rape drugs. But the bill stalled in the Assembly. The Assembly's pointman on the negotiations? Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's chief counsel, J Michael Boxley, who is charged with rape. The victim reported she felt helpless while being raped.

Sources have said Boxley, the top aide to Speaker Silver (D-Manhattan), was carrying pills containing a powerful sedative that could have been used as a date-rape drug. Detectives believe the woman was drugged with crushed-up codeine before being raped in her apartment, sources said.

The stalled date-rape provision was tucked into a comprehensive criminal justice bill aimed at enhancing the state's Sexual Assault Reform Act. The proposal was announced by the governor April 10 and, with multiple sponsors, introduced in the state Senate April 29. But the bill has gained no traction in the Assembly and an official familiar with the legislation characterized Boxley as reluctant to get behind bills calling for tougher criminal penalties.

"Negotiating any criminal justice bill with (Boxley) has been tough," the official said. Assembly Codes Committee chairman Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn) said Boxley had an important role in "every piece of legislation."

Since Boxley is an unelected employee of the state, and Silver determines which bills are posted for vote, one must conclude that Boxley was colluding with his boss Speaker Silver to stall date-rape measures. Boxley and Silver apparently are the chief obstacles to the bid to toughen sexual assault penalties.

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