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The wheels of justice rarely whirl. Their movement usually amounts to more of a slow creak.
And around here, it sometimes seems they're welded in place.
But turn they do in the case of three Laborers Local 91 members accused of attacking a State Department of Transportation official at a construction project on Williams Road last November. Salvatore Bertino, Anthony Bertino and Patrick J. Ciccarelli were due in Wheatfield Town Court for a pre-trial hearing last week, but Town Justice Robert Cliffe adjourned the proceedings until March 21.
"Everything is going pretty slow," said Town Prosecutor Erin DeLabio. "We're sort of in limbo at the moment."
At issue is DeLabio's motion for a severance of the co-defendants, which would require them to be represented individually by separate attorneys.
At present, the three men are being prosecuted as a group represented by Angelo Musitano. DeLabio described her motion as routine, one designed to ensure that the defendants avoid any possible conflict during their defense. For example, if one defendant in a group were considered more culpable than the others, it may benefit the others to be tried separately, DeLabio said.
"We're trying to figure out if this conflict exists," she said. "We're covering the rights of the defendants and making sure they know they have this option."
During the defendants' last appearance in court, on Jan. 18, DeLabio reiterated that the prosecution will not dismiss or plea down the second-degree harassment charges against the three men.
The altercation shut down work on the project in front of Summit Park Mall for two days. The case has drawn interest from levels of law enforcement that don't routinely get involved in such matters, said DeLabio, who has received assistance from the office of Niagara County District Attorney Matt Murphy.
Also keeping an eye on the proceedings -- the U.S. Attorney's Western District office in Buffalo. Law enforcement sources believe Michael Battle, recently appointed by President George W. Bush to head the Western District, brings a renewed impetus to the ongoing federal investigation of Local 91.
Battle has empaneled a new grand jury to replace the one whose term recently expired. Federal prosecutors are attempting to establish a "pattern of violence and intimidation" orchestrated by Local 91 leaders that the feds say has spurred skyrocketing construction costs in Niagara County.
Law enforcement sources say they anticipate a more aggressive approach from Battle than the one displayed previously by Democratic-appointed prosecutors.
Meanwhile, local police continue their investigation into the October attack on Niagara Falls Reporter Editor Mike Hudson. Niagara Falls City Police planned to interview one suspect, a Local 91 member, last week.
Three men accosted Hudson before the Oct. 12 boxing promotion at Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center during the newspaper's pre-fight reception at a nearby tavern. One took umbrage with coverage of union issues, spewing profanities and hurling a glass and its contents at Hudson, striking him in the forehead.
Less than two hours later, the alleged men attacked Hudson from behind in a men's room at the Convention Center. He suffered a broken and gashed nose.
Federal prosecutors have taken a renewed interest in that incident, as well, the law enforcement source said.
What do you do when your plan generates virtually no positive coverage? You try to buy some.
That's what Kaleida Health did last week in the face of fierce opposition to its bid to snuff Children's Hospital and smear the remains of regional pediatric health care on the rest of Buffalo's hemorrhaging hospital system.
An item in Saturday's Buffalo News detailed a telephone survey of 610 residents of Erie and Niagara counties in which respondents were asked for their feelings on the proposal to close the Children's Hospital facility on Bryant Street and relocate its services to Millard Fillmore Gates Circle or Buffalo General.
At first, 69.2 percent opposed the move, with just 13.9 percent in favor.
Then, the "pollsters" read respondents a series of "facts." Not surprisingly, the numbers shifted dramatically -- 49.5 percent favored Kaleida's plan, while 43.9 percent weren't swayed in their opposition.
Those numbers might have carried some actual meaning except for a couple of factors. Kaleida paid for the survey conducted by pollster Goldhaber Research Associates. Kaleida also provided the "facts" given to respondents.
Those "facts"? A promise that "a separate pediatric outpatient and urgent care facility will be built" and promises to "completely separate children's services from adult services in the new location," Goldhaber told the News.
Wait a minute. Didn't Kaleida officials say earlier this month that closing Children's was fiscally imperative, that Kaleida was $52.8 million in the red last year? If the bumbling health-care organization can't afford to renovate the only pediatric hospital in Western New York, where is it going to get the money to turn those "facts" into reality?
Kaleida was formed in 1998, ostensibly to eliminate duplication in management at Children's and four other Buffalo hospitals and make them fiscally solvent.
At the time, Children's regularly turned an annual profit. Now Kaleida officials claim the Bryant Street facility loses money.
Kaleida spent two years trying to gather support for moving Children's Hospital to a new, $150 million building downtown. But the organization never gave a cogent reason for doing so and finally gave up last December, citing lack of funding. Kaleida did have the money, though, to hire the Hunter Group, a team of consultants that specializes in slash-and-downsize health care. When the consultants turned over their report earlier this month, it surprisingly said exactly what Kaleida wanted to hear. Or so we're told, since Kaleida refuses to make the Hunter Group's report public. Just trust us, they say.
This from an organization that managed to turn a reported $7.9 million surplus in its first year of operation into the present sea of red ink.
Kaleida is apparently good at one thing, at least -- getting what it pays for from both consultants and pollsters. But it remains to be seen if the people the organization purports to serve are as easily fooled as Kaleida so obviously thinks.
A rally in support of Children's Hospital will be held this Saturday, March 2, at noon in Niagara Square in Buffalo.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | February 26 2002 |