Ex-Judge: Possible Criminal Charges for N.Y. Governor

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A special investigation has concluded that Gov. David Paterson's testimony about his plans to pay for World Series tickets last year was "inaccurate and misleading" and warrants consideration of criminal charges by a prosecutor.

In a report Thursday, former state Chief Judge Judith Kaye noted four of five tickets to the World Series opening game between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies were paid for shortly afterward, following a press inquiry from the New York Post newspaper. She said there's a question whether Paterson gave "intentionally false testimony" to the state Commission on Public Integrity about having written an $850 check in advance for two tickets.

Commission staff recommended last week that Paterson should be fined more than $90,000 in civil penalties for soliciting and accepting the tickets in violation of ethics law.

However, Kaye said the perjury issue was "clouded" by the way Paterson's testimony was given, with the entries read aloud to the legally blind governor. If Paterson had personally examined the check used to pay for two tickets, which was not in his handwriting, that "would have been obvious to the governor," she said.

Paterson's private attorney, Theodore Wells Jr., said Paterson didn't lie whe which Democrats did in the 2008 elections.

Kaye's investigators also found "two apparently backdated checks and an apparently backdated cover letter" sent to the Yankees to pay for tickets but concluded that does not warrant consideration of criminal charges. The evidence indicated the letter and checks were written by Paterson aide and friend David Johnson, who declined to cooperate with investigators.

Paterson had told commission lawyers that he had staff call to request tickets and did not pay for his own.

"This was the first game of the World Series," Paterson said. "It's always a national event, like the Academy Awards or, you know, governor's state address or something like that."

He and his son also had attended opening day at the ballpark without buying tickets, as well as opening day at the New York Mets' new Citi Field stadium, where he was introduced to the crowd, he said.

Kaye concluded that the policies of the governor's office concerning tickets were "unclear and problematic."