Judge: Cops' mistakes stay secret in Bird case

An internal affairs report detailing mistakes Nassau police officers made in the days before a Westbury man tortured and killed his girlfriend in 2009 cannot be released to the public, a federal magistrate has ruled.

In a 53-page decision released late Friday, U.S. Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson said the internal affairs report on police actions in the days before Leonardo Valdez-Cruz killed Jo'Anna Bird at her New Cassel home in March 2009 is not a part of the official court record, and lawyers in the case do not have the right to distribute it.

The ruling comes in a federal lawsuit filed by attorney Fredrick Brewington of Hempstead on behalf of Bird's mother, Sharon Dorsett, alleging that the police failed to protect Bird. Brewington has said in legal papers that police did not respond properly to several calls Bird and her family members made to 911 in the days leading up to her death.

When Brewington scheduled a news conference in December to release the 700-page internal affairs report, the county asked Tomlinson to issue an injunction preventing him from doing so. Tomlinson agreed to a temporary injunction while she heard arguments in the case.

According to court papers and transcripts, Nassau lawyers have said the report should not be public, in part because releasing it could both reveal secret investigative techniques and discourage other domestic violence victims from calling police for help.

In her decision, Tomlinson agreed that the county's concerns were a legitimate reason to seal the document. She ruled that because the report is not a "judicial document" filed with the court as part of the case, the court can order it sealed if the county can show even possible "minimal" harm could come from disclosing it.

Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli said Sunday his office believes Brewington has a right to the report, but releasing it to the public could be harmful. "We're pleased," he said of the ruling. "We've been vindicated by the court's decision."

Newsday and News 12 Long Island, both owned by Cablevision, also filed a motion asking Tomlinson to release the report, saying that under the law the documents should be public.

"We're disappointed that the judge ruled to keep the report sealed and we will continue to push to have the documents opened to the public," Newsday editor in chief Debby Krenek said Sunday. News 12 Networks president Patrick Dolan said he would have no comment on the ruling.

Brewington said he will file an appeal. Nassau police "misinformed the community," he said, "and now the judge is saying I can't tell you the truth" by releasing the report.

"There is something inherently wrong when one side has ability to misinform people and the other side has to remain silent," he said.

In May 2010, Nassau police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said that the internal affairs report revealed that seven officers, including a patrol supervisor, did not properly investigate at least four domestic-violence visits to the home where Bird was staying in the days before Valdez-Cruz killed her. Mulvey did not reveal the names of the officers or what disciplinary action was taken.