Nassau accused of delaying suit settlement

A Hempstead attorney and the family of murder victim Jo'Anna Bird filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Nassau County and its Republican administration, charging that they improperly delayed a nearly $8 million settlement with the victim's estate.

Attorney Frederick Brewington and Bird's family allege in U.S. District Court that Republican leaders, including legislative Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), put off a vote on borrowing for the settlement in "retaliation" for another lawsuit Brewington has filed against a GOP plan to redraw county legislative districts.

Brewington, who says the redistricting plan violates minority voting rights, has reached a settlement with the county over alleged police missteps in domestic violence visits to Bird's home before the 2009 killing. Although the terms of the agreement have not been made public, the legislature is considering $7.7 million in borrowing to pay the settlement.

The borrowing was scheduled for a vote in the county legislature's Rules Committee last week, but Schmitt pulled it from the agenda, citing unresolved questions.

In an interview with News 12 Long Island on Nov. 18, Schmitt said he "did not feel comfortable voting on a settlement that would put a couple million dollars into . . . his [Brewington's] law firm, or his pocket while we were being sued, so I requested an opinion of the county Board of Ethics to see that there was no conflict there."

In a statement, Brewington accused Schmitt of "using his authority to blatantly engage in this level of retaliation . . . This is clearly an attempt by Schmitt to send a message not only to our office but to all those attorneys who speak out on matters of public concern on behalf of their clients."

Asked for comment, Schmitt spokesman Ed Ward said the GOP leadership "had expected to put the [borrowing] on the next calendar . . . Now, with this lawsuit, we have more questions. It will not be on the next agenda."

The proposed settlement is with the estate of Jo'Anna Bird, whose murder in New Cassel raised questions about police conduct. In July, Nassau approved a financial settlement with Bird's mother, Sharon Dorsett. Dorsett, who is caring for Bird's children, ages 6 and 8, had filed a federal lawsuit contending Nassau police failed to protect her daughter.

Brewington said in legal papers that police did not respond properly to several calls Bird and family members made to 911 in the days before she was tortured and killed by her ex-boyfriend, Leonardo Valdez-Cruz.

Two months after Bird's death, then-Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey announced that an internal investigation had revealed that seven officers, including a patrol supervisor, failed to take appropriate action during domestic-violence visits to the home where Bird was staying in the days before Valdez-Cruz, then 23, of Westbury, killed her. Cruz was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence.