DA: Heuermann guilty plea happened 'organically'
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney speaks after Rex Heuermann's guilty pleas in Brentwood on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, speaking at Wednesday's press conference, declined to discuss how Rex Heuermann's guilty plea came about.
"That's third-rail stuff. That's unethical behavior," he said. "We don't talk about that."
But Tierney said the plea deal happened "organically."
"There was no negotiation with regards to numbers," he said. "The reason why this case pled guilty was because it was the defendant's decision to plead guilty. The defendant wanted to plead guilty. If the defendant didn't want to plead guilty, the defense would have taken this case to trial."
'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.
