EDITORIAL: Release report on Jo'Anna Bird, to help change system

It took five hours of deliberations for a Nassau County jury to find Leonardo Valdez-Cruz guilty of first-degree murder in the brutal killing of Jo'Anna Bird. It shouldn't take a lawsuit for the public to learn how the system failed her.

In a federal wrongful death case brought by Bird's mother, Sharon Dorsett, Nassau County police officers and prosecutors are being charged with gross negligence. The suit blames police for failing to enforce violations of court orders protecting Bird. It also questions the conduct of prosecutors, saying the district attorney's office was negligent in failing to persuade Bird to testify against Valdez-Cruz.

According to the complaint, on the night she was killed, officers were standing outside Bird's home. But instead of taking action, the suit alleges, police stood by and "laughed and made jokes about the situation." The case also alleges that police acted leniently toward Valdez-Cruz, and claims they had used him as an informer.

Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey conducted an internal review, which led him to discipline seven officers who, he concluded, failed to follow proper procedures to protect Bird. But Mulvey never issued a written report and has refused to release his findings to Dorsett's lawyers.

The report should be made public, regardless of whether it is used in the federal civil trial. Its lessons may save the lives of other frightened victims of domestic violence who seek protection through court orders. hN