NEW YORK - Defending himself against a lawsuit, former New York Gov. George Pataki insisted Tuesday that when he green-lighted the plan in 2005, he knew none of the details of a program to institutionalize violent sex offenders after they finished their prison sentences.
Pataki told a jury in Manhattan federal court that he did not even know what law wasused to transfer more than 100 prisoners to psychiatric centers before a state court ruled that the practice was illegal a year later. Six convicted sex offenders have sued him and the state.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff told jurors before Pataki testified that the initiative was unconstitutional and it was their job to determine whether the defendants acted with intent to deprive the plaintiffsof their constitutional rights.
If the jury finds Pataki and the state responsible, it could assess damages.
Pataki was confronted on the witness stand with his own words in the form of a news release from the governor’s office and a statement issued in his name. In the statement, he said he directed the state’s mental-health department and corrections officials to make sure every sexually violentpredator in state custody was evaluated before their release from prison to see whether they needed to be involuntarily committed.
“I didn’t direct them directly,” he said. “Me personally, I never gave a directive.”
He said he did direct members of his office to study whether existing law could be used to involuntarily commit violent sexual predators who finished their prison sentences.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 07/24/2013