LOPORTO





MCDONOUGH

Well, it seems as if Judge George Pulver finally set a trial date in the case of The People vs Ed McDonough and Michael LoPorto.

According to the judge, who’s been about invisible as far as voter fraud is concerned, the trial of county Board of Elections Commissioner and councilman At Large will commence on Jan. 17. If it comes, and I have my doubts, it will begin just shy of a year when the two were indicted on a combined 116 felonies for their alleged roles in defrauding voters in the ’09 Working Families Party primary. Murder cases go before a jury in a more expedient manner, but that’s beside the point. At least there is a trial date, and that’s a start to the end.

That said, here are a few things I expect to see happen:

- There will be at least one continuance or delay in the start of the trial for one reason or another. I’d be shocked if this one kicks off as scheduled.

- This one is not mine but it’s what everyone else expects – McDonough’s attorney, Brian Premo, will find some kind of a conflict and bail out of the case.
- Bob Mirch’s name will be brought up at least 1,000 times, likely with a bunch of unflattering expletives and/or adjectives attached, while he watches pelicans in Florida.


SMITH



- If Special Prosecutor Trey Smith's investigation means anything to the pace of the trial, it will be taking Christmas off next year.

- It won’t be nearly as exciting as the buildup and will feature a bunch of documents, voters who didn’t vote and a bunch of boring Election Law.

And here are some things I would like to see happen:

- I would like to see Michael LoPorto testify. Not that I have any ill will towards LoPorto, actually I like him and I do think his heart is in the right place and he ran for public office for all the right reasons. That said, he’s famous for dropping F-Bombs and has an Italian temper. So, you can bet cross-examination will be a highlight.

- I hope Premo, despite what I said under the “expect” portion of this entry, stays on and represents McDonough for the duration of the trial. Given the conspiracy theories he has going, and the people mentioned in them, it would be great to see him bring it all into open court.

- Someone from the Working Families Party is held responsible for something. It’s their party that’s been hijacked for years and they are the ones who were so frustrated by the hijacking that I find it hard to believe nobody from that party knew what was going on, or actively participated.
- Someone realizes this is all a debacle and a huge waste of money, and that anything remotely close to similar could be prevented if New York joined the vast majority of states and banned minor parties from endorsing major party candidates.