MONTICELLO -
Without testifying, Ira Cohen, Sullivan County Attorney, was cleared
yesterday of nine month old charges stemming from an incident at
last year's Woodstock
Festival.
Thompson Town
Court Judge Perry E. Meltzer dismissed two separate violations against
Cohen within twenty minutes. The charges were filed last August by a state
police trooper who said Cohen blocked traffic and ignored orders when he
stopped his car in front of the Woodstock
site at Hurd and West Shore Roads.
He had been
charged with disorderly conduct, a violation, and stopping, standing or
parking outside a business or residential district, a vehicular violation.
Cohen did not
testify during the two hour trial, nor did his lawyer call any witnesses
to the stand.
In his decision
Meltzer said the prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Joey Drillings,
failed to prove the incident took place outside a business or residential
area and show Cohen intended to cause inconvenience or create a public
risk with his behavior.
After the decision
Cohen was greeted with congratulations from family members and friends.
"I'm very pleased
and not surprised at all", he said, "I'm disappointed I didn't have the
chance to tell my side... but the testimony presented was so blatantly
untrue I didn't have to."
Not everyone
was thrilled.
"Maybe if you're
a public official you get treated differently than the common citizen",
Sullivan County District Attorney, said yesterday. "It's extremely rare
that a case like this gets dismissed."
Drillings did
not comment yesterday.
Cohen said he
may hold a press conference in a few days to tell his side of what happened
the night of his arrest.
"I've been waiting
nine months to talk about the abusive conduct by [state trooper Ross] Felisi."
On the stand
Felisi testified he ordered Cohen to move his car from the intersection
several times on August 15th. Cohen had stopped to talk to two people.
"When I asked
him to move again, (Cohen) looked me in the eye and moved his vehicle one
foot and then began conversing again", Felisi said.
Felisi said
Cohen did not comply when asked for his driver's license. He also ignored
orders to get out of the car.
Woodstock
Report
Check
out the rest of our Website!
Back
to Update Page
ãcopyright
1998 EGGINK "a family business"
Material contained on this page
is freely shared as long as you include this copyright information and
photo credits.
