The former longtime district attorney of Suffolk County, NY, is going on trial with one of his top deputies in a case that could expose the inner workings of a law enforcement culture on Long Island that has been plagued by longstanding accusations of corruption, The New York Times reports. The former DA, Thomas Spota, and Christopher McPartland stand accused of directing a cover-up to block a federal investigation that the police chief in Suffolk County beat a handcuffed man.
Several police officers are expected to be called as witnesses in a case alleging that the defendants pressured potential witnesses not to cooperate with the assault investigation. The defendants’ lawyers have said they are innocent. Suffolk County has one of the largest police forces in America. Spota, 78, served for more than 15 years as the top prosecutor there. Federal prosecutors have described a climate of fear and retribution cultivated by top law enforcement officials in Suffolk County, where subordinates worried their careers would be destroyed if they did not obey corrupt orders. The local police department had long faced allegations of coerced confessions and abuses of power, and critics raised concerns about the cozy relationship between the police and local prosecutors.