POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County District Attorney William Grady plans to petition the court system to provide a special prosecutor in the case against a Fishkill councilman accused of stealing campaign signs favoring his opponent in the race for town supervisor. Councilman John Forman was arrested on October 24 and charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of stolen property after he surrendered more than 30 signs that were erected with negative messages about Forman’s voting record and questioned whether he actually resides in Fishkill.
A criminal complaint was filed with the East Fishkill Police by Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra, the Democrat who Forman is challenging for the town’s top job. The complaint resulted in Forman being arrested on Wednesday. Forman asserts that he was “set up in an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Supervisor Albra.”
A misdemeanor case in Dutchess County is typically prosecuted by the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, but Grady told Mid-Hudson News that he will seek an outside prosecutor “Given the political connection and relationship that exists between Mr. Forman and this office.” Forman served as a Dutchess County legislator for 12 years and in that position, he had influence over the budget for the DA’s office. Additionally, Forman’s brother, Retired Dutchess County Court Judge Peter Forman shares a longtime personal and professional relationship with Grady and the DA’s office.
Grady is leaving his position in just more than two months after serving as the elected DA for 40 years. He is the longest-serving DA in the state and explained that he is applying to the Administrative Judge of the Ninth Judicial District for the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case against Forman. The request, Grady noted, is to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
The East Fishkill Town Justices will likely recuse themselves from presiding over the case as well. Forman’s first court appearance is scheduled for November 1, 2023, before East Fishkill Town Justice Brian Rudner. With the request for the special prosecutor and the likelihood that the judges will recuse themselves, the case is expected to go into 2024 before a resolution is agreed to.
Criminal possession of stolen property is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, restitution, fines, and up to three years of probation.
