Federal Indictment: James Burke, Former Suffolk Co PD Chief, December 2015

[hawkshaw]

HOW CAN YOU RESPECT A LIKE A DORMER? You can't.

This Careccia fellow who was the neighbor of James Burke from 1998-2002 tells the police on 11/13/03 that my former son in law did an armed robbery of Strathmore Bagels on 7/25/00. He was supposed to be a look-out using a stolen portable police radio. Careccia describes the robbery and said after it was over they all went back to his house to laugh about how they really got nothing for their efforts.

That allegation all by itself should have required the SCPD to bring the SIL in and relieve him of his weapons and place him on modified assignment. THEY DID NOTHING ! He is allowed to retire on 3/15/04, and they allow him to retain his weapons and give him a thank you letter for his service to the people of Suffolk County.

The idiots still didn't figure out the SIL was in Europe for Strathmore because they never bothered to look. They didn't look because they thought because the crimes were 5 years earlier how could he convincingly prove he wasn't at Strathmore.

Careccia repeated that lie in court when he plead out to 37 felonies on 7/2/04, and repeated that lie before a judge.

They even scooped up another liar in May, 2004 to 'corroborate' Careccia's lie.

When that fell APART after finding he was in Europe they had to not present it to a Sept/Oct grand jury. The other liar was worthless if we found out. so they created another crime out of thin air: A burglary of a Parsnip's Bar on 7/10/00, which was really a failed insurance scam by the owner. Best I can tell the owner never received a dime from a $4K claim he made with the insurance company.

This is what DORMER had available to review and he did NOTHING !!!

 

[LikeAHunter]

I always had the impression that Dormer was in over his head with the LISK. Maybe he was actually cut out of the loop and powerless. Or maybe both! It just always bugged me how he insisted SG was unrelated to the LISK. What could he possibly know that we didn't that would make him declare such a thing so staunchly? Perhaps the only thing he really knew was that he was TOLD they were unrelated, and that he better convince everyone else. IDK, just a thought...

And to elaborate on my other point/theory, I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea that either:
A) SG wasn't intended to be a victim, but she saw or heard something she shouldn't have that night, and then it became clear to her that she needed to run.
Or
B) SG saw or heard something she shouldn't have, was called out to Oak Beach to be warned/threatened, then became scared and ran.

It's blowing my mind that there is a possibility this cast of corrupt characters could be directly involved. But even the earliest LISK profiles said he might be in law enforcement. IDK, just rolling out some ideas. What does everyone else think about these possibilities?

And Hawk, the truth is stranger than fiction. I'm sorry you and your family suffered at the hands of these mofos.

 

[Puggle]

Yep sorry Hawk... there has been alot...and I mean alot!!!........ to take in over the years....sometimes my memory of all the players isn't as good as it should be.

So if there ever comes a day........squeeze away!!!

 

[Puggle]

I always had the impression that Dormer was in over his head with the LISK. Maybe he was actually cut out of the loop and powerless. Or maybe both! It just always bugged me how he insisted SG was unrelated to the LISK. What could he possibly know that we didn't that would make him declare such a thing so staunchly? Perhaps the only thing he really knew was that he was TOLD they were unrelated, and that he better convince everyone else. IDK, just a thought...

And to elaborate on my other point/theory, I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea that either:
A) SG wasn't intended to be a victim, but she saw or heard something she shouldn't have that night, and then it became clear to her that she needed to run.
Or
B) SG saw or heard something she shouldn't have, was called out to Oak Beach to be warned/threatened, then became scared and ran.

It's blowing my mind that there is a possibility this cast of corrupt characters could be directly involved. But even the earliest LISK profiles said he might be in law enforcement. IDK, just rolling out some ideas. What does everyone else think about these possibilities?

And Hawk, the truth is stranger than fiction. I'm sorry you and your family suffered at the hands of these mofos.

If I had to pick one theory over the other.....Id probably go with your first one. If the phone records are correct, I think she was there too long for it to have been a warning meeting.

 

[hawkshaw]

Like A Hunter if you read the Dormer press releases you might find where Dormer said he wasn't told everything ! How anyone that calls himself a police commissioner in such a highly charged case admit to that? Nobody could admit to being that stupid. OK, he really doesn't have to know every detail but he should never admit to it.

What many of you folks don't realize because you were never in the business is a district attorney has no place in the investigation at that point in time. Like the opening lines on Law and Order say: ' .............the district attorney prosecutes the offenders.' The police do the investigation and the district attorney provides legal advice when legal problems arise. Spota jumped in (IMO) to take control of the investigation that wasn't even his. What was he trying to hide?

 

[LikeAHunter]

Yes, I do know that Spota shouldn't be a part of the investigation until there is a viable suspect. I had some NYC detectives in the family who are long passed. One of them was very modest, but when we found a newspaper clipping about him being in a shoot out with the mafia and we asked him about it, he told us a long story about mafia corruption and not knowing who on the force was being paid to look the other way. He was very proud of the fact he was always on the right side of the law. I wish he was alive to hear about all this SC corruption because he's be just as disgusted as you, Hawk!

Anyway, yes, it says something that Spota had his hands in things early on. This is a total mind____. It's like we can't even say for sure that the LISK is a SK in the traditional sense of a psychopath who kills because he "needs" to. I remember people talking years ago on this board about drug connections and thinking that was just a little too out there. But nothing in this case has been simple and nothing has been what it appears to be. And in some ways that is an even bigger tragedy for the families of the victims.

 

[Puggle]

Like A Hunter if you read the Dormer press releases you might find where Dormer said he wasn't told everything ! How anyone that calls himself a police commissioner in such a highly charged case admit to that? Nobody could admit to being that stupid. OK, he really doesn't have to know every detail but he should never admit to it.

What many of you folks don't realize because you were never in the business is a district attorney has no place in the investigation at that point in time. Like the opening lines on Law and Order say: ' .............the district attorney prosecutes the offenders.' The police do the investigation and the district attorney provides legal advice when legal problems arise. Spota jumped in (IMO) to take control of the investigation that wasn't even his. What was he trying to hide?

Ok so now I feel really stupid for saying I thought he was ok......... yes it would appear you are right..and spota had been controlling dormer...the whole investigation from day one...much like your SIL case.

So yes good question...what is Spota hiding?

 

[hawkshaw]

IMO Both Spota and Dormer are drunken scumbags. Drunk is possibly a libelous word. I don't think is a problem. The cop that engineered the frame job, James Burke is now in jail One of the main police witnesses he used to further the lies has resigned on 1/2/16. My information is he has already been arrested by the FEDS and they are waiting for the right moment to put all the cases together.

In addition to the above two we have the ADA that Spota needed to bring this prosecution about has been reported to have been issued a subpoena by the FEDS. He is the same that was the subject of a Newsday story: "The Prosecutor and the Party Boat."

DA Spota seems to me to have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. I think a very important date that needs to come about before he resigns is July 16/18. That is when the whole selection process changes for a new DA when he will be required to run. He can go anytime after that but the idea is to get out fast to give the new person a longer period of time to get a foothold in the office.

 

[hawkshaw]

"As part of their retirement deal, Sprague and DeBlasio will be getting a so-called “good guy” letter which allows them to have retired police identification cards and the right to have a firearm as retirees, said the spokesman. Such good standing letters are important because they indicate that an officer who retires essentially served honorably."

Please read the excerpt from a story in tonight's Newsday Online edition. It pertains to two NYPD cops that were allowed to resign in good standing. Read the passage and keep this in mind:

My son in law was first accused of committing an armed robbery by Burke's neighbor in a statement to detectives on 11/13/03. Several other charges would follow. He was officially retired on 3/15/04, and received his firearms and a 'good guy' letter from Dormer. When Burke resigned he had NOT been arrested but the SCPD denied him a gun permit.

Are you getting the picture of what's wrong with this?

 

[Ray_of_hope]

May God bless you Hawkshaw and I hope that deplorable swamp of a department, including the court jesters, implodes quickly. Reading back is like reading a sordid true crime novel (even better than Mario Puzzo's The Godfather). I've been reading for a few days 24/7 and over several forums dating way back. The fact that you are as tenacious as you are speaks to your love of family and the truth. Fighting corruption is like Davey fighting Goliath and I hope the results are the same here. Some day there will be a history lesson of your efforts. You rock!!! And it couldn't come too soon. It's taken way too long already.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Is there any way for another appeal for your sil based on what's gone down? That may be a stupid question based on the new not calling out the old, but I wanted to ask.

 

[hawkshaw]

It is a little less complicated than my love for family. My son in law was not family and he is my FORMER son in law. I saw his mother, father, and brother tortured in pain. My granddaughter suffered as well. Look, I give cops a lot of lee-way when they arrest people as long as I believe what they did they believed was right. But I give them no lee-way for FRAMING people they know to be innocent no matter how bad that person might be. Multiply my disgust 1000X+ if they know the person is innocent. I am just as disgusted if they ignore evidence of innocence after they convict an innocent man. I get disgusted because I know cops do make mistakes as no one is perfect. But when you have reason to believe you made a mistake the only thing left to do is to fix it.

My son in law appealed twice. He lost twice. The first appeal was a farce. The Court did throw out 2/3's of the charges, or reduced his 5-15 term to 1 2/3 to 5. They should have thrown all of them out. I have reason to believe judging from their decision that they never read the appeal. Appeals cost money, a lot of money. I believe to this day if he wasn't time barred to have his conviction vacated he would win it in a heart-beat if he only gets a fair hearing.

He had four judges hear his appeal ( not that they listened ). and I think I called it right when I heard the oral arguments. The judge that wanted the verdict to stand was Steve Fisher. I knew Fisher was the problem. He was looking for a spot on the Court of Appeals and he was one of several recommended for Chief Judge. With the exception of the female judge the other two were nothing more than window dressing. Of the three, one retired, the other one lost his election that qualified him for the appellate court seating, and the last one was Peter Skelos who has since retired after his brother Dean was arrested for corruption.

I had a retired judge read the appeal. He read it and said while it could have been written better it was good enough to get a reversal. He added not to count on it because you rarely get justice in the appellate courts. And this retired judge was known as a hanging judge.

We helped one fellow in jail with the SIL that appealed and won. The trial judge granted the appeal BUT said if you are tried again and convicted I will give you even more time than I already gave you. He dropped the appeal and finished his time in jail.

The short answer to your question about an appeal: There are lawyers out there willing to do it. The SIL is now doing very well and wants to put it behind him. Without his earnest cooperation the idea of an appeal is almost worthless.

The appellate courts have a reversal rate. To the best of my knowledge it is no more than 5% of the cases they hear.

I know one fellow that reads the cases for his judge and he was given a case by his supervisor that this case needs to be confirmed. He did the right thing and recommended a reversal. I happened to read the reversal purely by chance and knowing what appellate court it was in knew who read it. Guess what, I was RIGHT.

 

[Puggle]

I've read this before ..... but just thought it contained some interesting background in light of more recent events

Sorry if its already been posted before

Puggle x

http://ccnyskaddenprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Newsday-March-23-2014.pdf

 

[Ray_of_hope]

You need to write a book, Hawkshaw. You are a wealth of information and have a lot of inside knowledge. Have many compared you to Serpico?

 

[Ray_of_hope]

It is a little less complicated than my love for family. My son in law was not family and he is my FORMER son in law. I saw his mother, father, and brother tortured in pain. My granddaughter suffered as well. Look, I give cops a lot of lee-way when they arrest people as long as I believe what they did they believed was right. But I give them no lee-way for FRAMING people they know to be innocent no matter how bad that person might be. Multiply my disgust 1000X+ if they know the person is innocent. I am just as disgusted if they ignore evidence of innocence after they convict an innocent man. I get disgusted because I know cops do make mistakes as no one is perfect. But when you have reason to believe you made a mistake the only thing left to do is to fix it.

.

above comment snipped by me for clarification.

Well, then it's your integrity and quest for truth that I respect. Most are not interested due to the fight and danger inherent in exposing corruption. In fact, many would not even bother putting forth the effort. And that I respect as well.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

http://pix11.com/2015/12/09/from-police-chief-to-perp-fbi-case-against-james-burke-isnt-over/
This has probably been posted but I thought it linked Burke and Spota together pretty well.

 

[marble]

It is a little less complicated than my love for family. My son in law was not family and he is my FORMER son in law. I saw his mother, father, and brother tortured in pain. My granddaughter suffered as well. Look, I give cops a lot of lee-way when they arrest people as long as I believe what they did they believed was right. But I give them no lee-way for FRAMING people they know to be innocent no matter how bad that person might be. Multiply my disgust 1000X+ if they know the person is innocent. I am just as disgusted if they ignore evidence of innocence after they convict an innocent man. I get disgusted because I know cops do make mistakes as no one is perfect. But when you have reason to believe you made a mistake the only thing left to do is to fix it.

Hey hawkshaw, much respect for this attitude. It's not one I have come across all that often among LE I've interacted with. I wish there were more with your ethical framework (and maybe there are, but they aren't brave enough or else aren't in a position they feel safe enough in to be vocal about injustices in the system.)

 

[hawkshaw]

To answer some of the posts in no particular order.
The Integrity Factor: There is a story about a young man going to sea. Captain shows him around and tells him what to expect and wilhat is there for him. He takes him to a barrel with a hole in it. Tells the young man this is for your sexual pleasure. He tells him all he needs to do is to put his little thing in there and he will get some of the best sex he has ever had. The captain tells him the barrel is available except for the first Tuesday of every month. The kid is having a great time and is very happy. But as with all human beings he is not satisfied with the minor restriction - he asks the captain why this is so. Captain tells him it is very simple: ON THAT DAY IT IS YOUR TURN IN THE BARREL.

On 11/16/04 I learned that one day I would have my turn in the barrel.

I am no super-hero by any means. My goal is REVENGE. It is amazing what you are willing to ignore until you walk in the shoes of the many victims of the system.

If they did this to my own son I assure you we wouldn't be talking today. This would have been dealt with years ago in a more substantial way.

Trust me if I believed for even one second the son in law was guilty, or partially guilty these posts and the thousands of posts I have written over the years would not have happened.


GETTING IT TO THE MEDIA. Trust me I have been there and done that. It is a process in itself. Some of the bigger stories you may have read in Newsday, Vice.com, and NYTimes were instigated by me.

Their big mistake was to attack Newsday and then set up a bogus wiretap. The Newsday thing was a direct attack and threat on the paper, namely several reporters. The wiretap involved FBI agents and AUSA's having their conversations intercepted. It is very simple: Newsday and the FEDS were put in the barrel and they didn't like it.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Hawkshaw, you're still a hero in my book because there are many that witnessed what went on and simply did nothing. It was the easier path to take.

 

[hawkshaw]

Yes, it is the easier path that I traveled myself. Tried to fix some of them and it didn't often work. We had one case where it was obvious the wrong man was arrested for a triple murder. Funny thing is I reeled him in because we were watching him in Brooklyn until we solidified the case with concrete witnesses. Certain detectives I knew were allegedly doing that. My doubts followed when I learned who they were. From the moment I saw him crossing Coney Island Avenue I knew it wasn't him. We arrested him and he went to jail for more than a year and was released after some cops with real integrity persisted in finding the real killer to bring him to justice.

My sergeant led that investigation. He retired and went on to become an investigator in the office of SCDA Catterson. He rose to the rank of Chief Investigator. He made sure the detectives that worked directly under him pursued the case. Nobody would refuse his requests even though he was 50 miles away and had no authority over them. That man had more integrity in one little finger than I ever had in my whole body. The guy we arrested was an ex-con who just got out of jail. He was easy to discard after rationalizing he wasn't worth the effort. They got the right guy and he was convicted.

Upshot is that when Spota took office the VERY first person he fired was my former boss. He fired him on the first day.

I had people I knew were innocent and my opinions were ignored. Some we saved, some we didn't.

One night we went to Camdem, NJ to pick up a guy for a double homicide. Before we went there I knew for almost a fact the guy didn't do it and I explained it to the supervisor why he couldn't have done it. We brought the guy back anyway. Hardly a saint, more live a devil, but he didn't do it and the real killer was allowed to go free to kill 4 innocent victims. Told them who the right guy was and it was ignored. They had their man and THAT was that.

What do you think my future would have been if I screamed loud and clear we arrested the wrong man?

Listen, I was just about average as a detective. Some people thought I stunk. But sometimes you don't have to be a good detective to know something stinks.

A year or so later I am in court on another case seeing the fellow we brought back from NJ standing in the hallway on his own. I was talking with the ADA handling the case. I ask him what is that guy doing in the hallway after being charged with a double homicide. The ADA tells me the judge saw a problem with the case and gave him ROR. I told the ADA you sure do have a problem because that guy didn't do it. The guy with the same name as that fellow did it and he and his pal Michael did it. You got the wrong guy and four innocent people and their families had to suffer for it.

Two sex crime detectives were going to interview Michael on a rape charge. The information that was given them was so incredible it was hard to believe the guy did it. They got sidetracked with another case and got hungry and had lunch. They would put it off for another day. We caught that guy the next day. One of those detectives nephew was one of those this maggot killed just because it was fun to do so.

Truth is most people we arrest are stone cold guilty. I have no sympathy for them. If a cop jiggles a little bit of the evidence to convict, so be it. But to flake a man for a crime he didn't do no matter how bad the suspect is it is indefensible.