Paterson Escapes Charges

After a months-long investigation of David Paterson's role in a domestic violence dispute involving one of his former top aides, the New York governor will ultimately escape landing in hot water. While Judge Judith S. Kaye found that Paterson had exercised poor judgment in contacting the woman who accused his aide of assault, Kaye is not recommending he be charged. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo asked the former chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals to take over the investigation in April. The governor’s intervention in the domestic abuse case rocked the state's government earlier this year, causing the resignations of five top state officials and Paterson's decision not to run for reelection. His former aide, David W. Johnson, who was accused of assaulting a former girlfriend, could still be charged.