Rhonnie Jaus
Rhonnie sobbed hysterically, “G-d, why have you done this to me?” after Charles (Joe) Hynes lost the primary election (I kid you not).
Jeez, Rhonnie Jaus, you weren’t crucified. It wasn’t G-d; it was the electorate. Some people voted against Hynes because of Vecchione’s wrongful convictions. Other’s did it because of Joe’s go-easy policies on orthodox-Jewish sex abusers. As head of the Sex Crimes unit, you carried out those policies. You and others in the Office of the Kings County District Attorney (KCDA) turned Joe’s political self-interest into the Church of Joe with its own Ten Commandments:
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Rembrandt- Moses with the Ten Commandments
Joe is thy G-d who took thee out of the ranks to be a boss.
- No other interests shall stand in the way of Joe’s election.
- Joe is a jealous G-d who visits iniquity and indictments down to the third and fourth trial.
- Do not allow others to fault Joe, for he is vain.
- Remember to rest from thy labors when prosecuting Sabbath observers.
- Honor your Father Joe and Mother Mary Hughes that you may prosper in the land of the priveleged.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery (unless it is a sordid political liaison).
- Thou shalt not steal (unless it involves votes or you are taking a case and credit away from a subordinate).
- Thou shalt not leave a murder unprosecuted (even if you have to convict the wrong man).
- Thou shalt not covet thy boss’s job or the salaries of those anointed by him.
Rhonnie, your religion was DOA on election night. The voters shattered your tablets and there aren’t any more coming down the mountain. Hynes cannot even be resurrected on FaceBook.
Rhonnie, if you want to fake a quickie conversion to the Thompson religion, deliver the successful prosecution of Baruch Lebovits (BL) instead of giving him a plea bargain with no more time in jail. But first you have to explain:
- The Rosario violation in the first trial which opened the door to the appeal by Alan Dershowitz that overturned the conviction
- Why the evidence in the first trial did not include a police supervised recording between BL and his victim in which he all but confessed
- Why KCDA has not followed up with other victims of BL
- Why you never pursued prosecution of Zalman and Berrel Ashkenazi for obstructing justice
- Why you acquiesced to a “Chinese Wall” that allowed Vecchione to deny you access to evidence against Lebovits
Why you didn’t challenge the Vecchione prosecution of Samuel Kellner for bringing a false witness when you were convinced that this witness had been molested, and was now intimidated and bribed by Lebovits and his agents.- Why you did not object to the Rackets case which assumed the indictment testimony against BL was false when you knew that Lebovits was negotiating a plea bargain with you before the first trial, something which you were only allowed to do if you were convinced of his guilt
- Why ADA Gregory, who testified to the Grand Jury that indicted Samuel Kellner, didn’t challenge the indictment once it became clear that Rackets was ignoring evidence held by your unit pointing to Kellner’s innocence
- Why your unit was caught flat-footed by Alan Dershowitz at the last court appearance when he asked for a tape which you didn’t know about
- Why the word is out that your unit is no longer getting ready for Lebovits’ trial even though Hynes declared his intent to try Lebovits in the fall.
Alan Dershowitz (photo by Sage Ross) GNU License
Rhonnie, can you successfully take on Alan Dershowitz, his brother, Nathan Dershowitz (collectively known as the Dersh Bags), and Arthur Aidala to convict Baruch Lebovits? If you can do that you might salvage your reputation for another job. If not, no one will be impressed if you score an easy guilty verdict on a case you stole from the ADA who built it.
If you give Baruch Lebovits a sweetheart deal, his valentine will be your career death knell. Baruch Lebovits has too many anguished victims crying for justice. Some of them have committed suicide. Too many of us have fought too long and hard to let this case slip under the radar. Your office already gave Menachem Deutsch a sweetheart deal. A Lebovits sweetheart deal will produce an extraordinary outpouring of criticism that will eclipse the Weberman trial attendance. Kenneth Thompson will be forced to do a postmortem, the skeletons will come tumbling out, and your fingerprints will be on them.
You may think you will be off the hook because your office makes it its business not to leave written records of improper orders. But the religion of the spoken word is being replaced by a fervor for accountability. In the new order, your inability to explain your many missteps will come back to haunt you.
With apologies to Shakespeare’s Cassisus: The fault, dear Rhonnie, is not in G-d, but in yourself, that you were an underling.
FRUM FOLLIES by Yerachmiel Lopin 
Thank you for trying to keep the Lebovits story alive!!!
Just an illustration of how crazy things have gotten, JUST THIS WEEK I saw Libovits in a public MIKVAH (locker room style ritual bathhouse)!!!
That a monster of this magnitude is on the prowl, is a travesty of justice that is…. (Please please pardon the pun) monstrous!!!
“Concerned,”
Can you identify the ritual bath where you saw Lebovits and the address or the nearest intersections?
Do you know if he is a regular there?
If I have that information It might help protect others.
What is the deal being offered to Lebovits now?
I don’t have the official insider facts from the DA. But the Lebovits camp is bargaining for time served already. I get the impression that the DA is expecting to settle on those terms per a decision from on top, not because that would be offered to most others in this case. Remember when he was convicted, he was sentenced to 10-32 years and probably would have ended up serving 20+ years.
I swear man, I am not trying to be a troll, but if you don’t have “facts from the DA’s” Office how are you getting “the impression that the DA is expecting to settle” for time served?
Alright, well, anyway, I guess you aren’t going to answer that simple but obvious question. I worked with Rhonnie, and I don’t think she is as reliant on the public sector as your essay implies. I find it hard to believe she feels this way, I think you should check your source. I wish you would be a little more careful in who you are defaming here. Hynes and Vecchione are fair game because they sought the limelight and have to take with all that comes with this. But Ive looked over your campaign here, and some of these people you are public servants who are working hard for salaries they are over-qualified for because they care about the victims. And some of them are young and innocent, just out of school with their whole careers ahead of them. Just please be a little more careful. I am sure you mean well.
I swear man, I am not trying to be a troll, but if you don’t have facts from the DA’s Office how are you getting “the impression that the DA is expecting to settle” for time served?
There are some limits on what I can disclose since I protect my sources. That is all I am free to say. My various readers have to make their own choice about my credibility.
No, I understand that of course, but you said that you don’t have facts from the DAs Office, and then you said you had the impression from the DAs Office. Well those two things are mutually exclusive. One of them can’t be true. I wasn’t asking you to reveal your source in the Office.
“The main Torah source prohibiting lashon harah is Vayikra (19:16): “Don’t spread gossip amongst your people. Don’t stand idly by the blood of your fellow. I am G‑d.””
A number of commentaries have noted that this dual issue verse teaches that the prohibition of lashon harah is conditional. If a benefit results from saying the negative things that can’t be obtained otherwise – then it is permitted to speak. This is known as the heter of to’eles. In fact we see that it is not a heter but it is a condition that determines whether the negative information is lashon harah. This shows that not every negative statement is in fact lashon harah.
Rav Ovadiah Yosef (Yechava Daas 4:60): … In fact this is the way to understand the verse regarding lashon harah. “Do not speak lashon harah but don’t stand idly by concerning the blood of your fellow.” Even though there is a prohibition of lashon harah, nevertheless the second clause of the verse tells you that it is conditional on this not causing harm. Therefore you are obligated to inform others regarding certain matters in order to them to guard against loss and danger. This is expressed in Nidah (61a) that even though it is prohibited to listen to lashon harah but you should protect yourself from the potential danger you hear about. The Rambam (Mitzva 297) says that protecting another’s money is also included in “don’t stand idly by concerning the blood of your fellow.” … Therefore even if there is only a financial loss, one should inform your fellow man in order that he can protect himself from those who want to harm him. And surely when there is a possible danger to an individual or a group….”
Yerachmeil, how do you square your recent comments about lashon harah with your recent posts on Rhonnie Jaus, the majority of which has a touch of sadistic glee in the sorrow/misfortune of others? Your comments as to her (assumed) role in the Frum community’s continued protection of pedophiles and rapists are fine during the campaign or during a particular case, but what about these last two posts on her? Exposing issues when a campaign was in swing was one thing, but now, Thompson has won. Where is the heter to’eles in continuing your jibs at Jaus if she is merely doing what trial supervisors are supposed to do? Where is the heter to’eles in repeating her anguish at the realization that she will probably be asked to leave her job by Thompson? Probably she has children to feed and clothe and the loss of income would be difficult for her. I am confused since you seem to be a thoughtful, spiritual person that you would take joy in her loss. Please explain.
I agree of course. I hope you find the peace you seek Yerachmeil.
There is a purpose which become clear in the second half; Lebovits’ prosecution must not be allowed to die on the vine or be converted into a sweetheart plea deal. I laid out a set of assertions which are well founded. I know of followup with additional witnesses that is not happening. This case is way too important to hundreds of Lebovits victims.
At some level I feel for her. I believe she started out wanting to do the right thing. But she failed the test of civil courage when she was given improper orders. She also failed the test of decency when she stole a case from a subordinate.
When Thompson comes in, I believe he will have to look hard at some of failed orthodox prosecutions and extraditions to learn how not to repeat certain mistakes.
And yes, I agree that orthodox prosecutions are harder and more resource intensive. But each successful one gives more hope and encouragement to other victims to come forward. Right now, the mishandling of the Lebovits case, compounded by the unjustified Kellner prosecution has scared people away from the office of the DA. They say yes, they did Weberman right, but, how the hell did they screw up Lebovits.
I feel for her, but her feelings and job security do not take priority over the suffering of victims of rape by Lebovits who went from being sweet boys to badly messed up kids. That is what this is about.
mulierracionabilem – Lopin isn’t all that interested in justice or spirituality. He is a sensationalist. Grab some rumors, find an entertaining narrative, dish some dirt, and let fly. The mindless followers rejoice and Lopin revels in the attention of the pathetic few. Yellow journalism to be sure, but at least the yellow journalists of the era in which that term was coined had a respectable circulation. Thank Hashem that Lopin doesn’t.
Conway – right on. I’ve said before that Rhonnie has done absolutely nothing to deserve such contempt. She is a true believer who works herself to the bone, and not because she “needs this job.” It’s her life’s work. If anything, she’s too zealous – often unable to believe that a defendant could actually be innocent, even if the facts suggest so. So, exactly the person you want in the job if you’re the victim of a heinous sex crime. Her difficulties (and those of the office) with Orthodox community sex cases stem not from Hynes, or secret deals, or politics, but from the backwards nature of the community and the powers within, who want to prevent secular enforcement of sex crime laws. Every time Lopin blogs about a conspiracy to soft pedal Hasidic sex crime prosecutions, and every time one of his Lopinites cheer blindly in response, it diverts attention from the real problem in these cases and reduces the chances that things will improve. You’ve got to love the irony: Lopin purports to champion more aggressive pursuit of Hasidic molesters, but in his efforts, he succeeds only in subverting it. Bravo.
See my reply above.
Of course. But, to be fair, I think it is pretty obvious that Lopin himself was a victim of abuse who feels as though he was short changed by the Office’s policy. And, as such, my heart goes out to him, as it does to any victim of these horrible crimes in any community.
Conway Stapleton,
I think it is pretty clear that you are extremely close to the molester Leibovits. OTOH, you could very conceivably be a different pederast with close ties to Leibovits. In either case your reasons for being here are fairly obvious. You had better do a truckload of teshuvah.
I think I know which Defendant he was. But I’m not from that community. What’s a teshuvah? Or an OTOH?
I was a victim of child sexual abuse but of far less scale, frequency, etc than many of Lebovits’ victims. More important, it was not in the Brooklyn DA jurisdiction. I have never had any reason to deal with the Brooklyn DA on any matter involving me as either victim or defendant. all of my dealings and contacts with the office have involved others.
I’m very sorry for what happened to you. I hope you find some peace.
As a moral compassionate human being who cares about justice, I am offended, as are many others with no personal stake.
I must laugh at some of the comments about Rhonnie. Conway, you either never worked for her or are telling half-truths. Rhonnie has not been the nicest of people to many that have worked for her. She used to be absolutely notorious. The woman hasn’t tried a case in nearly twenty years- at least as far as I can recall. That she now wants to take an easy sex abuse case to prove her bonifides to the new DA is laughable. If she really wanted to do something, she would try the Lebovits case. She will not however because its not a slam dunk and will highlight her lack of trial skills. That being said, she does quite obviously know this field very well and except for this nonsense with turning the other cheek in these cases, is otherwise an advocate for victims of abuse.
What comment of mine are you referring to as a half-truth? Be specific and quote me.
Conway- I mis-spoke, it was the comments of “truther” to which I was referring. To say that Ronnie has done nothing to deserve this contempt and works her fingers to the bone is absolutely ridiculous. She has done a lot to deserve the contempt that she is now receiving. As they say, karma is a beyotch and she has a lit of deserved bad karma coning hervway for not only being Complicit in the arrangement to let off or provide a slap on the wrist to those who would and do abuse children within certain groups. All for the political gain of her boss. Not only that, I have never heard anyone describe Ronnie as working herself to the bone. Lol Try finding her past 6pm on any given day and weve already established that she has absolutely in trying herself cases in her own unit. I tell you, the fixers that are coming in here really need to stop while they are ahead. They forget that there are many of us out there that have long-term institutional memories. Please don’t try to reinvent history. I do believe in being fair as no one is one dimensional, but don’t tell half truths and lies.
Ok, apology accepted. I think my larger issue with this post, and with Lopin’s consistent scorn in general, is how misplaced it is. Yes, Joe Hynes’ defeat is a great personal loss to him and to many of his lieutenants. But not in the way that Lopin characterizes it on this website. As I stated above, most of these people are overqualified in the New York City legal market for the salaries that they were receiving. And Im sorry Lopin, but is really unlikely that people like Jaus and Vecchione are going to take pay cuts when they move their skill set into the private sector. This is probably most true about the DA himself who will immediately be invited to serve on boards around the City and invited to speak about his crime prevention programs throughout the country. So yes Lopin, these people who you are so angry with have lost something very precious to them. And that makes you happy. But it isn’t money. And it isn’t luxury. They will probably each find more of both where they are headed. What they have lost is the opportunity to help the people they cared about. Otherwise they would not have stayed in that Office. And I just hope that you allow that reality to color your perception of what happened here. And maybe, even let it give you the opportunity to explore your own motivations. I wish you the best.
What’s with the name Conway Stapleton? R U for real? R U traveling back in time to when Liz was the boss? I herd that under Liz the bosses worked the hardest. Not anymore.
Liz Holtzman? “herd?” Is you point that the KCDA bosses kept the jobs because they are easy? Well, we can meet back here next year and see which of the jobs were easier, the ones they have now, or the ones they will have.
P.S. I don’t know why you are making fun of my name. It took me a long time to make up.
I have been on the inside and I don’t feel sorry for Rhonnie. She took go-easy orders from Hynes and let herself be “advised” by Henna White. She is not dumb. She did it for the job.
Rhonnie wasn’t the only problem. Miss Gregory screwed up the first Lebovits trial. How frickin smart to do you have to be to avoid giving Dershowitz grounds for an appeal. She went into that trial knowing that the scumbag rabbi was lawyered up with Aidala and had hotshot appeals lawyers on tap. So why did she leave an opening for a Rosario violation. That is an automatic appeal victory. Some people claim she had a private deal with Aidala. I don’t know about that but it doesn’t make sense. She is smart and she does a good courtroom show.
Then she let Mike screw things up though she knew it was BS. Unless she can pull a rabbit out of a hat on a second trial, she is going to be toast with the new bosses.
Ken Thompson is in for a nasty surprise if he thinks just saying “equal treatment” will solve the problem. The Jewish cases are tough. Everyone will keep on avoiding them unless they know they will really be given the extra time. If Thompson does reward extra for those convictions the orthodox will whine “we are being targeted.”
Let’s face it, a lot of people in KCDA think “the hell with the Jews.” They have all this power and its them that are screwing their kids and protecting the guys who do it and then attacking us. Who the hell but hasids would do a public fundraiser for Weberman?
There is a fundamental internal contradiction in this comment.
Disgusted – I worked for Rhonnie years ago as an assistant when I was in the office, and she was no sweet cuddly bunny of a boss, that’s for sure. But she was fair with her assistants when I was there and supportive if you had problems with a case, so I think its a poor thing to pile on at this time. Did she try cases? I remember her trying cases when she was a deputy. I knew her to be committed to sex victims, especially kids. Yeah, she was quick to reduce felony sex crime arrests to misdemeanors if there even a whiff of a problem but we all know no one wants an acquittal on their felony case trial stats and it’s hard to get a conviction on a sex crime especially if its a child victim, jurors don’t seem to want to believe someone who looks “normal” could do something so bad. So they give the benefit of the doubt to the defendant. As to Rhonnie’s failings in prosecuting sex abuse cases in the uber-frum community, I can only say that in my opinion the problem is the frum community’s shetl mentality. “All outsiders are not to be trusted.” Combine that with, “we can deliver lotsa votes, so fear our ballot box power and give us what we want –we want our captive back (pidyon shvuyim).” And top it all off with the frum community’s generalize – not distrust of but hatred of the secular world and its rules, then you have a regular milkshake of misery for any prosecutor that wants to sit for more than one term, even Thompson.
I don’t know why you and others cannot consider a logical possibility that there were two factors in the low rates of orthodox prosecutions and the lenient sentences with less than a handful of exceptions. On the one hand there are forces from within the community. On the other hand we have a DA who sold his political soul to that community for their votes. Now with only one factor outcomes should improve.
I detect of whiff of anti-semitism is the “blame the hasidim” mantra.
I have never exclusively blamed Hynes. If you read my blog carefully, most of my posts not dealing with the office of the DA deal with the need for changes in the community.
But come on. Twenty four years and Joe never got a ultra orthodox jew sentenced to one day in jail for witness intimidation and other forms of obstruction of justice. Do you imagine some international conspiracy so powerful that Joe couldn’t get one man in jail for one fricking day. Really. Doesn’t that give you pause before you rush forward in you defense of Rhonnie. Lets start with Berrel Ashkenazi. ADA Gregory produced a piece of paper in court offering a defendant money for not testifiying against Lebovits and including a rabbinical order to that witness not to testify. WHY WASN’T BERREL ASHKENAZI arrested for witness tampering?
Are you a lawyer Lopin? Have you ever worked as a prosecutor? I’m not trying to uncover your identity, I’m just wondering because you are making plenty of assertions about the ease and familiarity of witness intimidation convictions that result in jail time, and I was just wondering if you had any idea what you were talking about.
See Michael Lesher’s writing about the extradition issues. Re available witnesses, that is knowledge that does not require legal expertise.
Really? She tried cases when she was a Deputy? She hasn’t been a mere Deputy in nearly TWENTY YEARS!! I think that anyone that has worked for Rhonnie is well aware of the fact that she is not the nicest of people to work with or for and has screwed over plenty of people through the years. As such, IMHO, she deserves the pile on. Like many in the office that are scared out of their minds right now, she rarely cared how poorly she treated whomever was her victim of the day or thought twice about the repercussions of the words she spoke about them. She is not a victim. It’s just that karma has finally caught up with her.
I will say this, she would defend her people to Mr. Hynes and provide cover for them in most cases. She does dump cases if there is any way possible at the whiff of an acquittal so that, along with politics may have played a role in how she treated cases in the Orthodox community.
Rhonnie is a good boss in the most important way a boss can be good: She serves as a firewall between you and the top. Yes, if a line assistant screwed up she would come down on you, but it ended there, and these people aren’t children for G-D’s sake. Almost anyplace else in that office, if you a line assistant screwed up, their immediate boss would sell them out and the assistant would be sitting in the chief assistant’s office before he or she even knew there was a problem. So I guess Disgusted and I have some common ground there.
If she was a good boss she would have blown up the Vecchione chinese wall between Lebovits case and Kellner case. That fake barrier and the failure to prosecute the Ashkenazi brothers for wittness bribery and intimidation hobbled her Lebovits case.
Rhonnie: could it be that the god of the numerous victims of Rabbi Yehudah Joel Kolko–a serial molester you let walk away from multiple felony counts in exchange for a guilty plea of endangering the welfare of a child, no jail time, no sex offender registration when all the while you knew the two victims were willing to testify at trial–is now giving you your just desserts?
Could it be that the god of Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz’s many victims–a child rapist you allowed to avoid extradition when you and the Boss told the Feds to drop their extradition efforts–is now giving you the boot you have long deserved?
You sold your soul to the Boss and his Goon Squad when you allowed the prosecution–or in your cases the lack thereof–of child molesters to be dictated by the Boss’ political needs thereby essentially trafficking in child sex abuse in exchange for your paycheck.
Frankly, you, the Boss and his Goon Squad have been hoisted by your own petard. Enjoy the view while you can. Petards blow and when this one does it may well expose the office’s sordid secrets you and the Goon Squad so desperately want to keep.
Are you a poet? What’s with all the metaphors?
Conway, writers, like courtroom lawyers use metaphors when they help to make a point. What’s with the nitpicking. Have you run out of real arguments?
Yeah.
Rhonnie has landed at C & J Strategy Consulting which specializes in sexual misconduct investigations. http://www.cjstrategyconsulting.com/page/rhonnie-jaus