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Journalism of Courage
JOHN ELIGON
Marc A Agnifilo was at his weekend home in New York,watching his three children after dinner on a Saturday evening when his cellphone rang. His law partner,Benjamin Brafman,told Agnifilo that Dominique Strauss-Kahn,who had just been arrested in Manhattan on charges of sexual assault,had retained their law firm.
And with that phone call,the balance of a complicated,two-lawyer household would be upset yet again: His wife,Karen Friedman Agnifilo,is the chief of the trial division in the Manhattan district attorneys office,which would be prosecuting the case. Since her husbands firm was representing Strauss-Kahn,Friedman Agnifilo would have to recuse herself.
Oh,Ill call Cy right now, Agnifilo said his wife told him,referring to Cyrus R Vance Jr,the Manhattan district attorney. In the nearly 18 months since Vance took office,the Agnifilos have been in this situation some two dozen times,creating the potential for awkward situations. But the Strauss-Kahn case puts extra scrutiny on their positions.
Friedman Agnifilo is typically the superviser of major cases,including murders,rapes,assaults and robberies. Her absence from this case would seem to be an especially tough loss for the district attorneys team because Friedman Agnifilo used to be the deputy chief of the offices sex crimes unit. Strauss-Kahn is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper.
But a spokeswoman for Vance said the office was equipped to handle the absence of any top assistant. The senior staff is a really strong team, said Erin M Duggan,Vances chief spokeswoman. In this case,John Irwin,the deputy chief of the trial division,is supervising the Strauss-Kahn case in Friedman Agnifilos place.
Assistants who recuse themselves from cases are walled off from any briefings about the case. Agnifilo said he had not even been aware of Strauss-Kahns arrest until Brafman called him. Since then,he said,the only discussion he has had with his wife about the case concerned the raw volume of press coverage.
He said that he and his wife,who declined to comment,had become accustomed to keeping information from each other. In one case,Agnifilo recalled being asked by one of the top assistants in the US attorneys office,Are you comfortable not telling anyone about what you learn,including your wife? Its never been awkward, Agnifilo said. There were times when he wished he could have talked to his wife about some of his big cases,Agnifilo said. Yet over time,they have adjusted.
Although Friedman Agnifilo distances herself from her husbands cases,the fact remains all assistant district attorneys prosecuting opposite Agnifilo work for Friedman Agnifilo.
