Troy

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against the Rensselaer County district attorney on Wednesday, claiming Joel Abelove "flagrantly violated" an executive order last week when Abelove's office presented evidence in a fatal police shooting to a grand jury.

Abelove announced Friday that the grand jury cleared Troy police Sgt. Randall French of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting that took place five days earlier.

The district attorney said the officer acted appropriately when he fatally shot a DWI suspect through a windshield as the man's vehicle allegedly pinned the officer against his police cruiser.

The incident was not recorded by any nearby surveillance cameras and Troy police officers and their cruisers are not equipped with recording devices or cameras, authorities said.

The district attorney apparently did not notify the attorney general's office of his decision to quickly present the case to a grand jury, while the investigation was ongoing.

The panel's decision was announced three days after Schneiderman's office notified Abelove that the attorney general wanted to review evidence in the case.

"DA Abelove's rush to the grand jury flouted at least four lawfully issued directives by the Attorney General pursuant to Executive Order 147," the lawsuit states.

The petition seeks a court order compelling Abelove to turn over his files and all evidence on the shooting to the attorney general's office. The lawsuit also seeks to restrict Abelove from taking any action in the case, including anulling last week's grand jury action, which Schneiderman's office said lacks "legal significance."

Schneiderman's office has invoked the executive order at least four times since it was issued last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. While many district attorneys opposed the law, Schneiderman's office said local prosecutors have been "cordial" and not attempted, before Abelove's "end-run" last week, to impede the attorney general's review of deadly incidents involving police use of force.

Cuomo signed the executive order last July in the wake of a series of controversial and fatal encounters between police and unarmed civilians in New York and across the nation.

The governor's order said the attorney general may intervene in a fatal police encounter when, "in his opinion, there is a significant question as to whether the civilian was armed and dangerous at the time of his death."

"Assistant Attorneys General notified DA Abelove at least three times, both orally and in writing, that the Attorney General believed that the incident raised such a significant question," states the lawsuit filed by Schneiderman.

The attorney general's lawsuit includes a lengthy legal argument in which the office said that both executive law and prior decisions by the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, "unquestionably establish that the Governor may supersede district attorneys in this manner."

Troy police Chief John Tedesco said French followed his training and the law when he fired his service weapon eight times, killing 37-year-old Edson Thevenin of Watervliet. The shooting took place about 3:15 a.m. April 17 on Hoosick Street near the Collar City Bridge, after Thevenin's vehicle was boxed in by two police cruisers following a brief chase that police said began when he fled a traffic stop.

Police said the stop was prompted by French's suspicion that Thevenin was driving while intoxicated. Thevenin was shot through his windshield after his vehicle allegedly pinned French against his police cruiser. Thevenin was not armed with a weapon although the police chief said Thevenin's vehicle was a weapon.

Schneiderman's lawsuit notes the executive law "expressly and unequivocally required District

Attorneys to get prior authorization from the Attorney General to make grand jury presentations where a civilian was 'unarmed' or where there is a significant question whether a civilian was 'armed and dangerous.'"

Jennifer Sommers, deputy chief of the attorney general's Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit, sent a letter April 19 to Abelove requesting copies of the investigative files, including police radio transmissions, any videos collected, medical reports on the injured officer and witness statements.

The lawsuit accuses Abelove of taking an "end-run around Executive Order 147" last week, saying his actions would exacerbate public concerns about bias in the handling of fatal police shootings.

"His conduct also stands in sharp contrast to the professional conduct of other district attorneys who — while perhaps not agreeing with the appointment of the Attorney General under Executive Order 147 — have worked cordially and collaboratively with the Attorney General," the lawsuit added.

Abelove did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

At a news conference April 18, a day after the shooting, Abelove said a story in the Times Union that said Troy police initially refused to give information about the shooting to investigators with the attorney general's office was "categorically not true." Abelove said he personally spoke to an assistant attorney general, Paul Clyne, and the investigators who were with him. "Details were shared with the attorney general's office," Abelove said.

But when pressed, the police chief acknowledged at the news conference that he issued the order.

"Early on in the investigation, as soon as the district attorney had contacted the attorney general's office, I issued a directive until such time as the jurisdiction was established that there would be no discussion with anyone on evidence other than anyone with the Rensselaer County district attorney's office," Tedesco said. "So that was on my directive."

Abelove also said last week that the attorney general's office was not expected to pursue an investigation of the fatal shooting, and that he would determine whether a grand jury would review the case.

"It was relayed to me by Mr. Clyne that the attorney general ... is not going to be claiming jurisdiction in this case," Abelove said.

In the lawsuit, Schneiderman's office said that Abelove's characterization of Clyne's comments was not accurate. The attorney general said Clyne told Abelove they would be requesting additional information, including copies of French's medical records.

According to the lawsuit, Abelove told Clyne he was "misquoted" although his statements were recorded.

blyons@timesunion.com • 518-454-5547 • @brendan_lyonstu