Laura Curran faces skirmish with GOP over borrowing for settlement
Democratic County Executive Laura Curran may face her first skirmish with the Republican-controlled Nassau County Legislature next week when committees consider her request to borrow $45 million to pay a court judgment won by two men exonerated in a 1984 rape and murder.
The request comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to hear Nassau’s appeal of the 2014 award to John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, whose convictions in the rape and murder of Lynbrook teenager Theresa Fusco were overturned after they had spent nearly 18 years in prison.
The administration wants to borrow $45 million to pay $36 million in damages as well as legal fees and interest.
But the plan could face opposition from Republicans and at least one member of the county’s financial control board because former County Executive Edward Mangano in 2016 set aside $45 million to cover the judgment after Democrats killed his request to borrow the money.
Read more: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/john-restivo-dennis-halstead-nassau-1.16228175