Jury Selection to Start in NCPD Conspiracy Case

Former Second Deputy Nassau County Police Commissioner William Flanagan

Jury selection is slated to begin early next month for the trial of an ex-Nassau County police official accused of helping quash a criminal investigation into a police benefactor’s son.

Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Mark D. Cohen said jury selection will begin Nov. 1 or Nov. 5 in the case against Second Deputy Commissioner William Flanagan. Cohen added he expects a verdict to be reached by early December.

He granted a request for separate trials against Flanagan and his two co-defendants, ex-Deputy Chief of Patrol John Hunter and retired Det. Sgt. Al Sharpe.

Lawyers for the trio sought to have the case dismissed, but Cohen upheld the charges in September, saying prosecutors acted properly during the grand jury process.

The latest development comes after months of preliminary hearings, motions and two judge recusals.

The three were indicted earlier this year for allegedly suppressing an investigation into a May 2009 break-in at Bellmore’s John F. Kennedy High School, where more than $11,000 in electronic equipment was stolen by Zachary Parker, the son of a police benefactor. Parker has since been sentenced to one to three years in prison for violating his sentence of probation in the burglary.

On Friday, Cohen signed off on three subpoenas that require the school to hand over emails and memos related to Parker’s theft to prosecutors and Flanagan’s defense team.

A jury selection date for Hunter and Sharpe hasn’t been announced.

The investigation into the three police officials and the alleged quashing of Parker’s burglary investigation stems from a March 2011 Press expose into the Nassau County Police Department and nonprofit Nassau County Police Department Foundation.