Did this interview in January prompt the district attorney to recuse himself from the case?
Yes. He asked the County Court judge, Judith Hillery, to appoint a special district attorney to investigate the kidnapping and rape claims. Within twenty-four hours, the special district attorney withdrew from the case without publicly specifying the basis for the withdrawal. The basis for the withdrawal -Pagones- was suppressed for approximately ten years. County Court Judge Judith Hillery wrote to Gov. Mario Cuomo in January 1988 requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor because an assistant district attorney, Pagones, was a suspect in the kidnapping and rape of Tawana Brawley and he was refusing to leave his post. This letter was sealed and kept from the public until the defamation trial in 1987-1988. Cuomo had knowledge of Pagones’ suspect status in January 1988 but he would publicly denounce Maddox for fingering Pagones in March 1988. The district attorney also confidentially advised the FBI that it should begin to focus on Pagones. The FBI secretly sought to question Pag
