Case pending against NY state Senator who would not comply with a NY State Trooper
PBA, 2003-06-30

Below is an update that was printed in the June 30, 2003 edition of the Times Union of Albany. The update includes a quote from PBA Troop G Delegate Jeff Kayser.

Senator’s ID case pending

First published: Monday, June 30, 2003

Sen. Ada Smith isn’t backing down from the position that she did nothing wrong when she refused to give security officers at the Empire State Plaza underground parking garage her parking ID.

And State Police aren’t backing away from saying her outbursts were profane and disrespectful.

Smith was charged with failure to comply with the lawful order of a police officer in a traffic citation written up by State Trooper Michael Kovarovic shortly after the May 21 incident.

Smith says she was in the right: "I don’t take (my ID) out of my wallet, because if I do, I put it someplace else. The guy reached in and put his hands on my wallet. I said, ‘You do not take a lady’s wallet.’ He called over a state trooper, and he told me to surrender it. I told him it was the property of the New York State Senate."

PBA Troop G Delegate Jeffrey J. Kayser says Smith was in the wrong: "She shouted a string of obscenities; she showed no respect for the job the security officer and the trooper (were) trying to do."

Larry Rosen, Smith’s attorney, said the senator, a Democrat from Queens, entered a plea of not guilty in early June. He said he will try to settle the matter out of traffic court.