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  Investigator in Hubbard Case Seeks Access to Attorney's Clients, Files

Troy Record [Albany NY]
May 20, 2004

Mary Jo White, the attorney hired to investigate charges of sexual misconduct against Bishop Howard Hubbard, said she will agree to just about any condition in order to interview the two men who accused Hubbard of engaging in homosexual activity some 30 years ago.

Mary Jo White, the attorney hired to investigate charges of sexual misconduct against Bishop Howard Hubbard, said she will agree to just about any condition in order to interview the two men who accused Hubbard of engaging in homosexual activity some 30 years ago.

White, in a letter to attorney John Aretakis, said she wants to interview his clients Andrew Zalay and Anthony Bonneau Tuesday and is, reluctantly, willing to do it in public.

Zalay claimed a sexual relationship with Hubbard drove his brother Thomas, who had a history of mental illness, to suicide in 1978. Bonneau said he encountered Hubbard while working as a male prostitute in Albany's Washington Park in the 1970s.

Aretakis Wednesday fell short of saying he would make his clients available, but said he would sit down with White, in public, and then "see how it goes."

Aretakis and his clients have refused to talk to White or her investigators because, they say, she works for the diocese and is unable to conduct an autonomous investigation.

Furthermore, he said, White is bound by ethical standards that would bar her from disclosing any incriminating evidence she finds against Hubbard.

"I am still concerned that White is being paid $800 an hour by one side of a two-sided conflict, and that she and I have unresolved ethical restraints that limit a level of cooperation," he said. "You need to understand you are only allowed to do things that further your client's interests when you have an attorney-client relationship."

However, the letter of engagement clearly states White, working for the Manhattan law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, is representing the Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board, "not the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York, any of its affiliates or Bishop Hubbard."

Aretakis demanded that White turn over her letter of engagement, basically her contract, with the diocese. White made the letter available to the press on Wednesday.

White is requesting that Aretakis turn over Thomas Zalay's original suicide notes so their authenticity can be tested, and requested any other documents that Aretakis has that links Thomas Zalay to Hubbard in any way be turned over.

"We have made every effort to make it possible for your clients, who have raised these allegations, to cooperate in the investigation," White said in the letter. "We look forward to hearing from you by Friday."

Aretakis said he is sitting on a criminal grand jury in New York City until June 24, but would try to work out a date with White.

 
 

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