Perjury trial clears Zwack of seven criminal charges

A Rensselaer County jury acquitted former County Executive Henry Zwack on seven perjury counts. The charges were related to a no-show job scandal that has haunted the county since 1996.

The jury cleared Zwack of charges that he lied under oath to cover up that former 911 Education Coordinator Dirk Van

Ort was paid $15,000 in 1996 while actually running his carnival business in Florida. He was also acquitted of charges that he falsely shifted blame for the affair to a pair of former county department heads, Victor Cipolla and Susan Martin.

To be convicted of perjury, Rensselaer County Court Judge Patrick McGrath told the jurors that they had to be convinced that Zwack’s intent was to lie.

A juror told Channel 13 that they were confused by the many contradictory statements made by the witnesses and that the case was politically motivated. Special Prosecutor Michael Katzer refused to comment on the verdict.

Witnesses say that minutes after the verdict was announced a car full of Zwack supporters shouting "Zwack’s not guilty!’’ drove through the streets of Troy, blasting the horn and offering thumbs-up to the passersby.

However, for all his joy, Zwack’s legal troubles are far from over. He still faces 15 felony and misdemeanor counts alleging that he was behind a civil service scam in return for political support. The date for this trial has yet to be set.

Zwack, a Republican, resigned from his position to prepare for the trial, but he did not testify in the trial that lasted three weeks.

Rensselaer County Legislator Robert Mirch said that he thinks the remaining charges against Zwack will be dropped. "He [the special prosecutor] has lost this entirely. Usually in court you lead with your best stuff first and he has lost that completely," he said. According to the Times Union, Mirch, a leading Democrat who called for a special prosecutor in the Zwack case more than two years ago, is now a conservative with strong ties to the GOP.

Cipolla and Martin, the county’s former computer chief and former county personnel director, respectively, were charged and acquitted in 1998 for allegedly orchestrating the no-show job scandal.

Now, they are married to each other, and have filed a $35 million federal lawsuit for wrongful prosecution against both Zwack and Rensselaer County.

Katzer in comments following theverdict says he still plans to prosecute Zwack on other charges that he has been indicted on.