Ex-inspector Ballard was acquitted in fatal Spring Valley adult home fire. Now he's suing
NEW CITY − Wayne Ballard is striking back at the Rockland District Attorney’s Office after a judge acquitted him of charges resulting from the investigation into the fatal Spring Valley adult home fire.
Ballard, the village's former chief building inspector, filed a legal notice to sue Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh, his prosecutors and a detective, Spring Valley police, and the county government. Ballard filed a notice of claim on May 2 with the Rockland County Clerk's Office for a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court.
Ballard is seeking an undisclosed amount of money on claims of false arrest, malicious prosecution, prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, and civil rights violations. The claims also include negligent hiring, training, and supervision of district attorney's employees.
District Attorney Thomas Walsh didn't immediately comment Thursday on the accusations in the pending lawsuit.
What led to Wayne Ballard taking legal action
Wayne Ballard case: Charges against former Spring Valley Building Inspector dismissed
The District Attorney's Office accused Ballard on June 21, 2021, of knowingly filing a false report outlining inspections, permits, and other Building Department information with the state. The charges were a felony count of first-degree offering of a false instrument and a misdemeanor of second-degree falsifying business records.
Ballard's notice claims the District Attorney's Office arrested him without probable cause and "commenced a campaign to prosecute (Ballard) for felony charges as the result of a politically inspired acceptance of a baseless accusation."
Ballard's attorney, Brustein Law of Manhattan, states prosecutors failed to obtain corroboration for the "very serious charge during several months of investigation to meet their initial burden of probable cause for the arrest."
After the trial, Rockland County Court Judge Kevin Russo dismissed the charges on Feb. 2.
Russo found the prosecutors failed to provide evidence that Ballard knowingly provided false information in a report on the village department's inspections for 2019. Russo ruled the prosecution failed to prove Ballard intended to defraud the New York State Department of State in the report.
More than a month later on March 14, Russo ruled the prosecutors again failed to meet their burden of providing proof against Spring Valley Building Inspector Ray Canario. Russo found the prosecutors failed to prove Canario intended to defraud in filed reports of building department activities.
Ballard's attorney, Brustein Law, argued the prosecution, among other issues, defamed him, caused him mental stress and cost him money in legal fees and retirement benefits. Ballard once was the elected superintendent of highways in Clarkstown but lost his job after a politically charged patronage hiring case.
His notice claims that even after Russo dismissed the case, Walsh's office exacerbated the defamation by maintaining Ballard's guilt, stating that the "people believe that sufficient evidence was presented to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
The Ballard notice names Walsh, First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Frawley, a retired Orangetown detective, prosecutors Ryan Sweeney and Michael Dugandzic, Chief of Detectives Peter Walker, and lead investigator Detective Matthew Wohl, a retired NYPD officer.
Walsh, a retired judge and county attorney, is seeking his second, four-year term as prosecutor, essentially running unopposed with the support of the Democratic and Republican parties. County Executive Ed Day's administration doesn't comment on pending litigation. Ballard's lawyers didn't respond to a request for comment.
Canario's plans concerning possibly following Ballard's lead were unknown. His attorney, Stefanie Jordan, didn't immediately respond.
Ballard and Canario were both charged with paperwork-related crimes more than four months after the fatal fire to the Evergreen Court Home for Adults on Lafayette Street. Spring Valley Firefighter Second Lt. Jared Lloyd, 35, died rescuing residents of the facility. Adult home resident Oliver Hueston, 79, also died in the inferno.
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So far, prosecutors have failed to obtain convictions as Walsh promised following the investigation into the fire. Questions have been raised by defense attorneys about charging Canario and Ballard since their reports didn't cause the fire and deaths.
The District Attorney's Office also has plea-bargained dismissal for two Evergreen Court employees, including the director of several facilities owned by the Schoenberger family. Several of the facilities have been cited by the state for health and safety violations, forcing the closure of two.
Denise Kerr, the director, had allowed two rabbis to cleanse the facility's kitchen and ovens with a blow torch system without proper permits.
The rabbis − Nathaniel Sommer and his son Aaron Sommer − face court on June 20 on their not-guilty pleas to manslaughter, negligent homicide, arson, assault, and other felony charges. They could plea to several counts with no jail under a potential agreement with prosecutors.
After Canario's recent acquittal, Spring Valley Mayor Alan Simon, a former judge and attorney, said he felt "it was obvious that the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office pursued ill-advised prosecutions against Village of Spring Valley employees that were not in accordance with the law."
Simon had pushed hiring Ballard and promoted Canario to the Building Department.
"The district attorney clearly caved to political pressure in a misguided attempt to degrade the village in the eyes of the public," Simon said in a statement on the village website. "As a result, two public servants’ reputations will be forever sullied due to an attempt to incorrectly link them to the tragic events of March 23, 2021, one of whom actively fought the fire at Evergreen Court alongside his fallen brother."
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal.
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Spring Valley fire: Wayne Ballard suing Rockland DA, others
