Donovan Bid to Move Trial to U.S. Court Denied

A federal judge Wednesday refused Labor Secretary Raymond J. Donovan’s request to move his trial from state court to federal court, declaring that the criminal charges he faces have nothing to do with his official duties.

In denying Donovan’s motion, U.S. District Judge Lloyd F. MacMahon said the doctrines of federalism “mandate that federal courts act with restraint with respect to ongoing state criminal prosecutions and interfere with such prosecutions only when necessary to protect overriding federal interests.”

Donovan faces charges in the Bronx of larceny and filing false business records while an executive with the Schiavone Construction Co. of Secaucus, N.J., before he joined President Reagan’s Cabinet.

Donovan’s lawyers had argued that he should be tried in federal court to prevent state interference in federal affairs. They noted that his indictment, handed up Sept. 24, forced him to take an unpaid leave from the Cabinet.

Paul Curran, an attorney for Donovan, said he was “disappointed” at the ruling, but that an evidentiary hearing last month “established beyond question there’s no case against Secretary Donovan. He’s not guilty of anything. He did not commit the crime.”

William G. Bittman, Donovan’s attorney in Washington, said the defense was able at that hearing to obtain the minutes of the grand jury that indicted Donovan “and we know now they don’t have a case.”

“We were confident we would have the case thrown out in federal court or in state court, but thought it would be quicker in federal court,” he said.

Bronx Dist. Atty. Mario Merola commented that MacMahon “ruled this is not a federal matter and belongs in a state court. We applaud that decision.”

Donovan, former executive vice president of Schiavone, is charged with participating in an alleged conspiracy with nine other men to pad reported payments to a subcontractor, Jopel Contracting & Trucking Corp., on a Schiavone-run subway project in New York City.

The alleged equipment rental scheme reportedly cost the New York City Transit Authority about $7 million.