Judge Knew of Myerson Link to Divorce Case Figure, Friend Says

A top aide to Mayor Edward I. Koch delivered a blow to the defense in the Bess Myerson case Wednesday by testifying that former Judge Hortense Gabel knew much earlier than she has admitted that the husband in a divorce case she was handling was Myerson’s boyfriend.

Herbert Rickman, a longtime friend of both Myerson and Gabel, said also that he had warned both women that it had been a mistake for Myerson to hire the judge’s daughter, Sukhreet, at the city’s cultural affairs department. He said that Gabel “got rather irate” and “told me for all intents and purposes it was none of my concern.”

Tells of Conversation

After a day of routine testimony, Rickman made his disclosure in describing a conversation with Gabel at a May, 1983, reception at Gracie Mansion to celebrate Myerson’s recent appointment as Koch’s cultural affairs commissioner.

Rickman said Gabel had asked him: “Is what’s-his-name here?”

“I said: ‘Do you mean Andy Capasso?’ She said yes. . . . I knew she meant Bess’ friend, and I said: ‘You mean Andy Capasso?’ and she said yes.”

Rickman’s account contradicts Gabel’s insistence that she did not know until five months later that her friend Myerson was having an affair with sewer contractor Carl (Andy) Capasso at the time that the judge was presiding over Capasso’s $15-million divorce case.

The timing is critical because Gabel made no move to disqualify herself from the Capasso divorce case during the spring and summer of 1983, although she was socializing with Myerson and Myerson had hired the judge’s daughter at the cultural affairs agency.

Challenge to Credibility

After several weeks in which prosecution witnesses have taken a pounding, Rickman’s account was the most direct challenge to the credibility of one of the three defendants.