Panel that sprung senator from jail did not follow its own rules

[Khephra]

(Yep, it's a Republican.)

NEW YORK -- The members of the city commission that released former state Sen. Guy Velella from jail did not understand their own rules, rarely kept records and almost never met, according to a scathing report released Thursday.

In the Velella case, the Local Conditional Release Commission met only because the board's chairman, Raul Russi, knew the case would be high-profile, the city Department of Investigation found.

Russi told investigators it would "be important to have everybody's vote on the record in case there was going to be any questions about it," according to the report.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--ex-senatorrelease1104nov04,0,5854824.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

(Mods: sorry about the slight headline edit.)