'We all knew Burke did it:' Prosecution's star witness returns to the stand for trial of former Suffolk DA, top aide

A retired Suffolk police lieutenant took the stand for the third day Tuesday in the trial against former Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota and his chief investigator.

News 12 Staff

Dec 3, 2019, 7:49 PM

Updated 1,816 days ago

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A retired Suffolk police lieutenant took the stand for the third day Tuesday in the trial against former Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota and his chief investigator.
Spota's defense attorney called into question the credibility of Lt. James Hickey, saying he lied under oath in a separate trial back in the 1990s.
The defense attorney then pointed out to the jurors that Hickey had lied to his wife for years about having extramarital affairs - four of them within seven to eight years. Hickey admitted to the jury he used cover stories to keep having multiple affairs.
As News 12 has reported, Hickey testified he had direct conversations and meetings with Spota and Christopher McPartland about covering up for former Police Chief James Burke, who had beat suspect Christopher Loeb in 2012 along with other Suffolk detectives. He is the only witness to testify he personally spoke to the two about the cover-up.
Hickey told the court, "I assumed Spota knew from Burke... because Spota knew. We all knew Burke did it. We were covering it up."
Spota and McPartland's defense attorneys' have maintained their clients did not obstruct justice, because they did not know that Burke had beaten Loeb.
Hickey had also testified that when Burke knew he was going to be arrested, he told him he was "willing to do three years, playing cards with mobsters."
The defense asked Hickey if he was testifying in hopes that he wouldn't get any jail time. He said "yes."