Tomorrow, November 15, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Federal Judge Arthur D. Spatt, in Central Islip Federal Court will hold a hearing to decide a motion seeking the release and full disclosure of the Nassau County Police Internal Affairs Report which related to their investigation of the actions of Nassau County Police and their dealings with Jo’Anna Bird who, on March 19, 2009, was tortured, beaten, stabbed, mutilated and killed in Westbury, Nassau County, New York. She was a 24 year-old mother of two that had every right to believe that her future was bright and that she could better her life along with her two young children. Continuously from the year 2007 through the date of Bird’s death, Valdez-Cruz had been the subject of arrests, Court Orders of Protection and direct police contact all relating to his physical and mental abuse of Jo’anna, including leveling death threats and open defiance of the Orders issued by the Courts. Despite the best efforts of Jo’anna and her family to have Nassau County Police and the Nassau County District Attorney enforce the Court Orders and protect Jo’anna, she was not protected. Instead of arresting and jailing Valdez-Cruz for clear violations, police and prosecutors allowed him free passage on more than one occasion including when they had him in custody for several felonies in January of 2009.
The case settled, but the report issued about her death has been kept secret.