LOCKPORT, N.Y. - Police body camera video obtained by 2 On Your Side on Friday appears to show a well-known local attorney asking a Niagara County Sheriff's Deputy if there was "anything we can do" in relation to his 21-year-old daughter's arrest during a traffic stop last November.
The attorney is Ronald Winter, former Chief Homicide Prosecutor in Niagara County and current clerk to New York State Supreme Court Judge Richard Kloch.
Winter's daughter, Rachel Winter, 21, who now resides in Brooklyn, was pulled over in Niagara County on Thanksgiving morning in 2016. The officer noticed her vehicle over the center lane, without headlights on.
On the video, Winter is heard asking the deputy to speak with her father because he was asking if she wanted to take a chemical test to determine if she was legally intoxicated. The conversation between the deputy and Richard Winter was caught on the deputy's body camera microphone.
WINTER: "Has Rachel been arrested?"
DEPUTY: "Yes, she has."
WINTER: "Oh Jesus. Do you recognize my name at all."
DEPUTY: "No sir. I don't."
WINTER: "I used to be the chief homicide prosecutor for Niagara County, I worked in the DA's office for 18 years, is there any way... is there any way to not have this happen? Is there anything we can do?
DEPUTY: "I've already called out with her under arrest, I've already called for a tow truck, our normal procedure. Read her Miranda, and DWI."
WINTER: "Oh, god... all right, so this isn't going away, huh?"
After the arrest, Rachel Winter was charged with reckless driving, but wasn't charged with DWI until April 2017.
Orleans County District Attorney Joseph Cardone, who was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, said he made the decision with the defense and the judge to dismiss the charges against Rachel Winter based on evidence, and not on who's related to whom. Cardone said multiple experts reviewed the body camera video and could not find evidence to definitely prove that Winter was legally intoxicated.
"In my judgment," Cardone said, "the ability to prove that Miss Winter was intoxicated would've been next to impossible."
The charge may have been dismissed, but the state's Office of Court Administration confirmed through a spokesperson that an investigation is underway into the dismissal of the case.
"We are investigating the circumstances leading up to the dismissal - while the target of our investigation is a court employee, it is not the presiding judge on the case," the spokesperson said.
Legal expert Barry Covert told 2 On Your Side that Ron Winter is known in legal circles as an attorney of the "highest integrity."
Covert said it's important to consider circumstances-- particularly that Winter's daughter called him in the middle of the night and needed advice about whether to take the chemical test.
"He didn't demand anything. He didn't impose himself on the officer. He just simply said, 'has she really already been charged... is there something we can do about it?' And it turns out, he was correct," Covert said, referring to the dismissal of the case.
Below are video clips from the arresting officer's body camera. The video clips were released by City of Niagara Falls Court. Portions of the video have been blurred, or the audio removed, to protect personal identification information from being released.
(Video shows Winter pulled over by deputy and deputy giving field sobriety tests. Winter is then arrested by the deputy and advised of her rights. Winter's father, Ronald Winter is called and you can hear the conversation on speaker phone. )
(In this video, the arresting officer is talking to Winter's father on the phone, and later reading Winter her Miranda rights before heading to the NCSO.)
WATCH: RAW VIDEO: Body Cam video from Niagara County Sheriff Deputy 11/24/16- Part 3
(In this clip, the arresting officer is transporting Winter to the NCSO. Towards the end of the video, Lt. Broderick arrives and the arresting officer covers a portion of his body camera and you cannot hear what they are saying)
WATCH RAW VIDEO: Body Cam video from Niagara County Sheriff Deputy 11/24/16- Part 4
(In this video Winter is being processed, afterwards, the arresting officer speaks to Lt. Broderick, but again covers a portion of the body camera with his hand and you can barely make out what they are saying.)