Cover-Up on Attica?

The stunning accusation threw salt on newly reopened wounds. Scarcely had a Buffalo jury convicted two inmates of involvement in the fatal beating of Prison Guard William Quinn during the 1971 uprising at Attica (TIME, April 14) than the news broke that a former chief aide to Attica Special Prosecutor Anthony G. Simonetti had charged that there had been a cover-up in the investigation of the revolt. Malcolm H. Bell accused his old boss of deliberately impeding the inquiry into possible criminal acts by law enforcement officers.

Although 62 of the Attica inmates have been indicted by a grand jury, not one guard or policeman has yet been charged. Bell, who quit in disgust last December, made his complaint in a letter of resignation to State Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz. That was followed in January by a 160-page report to incoming Governor Hugh Carey. Last week the letter and the report leaked.

Complete Faith. Bell insists there is "substantial evidence" that police involved in the assault on the prison participated in unwarranted shooting--a view shared by some prominent lawyers. Bell accuses Simonetti of thwarting his effort to make a fair presentation to the grand jury, denying him access to evidence, and "prematurely and without justification" granting immunity to two suspects in a case Bell was developing. "There is a double standard of justice," claims Bell, "as far as inmates and non-inmates are concerned."

Simonetti denies Bell's charges; his office, he says, has conducted a "very open investigation." Governor Carey has asked for a report from Attorney General Lefkowitz, which Lefkowitz delegated to his appointee--Simonetti. "I have complete faith," says the Attorney General, "in what's-his-name--Simonetti." Bell is calling instead for an independent inquiry of the prosecutor's office. The evidence--and the news that two more prosecutors resigned from Simonetti's staff--indicate such a study is probably needed to dissolve the doubts shrouding the Attica tragedy.

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