By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The woman at the center of Governor David Paterson's domestic violence coverup scandal is coming forward again to ask prosecutors to pursue charges against a former top aide who allegedly attacked her.
Sherr-una Booker, 41, told the New York Daily News and NBC New York that she decided to renew her complaint against ex-boyfriend and former Paterson aide David Johnson after dropping it the first time because she wants to inspire other women to stand up against their abusers.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Booker said Wednesday in her first interview since the incident. “I don’t want any woman to go through what I went through.”
Booker, a mother of two teenage boys, called police last Halloween after allegedly being attacked by Johnson inside her Bronx apartment. Johnson allegedly grabbed Booker, ripped her clothes and slammed her against a dresser in her Bronx apartment, according to reports.
Johnson was charged with misdemeanor second-degree harassment when police reportedly found no visible injuries on Booker. Booker later failed to show up for Johnson’s court appearance after allegedly fielding phone calls from Governor Paterson and two of his female staffers pressuring her to drop the charges.
Bronx Judge Judith Kaye is now looking into whether Paterson or any other state officials abused their office to intervene on Johnson’s behalf. Johnson, who was suspended without pay from his 132,000-a-year-job following the incident, has denied the charges.
Booker said she plans to meet with prosecutors from the Bronx District Attorney’s office as soon as Thursday to reopen her case.
