A state lawyer has been indicted on 11 counts of second-degree aggravated harassment because of threats he allegedly placed between last May and July to black neighbors and their families in his Albany neighborhood. Among the calls allegedly placed by James J. Hennessey, a veteran Department of Civil Service attorney, was one threatening to take a neighbor’s “little black boy and tie him up” (NYLJ, Oct. 26, 2010).

The indictment secured by Albany County District Attorney David Soares names Mr. Hennessey on 11 counts of aggravated harassment as a hate crime, a Class E felony, that could include enhanced penalties. The indictment also charges that Mr. Hennessey, who joined the Civil Service department in 1993 as an associate counsel, used the website www.bluffmycall.com in an attempt to mask the source of his calls. A state spokeswoman said Mr. Hennessey remains on the job because he has not been convicted of a crime. — Joel Stashenko

Bronx, Queens, Staten Island D.A.s Seeking Re-election