Charles Barron's Wife May Seek Assembly Seat

The conviction of Assemblywoman Diane Gordon of Brooklyn on bribery charges yesterday opens up a vacancy in Albany that the wife of Council Member Charles Barron may try to fill.

Gordon, a Democrat, is one of 10 lawmakers from the city's 80-person delegation to Albany to face criminal charges over the past five years. She was caught on videotape requesting that a developer build her a home in return for her agreeing to lobby on his behalf.

A state jury in Brooklyn yesterday did acquit Gordon of the top count she faced, which was bribe receiving in the second degree. That carried a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. The jury convicted Gordon of several other felonies relating to bribery and official misconduct, one of which carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years.

The jury's reasoning for acquitting Gordon of the top charge but convicting her of others was not immediately clear.

Her lawyer, Bernard Udell, said the jury may not have wanted to convict her of the most serious charge on account of "a house that did not exist."

Gordon did not in the end receive any house, which she had wanted built in a gated community in Queens.

"It is especially appalling," the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles Hynes, said in a statement, that Ms. Gordon "did not want her house built in her own assembly district," or even in the borough of Brooklyn.

Gordon declined to comment after the verdict.

"She's no longer a member of the Assembly as of this moment," one of the prosecutors on the case, Michel Spanakos, said afterward. Felons are forbidden from holding public office in New York State.

Since Gordon was charged in 2006, two other lawmakers from New York City, Efrain Gonzalez Jr. and Brian McLauglin, have been charged with corruption related crimes. McLauglin, who didn't run for re-election after being charged, has since pleaded guilty. Senator Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Last month, an assemblyman, Adam Clayton Powell IV, was charged with drunken driving after he was stopped on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 82nd Street. His lawyer has said he is not guilty.

It is Governor Paterson's decision as to whether to hold a special election for the vacant assembly seat that Gordon had occupied. Her former district, the 40th, covers sections of East New York, Canarsie, and Brownsville.

Possible contenders, a source said, are a Democratic district leader, Earl Williams, and the wife of Mr. Barron, Inez Barron. Mrs. Barron is a retired educator whose career included serving as a principal.