NY POST: Court Budget Cuts May Have Cost Woman Her Life

Fatal court ‘flub’
The New York Post by William J. Gorta  -  November 7, 2011

Budget cuts in the state court system may have cost a Brooklyn woman her life.

Alla Kamenev was gunned down the day after she went to two courthouses to seek an order of protection -- only to be turned away by one because of office-hour cutbacks, and the other because officers there didn’t know about the first court’s new schedule, sources told The Post.  Kamenev, 65, arrived at Brooklyn Family Court at around 3:15 p.m. Oct. 19 seeking the restraining order, apparently against her ex-husband.  But she was told the intake room closed at 3 p.m. that day, given the court’s reduced hours because of budget cuts, the sources said.  She was then sent to Brooklyn Criminal Court a few blocks away, where the judge hearing nighttime arraignments could issue the necessary restraining order.  But once there, she was instead given a handout in the lobby that told her she needed to go back to Family Court for the order of protection.  There, she was again told they were closed, the sources said.  Finally, “she gave up in disgust,” said one source in the court system.  The next day, Kamenev was shot several times by a man riding a pink girl’s bicycle with a red basket at West Second Avenue and Sea Breeze Avenue in Coney Island.  A few days later, cops arrested Alla’s ex, Dimitry Kamenev, and charged him with murder and weapons possession.  Kamenev’s death prompted panicked meetings in both courthouses, sources said. After those sessions and an inquiry from The Post, court officials issued new procedures stating that anyone asking for an order of protection at Brooklyn Criminal Court must be referred to the clerk’s office in that building, which is open until 1 a.m.  “No court officer is to refer an individual to any agency or office other than the court clerk’s office in their facility,” said the memo, which was issued Wednesday. As for Kamenev’s case, a court spokeswoman insisted there was “no record” of her in Family Court.  “This is a terrible tragedy, but we have a system in place to prevent this from happening,” the spokeswoman, Arlene Hackel, told The Post before the new memo was issued.  Police said there were no domestic-incident reports between the Kamenevs, nor was there any lingering animosity, according to their son, Alexey, and even Alla’s new husband, Vlad Godin.  Dimitry Kamenev has two prior arrests: a 1998 felony assault charge and a collar in 1991 for a shooting.  Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli, Igor Kossov, Kevin Fasick  william.gorta@nypost.com