Sheriff demands probe into story leak

A lawyer for Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral demanded yesterday that US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan investigate how details of a grand jury probe into the termination of a longtime jail nurse ended up in a newspaper article yesterday.

''Please consider this letter a demand that you immediately initiate a full and fair investigation to determine the source of the information leaked to members of the press," wrote Walter B. Prince, who is representing Cabral in a federal criminal probe.

''I am deeply troubled by the breach of public trust that is represented by these leaks and their possible source(s)," Prince wrote.

The Globe reported yesterday that federal prosecutors are investigating whether Cabral lied to the federal grand jury about the circumstances surrounding the firing of the nurse, Sheila Porter, in 2003. The information about the probe was attributed in the Globe story to ''two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation."

The nurse, who worked for a private company that provided medical services to the Sheriff's Department, contends that she was banned from the jail, and subsequently fired, because she was helping the FBI uncover prisoner abuse. Yesterday's Globe story said Cabral offered a different account to the grand jury, testifying that Porter was barred from the jail because she failed to file the proper paperwork detailing a guard's alleged assault on an inmate.

Federal prosecutors are considering whether to bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges against Cabral, one of the sources told the Globe.

Cabral declined to comment on the possible charges.

In Prince's letter to Sullivan, he expressed concern about the volume of detailed information that had reached reporters who were questioning Cabral's staff earlier this week about the investigation.

''Not only did these reporters appear to have a comprehensive list of persons who had testified before the grand jury, the questions posed were very specific and included a level of detail" that should be known only by Sullivan and other top current and former federal law enforcement officials, the letter said.

Prince alleged that prosecutors and federal agents leaked information while Cabral ''honored her ethical obligation and her own Internal Department policy prohibiting comment on or disclosure of such matters."

Sullivan, who said he hadn't seen Prince's letter, declined to comment yesterday.