Investigators Are Told of Paterson Bid to Quiet Accuser

Deneane Brown, a state worker, was friends with both the governor and the woman who had accused a senior aide to Mr. Paterson of assaulting her last fall. The person with knowledge of Ms. Brown’s version of events said Ms. Brown was told by Mr. Paterson several weeks ago to convey a message to the accuser: “Tell her the governor wants her to make this go away.”

Ms. Brown then contacted the accuser, Sherr-una Booker, repeatedly by phone and text message, the person said, but the content of those communications is not clear. And on Feb. 7, the day before Ms. Booker was to return to Family Court for a permanent order of protection against the aide, David W. Johnson, Ms. Brown arranged a phone conversation between Ms. Booker and the governor himself.

Ms. Booker did not appear in court the following day, resulting in the case’s being dismissed.

Ms. Brown’s account, aspects of which she has told investigators, provides the most explicit description to date of the governor’s intervention in theaftermath of the assault accusation against Mr. Johnson. Mr. Paterson’s calls to Ms. Brown began in late January or early February, according to the person familiar with Ms. Brown’s account. It was around that time that reporters for The New York Times began reporting on Mr. Johnson’s background and rise to senior aide.

Mr. Paterson denied, through a spokesman on Tuesday night, telling Ms. Brown to “make this go away” or any effort to silence Ms. Booker. The governor has begun telling top state Democrats that he had a conversation with Ms. Booker only because she reached out to him to complain that she was being pestered by reporters from The Times.

Fallout from the controversy continued on Tuesday. The State Police superintendent, Harry J. Corbitt, who first admitted a week ago that state troopers contacted Ms. Booker in what he described as an effort to explain her “options,” announced Tuesday evening that he would resign.

And a growing chorus of New York political figures called on the governor to resign.

“This latest news is very disappointing for those of us who believed the governor was a strong advocate for women’s equality and for ending violence against women,” said Marci Pappas, president of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women, an influential player in Democratic politics. “In spite of the governor’s heretofore excellent record on women’s issues, it is now time for the governor to step down.” State Senator Craig M. Johnson, a Nassau County Democrat, said: “This is about leadership. And sometimes leadership is knowing when you can’t lead any more.”

Mr. Paterson has not responded to questions about his own understanding of the alleged assault or his role in his administration’s response to it, citing an investigation by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. Mr. Paterson on Tuesday offered only a general response to the accusations, saying reports of his involvement were “unsubstantiated.”

Ms. Booker told the police that on Oct. 31, Mr. Johnson ripped off her Halloween costume, choked her, threw her against a bureau and prevented her from calling the police for help. She went to Family Court and twice obtained temporary orders of protection before failing to appear to seek the final order on Feb. 8.

Ms. Brown was one of two state workers whom the governor personally instructed to contact Ms. Booker, according to two people with direct knowledge of the governor’s actions. The other worker was Marissa Shorenstein, Mr. Paterson’s press secretary.

The person with knowledge of Ms. Brown’s account insisted on anonymity because of the pending investigation into the matter by Mr. Cuomo. Ms. Brown was interviewed under oath by investigators from Mr. Cuomo’s office last Friday and is expected to give a more extensive statement in the coming days.

Ms. Brown has for years been a close friend of Ms. Booker, attending her wedding, talking to her regularly on the telephone and even visiting at her bedside during her bout with cancer. Ms. Brown was also aware of the Oct. 31 episode.

Ms. Brown’s lawyer, Paul P. Martin, would not characterize her conversations with Ms. Booker.

Ms. Booker’s lawyer has since last week asked that The Times not publish her name because she worked at a public hospital and feared retaliation. But her name and picture have appeared in numerous newspapers and on the Internet in recent days, and protecting her identity is no longer possible.

Mr. Paterson spent much of Tuesday in private meetings at the Executive Mansion in Albany. He canceled a planned public meeting with legislative leaders after complaining of a cold.

He called for a special meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday, though the purpose was not immediately clear.