MINEOLA, NY — A defense attorney in the Long Island Gotti assault case has spoken, and he told Patch that he hopes recently dismissed charges are the end of the “saga.”
The charges filed against the Gottis followed a fight in February at a basketball game between Oyster Bay and Locust Valley high schools, officials said.
The dismissal of the charges of misdemeanor assault against Kimberly Gotti and Gianna Gotti stemmed from a motion challenging the prosecution’s readiness to move forward with their legal case — and there’s hope that the judge’s decision will hold up to appeal, though the “saga,” could continue, defense attorney Steven Christiansen said.
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“When the district attorney’s office accuses any citizen of a crime, it has a very specific statutory mandate to which they’re required to adhere, and they failed to do that in many regards in this Gotti case,” said Christiansen, of Mineola, in a phone interview.
“So we moved to dismiss because of that, and our motion basically held up a mirror to the prosecution under the pretense that they, too, are not above the law, and it took them to task on their failures to adhere to the law in their prosecution of the Gottis,” he added.
The alleged victim in the case, a 47-year-old from Upper Brookville, claimed her wig was pulled off, and told investigators, “I allowed my head to go back as I felt my scalp was going to be ripped off,” News 12 reported, citing court documents.
She also accused the Gottis of spewing slurs, which were homophobic, misogynistic, and racial in nature, at the basketball players and other teens who were watching the game, according to reports.
The Gottis pleaded not guilty to the charges in April, and have maintained their innocence since.
Both women nixed an offer by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office to plead guilty and participate in anger management counseling in March, a spokesman for DA Anne Donnelly’s office said.
An attorney for the Gottis reportedly said their name placed them at a disadvantage at a court proceeding in May.
Kimberly is the wife of John Gotti Jr., and Gianna Gotti, is the couple’s daughter.
In 1999, Gotti Jr. pleaded guilty to racketeering, bribery, and extortion and was sentenced to more than six years. His fourth trial 10 years later ended in a mistrial. His father, John Gotti Sr., was a mobster known as the “Dapper Don” and the “Teflon Don.”
He died in prison in 2002 while serving out a sentence for murder and racketeering.
In a statement to Patch, Donnelly’s office said “the case against” the two women was dismissed “on procedural grounds.”
“We await the judge’s written decision and will review our options,” the statement concluded.
Judge David Goodsell published his decision this week, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said Wednesday.
In a statement released through the DA’s press office, prosecutors said they are reviewing the decision.
Goodsell determined the case should be dismissed due to violations of discovery requirements, Newsday previously reported.
Christiansen and his colleague, Howard Beach attorney Gerard Marrone, who is representing Gianna Gotti, said the DA’s office did not turn over evidence for their defense promptly, and did not disclose that the complainant had a previous conviction for stealing money from a car dealership, according to the outlet.
Prosecutors disputed the lapse in sharing evidence, saying that the victim did not tell them about the conviction.
Donnelly’s office did not comment any further on the matter.
The prosecution has 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision.
Christiansen said Goodsell’s two-page decision upheld the application to dismiss the charges, and that he is confident it’s the end of the criminal aspect of the case.
The DA’s office is going to examine the decision’s language to see if “they’re capable of using any specific language as a linchpin for their appeal,” he said, adding, “But I don’t see any of that.”
It depends on how the DA’s office will react to the judge’s decision, and whether there will be another “chapter to this saga,” according to Christiansen.
While the criminal case was pending, the complainant hired prominent civil rights attorney Fredrick K. Brewington of Hempstead.
Brewington declined to specifically comment on Christiansen’s statements.
He did say that he and his clients are disappointed at the news and they are “evaluating all of their options.”
“We’ll wait to hear what happens with regard to the criminal matter that is currently being reviewed by the District Attorney’s office,” he added.
In a court document obtained by Newsday, Marrone said the complainant’s conviction was something that was “at best hiding in plain sight.
Christiansen said he learned about the conviction within days of being hired.
He opined that if he had identified a witness as his “star witness that he intended to rely on at trial,” he could “guarantee” that the DA’s office would have “undergone due diligence to discover a prior criminal conviction.”
“They didn’t do that in this case, and that was one of many objections we had to their declaration that they have undertaken their due diligence to turn over all discoverable evidence,” he added.
Christiansen said that the revelation about the complainant was “one of many discovery deficits,” in the case, noting that there’s a deadline by which the prosecution must turn over all discovery before they can announce they are ready for trial.
The DA’s office turned over their discovery early, but the motion challenged their readiness based on a multitude of reasons, according to Christiansen.
The attorneys claimed the complaint against the Gottis was insufficient, and that there were “numerous discovery deficits,” which included that there were “additional materials, information, and documentation that had not been turned over,” and would make their readiness for trial ineffective, he said.
Christiansen said that in video, it can be seen how the fight was initiated.
In a videotape of the basketball game, the complainant can be seen getting up out of her seat, and “contrary” to a statement she submitted in support of a complaint, walking down, then walking out of the bleacher, down the aisle, and standing two steps above the gym floor, initiating “a verbal dispute between Kimberly and she,” he maintained.
Her husband stood to her immediate left as she’s facing the gym floor, as Kimberly was on the gym floor facing her, and the complainant alleges Kimberly struck her on the left side of her face with her right hand, but that was “virtually impossible” based upon the posturing of where everyone was — her husband was to her immediate right, according to Christiansen.
“What the video does show is the complainant initiating, escalating this from a verbal conflict to a physical conflict by initiating an initial punch with her right hand to the top of Kimberly’s head, which triggered the whole melee,” he said. “And, in fact, in her mug shot, Kimberly is bearing a scratch on the top left side of her forehead.”
Christiansen said that he will have to wait to see how the judge words his decision to see if there is a basis for the prosecution to appeal.
“Judges don’t dismiss cases for no reason,” he said. “They dismiss cases when the law requires them to do so. And, Judge Goodsell, he’s a scholarly and tenured judge, and I have every faith that his decision will be well-reasoned and would hold up on appeal.”
Kimberly did not appear in court for the proceeding last week because of some “personal issues” she was having, said Christiansen, who added that he did not speak with her immediately after the recent court proceeding.
“I related my congratulations and well wishes through her husband, John, to relate to her, and I’ll just wait for her to contact me to have that conversation,” he said.
As far as the case being over, Christiansen could not say.
Christiansen hopes the dismissal of the charges is “the last chapter of this saga.”
“If there’s going to be another one, it’s going to be initiated by the complainant,” he said. “The Gottis never initiated any of this, not the fight, not the arrest, not the prosecution, but as of today, they ended all three. If it’s going to be a next chapter, it’s going to be in civil court, and the Gottis will defend themselves as they always have.”
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