Lawyer who had two indictments against him dismissed seeks damages over ex-DA's actions
Represented by a major litigation boutique, a New York defense attorney has gone on the offensive after the dismissal of a criminal case over his claimed conduct concerning a witness in a sexual assault case.
In a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, attorney George Galgano contends that former Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy conducted a “campaign of serial perjury, evidence fabrication and gross abuse of power” by pursuing two criminal cases against Galgano, according to the Journal News and the New York Law Journal (sub. req.).
The complaint alleges that Levy, who was defeated in a November election (and is the son of television’s Judge Judy Scheindlin) wiretapped Galgano and intercepted client communications without appropriate basis in a politically motivated prosecution that was intended to chill defense attorneys from challenging abuses of power by the government.
“Every prosecutorial agency in America should study this case and use it to show their prosecutors how not to do their jobs,” said attorney Robert Altchiler, who defended Galgano in the criminal prosecution. “It was shocking as it was happening, it was shocking after the cases were dismissed and it’s still shocking now.”
Boies Schiller & Flexner is representing Galgano in the civil case, the Journal News reports.
Levy and current county officials either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
