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On March 18, 2009 immediately prior to trial, the Queens District Attorney dismissed all DWI charges against the Defendant who was permitted to enter a plea of guilty to the Traffic Infraction of failing to signal. The Defendant was arrested and charged pursuant to VTL §1192.3, Operating a Motor Vehicle while under the Influence of Alcohol, a Misdemeanor. It was alleged that the Defendant failed to signal while making a right turn and then drove over double yellow lines. When stopped by the Police, it was alleged that he was intoxicated in that he had a strong odor of alcohol beverage on his breathe and blood-shot watery eyes. The Intoxilyzer exam was refused. At a pre-trial Hearing in this matter, the Police Officer testified that he observed the Defendant for at least three blocks before being pulled over. During cross-examination, Attorney Todd Greenberg elicited from the Police Officer that the Defendant was operating the vehicle in a “regular and prudent manner”, for that three blocks, which considerably weakened the District Attorney’s case. This case is an example of how important proper Legal representation is from the inception of a Driving While Intoxicated case and having experienced counsel at Pre-Trial Hearings.

On February 25, 2009, after three days of deliberation, the Jury in a three week Murder trial being held in Nassau County stated they were “hopelessly deadlocked” in a case that arose from an alleged gang shooting. The Defendant, 15 years old at the time, was accused with shooting, at point blank range, a member of a rival gang in front of witnesses. Attorney Todd D. Greenberg challenged the credibility and the reliability of the witnesses, some of whom were at a Barbecue and admittedly had many drinks. A date for retrial has yet to be determined.

By Joanna Molloy Daily News Columnist On the first day of trial in what will forever be known as the Kidney Divorce, Dawnell Batista sat below a photograph of a rambling, shingled white house brushed by long beach grasses. The only thing missing was a picket fence. She closed her eyes, as if trying to hear the breezes of a more peaceful time. Like her wedding day, when she looked like a movie bride and was marrying a handsome doctor. She opened her eyes, but she never looked at her estranged husband, Dr. Richard Batista, across the courtroom in what’s euphemistically called Nassau County Matrimonial Court. He never looked at Dawnell, who, despite hellish health, is still a complete babe. He determinedly stared down at his table. When he gave her a kidney in 2001, he saved her life. Now, each is essentially dead to other. How else could they forget their three kids enough for him to tell the world he believes she slept with her personal trainer – and for her to claim he sniffed her lingerie for evidence she was having an affair? “The children are distressed and embarrassed,” said Jill Stone, the court-appointed guardian for the kids, ages 9, 11 and 14. “It’s hard for them to go to school. They believe their teachers and friends know everything that is going on. The family’s life is in the public now.” Maybe Christie Brinkley started a Long Island trend when she told the world that cheating hubby Peter Cook spent thousands on Internet porn. What a lovely thing for their kids’ schoolmates to visualize, and remind them of in the cafeteria. Who can forget New Jersey’s battling McGreeveys, who batted around charges involving gay sex and three-way romps. Even Dina and Michael Lohan found a way to finally shut up and settle to protect their kids. Of course, neither of the Batistas is the celebrity in the room. That would be Dominic Barbara. While Dawnell has chosen the measured, gentlemanly Douglas Rothkopf, Dr. Batista brought in the charismatic pit bull Barbara to jump-start this divorce case, which has dragged on four years. Bam! Barbara moved to have Dawnell “incarcerated” for not allowing Dr. Batista to see his kids for most of three years. Bam! “This is not ‘let’s be friends time,'” Barbara said to Special Referee Jeffrey Grob. Bam! “It’s not ‘Let’s Make a Deal time.'” When Stone told Grob the children could visit their father “as long as nothing derogatory was said about their mother,” Barbara cried, “Shame! Shame! Let’s just see if the children’s minds haven’t been turned completely against HIM!” The doctor had tears in his eyes; his wife stared silently. Barbara was the one who came up with the idea of placing a value on the kidney Batista donated to his wife – $1.5 million – only to lose her. Dawnell Batista is seeing another man, and is living in the million-dollar waterfront Massapequa home he bought, while he’s renting in Ronkonkoma and sending support checks. He’s got to be bitter. He’s got to want to hold onto part of his surgeon’s paycheck, if nothing else. Outside, Barbara worked the microphones like Frank Sinatra, while Batista said he had been a “2-4/7” father. Perhaps spurred by Barbara, Rothkopf retorted that Batista had exhibited “violent conduct” and “cruel and inhuman treatment” to Dawnell, a nurse, catechism teacher and “woman of valor” who survived three transplants and a double mastectomy. Rothkopf added ominously: “I have been receiving calls from other women with interesting stories that are going to come out.” Now, that will be great for the kids.

It was alleged that the Defendant, a Captain in the Emergency Services Unit of the NYC Department of Corrections, assaulted the complainant during a fellow corrections officer’s retirement party, causing him serious physical injuries. Attorney Dominic L. Addabbo was convinced that the Defendant acted in self-defense and had his private investigator obtain statements from several eye-witnesses to support this defense. The District Attorney refused to drop the charges as Mr. Addabbo demanded, and the District Attorney proceeded to present the case to the Grand Jury. Mr. Addabbo promptly arranged for the defense witnesses to appear before the Grand Jury. Based upon the sound advice and counsel the Defendant received from Mr. Addabbo, the Defendant himself also testified at the Grand Jury session. That strategy proved to be most effective, and as a result, the Grand Jury voted not to indict the Defendant. All charges against the Captain were dismissed and the records were sealed accordingly. The Captain was completely restored by the Department of Corrections to the position of trust he held before this incident.

The Defendant, charged with Murder, was in Court on October 17, 2008 wherein the District Attorney dismissed Two Counts of Murder (Intentional Murder and Depraved Indifference Murder) against him. The case, as reported in the New York Daily News, on Saturday, December 3, 2005, alleged that the Defendant shot and killed another, a Computer Programmer, because he tried to bum a cigarette from him. Extensive pre-trial Hearings were held wherein Attorney Todd D. Greenberg alleged that a videotape statement obtained by the Defendant was not “voluntarily” made and was obtained in violation of the Defendant’s Constitutional rights. Although the presiding Justice denied the Motion, Attorney Greenberg was of the opinion that the argument was extremely viable and could be argued in front of the Jury as well as on an Appeal if necessary. Immediately prior to trial, a Plea Bargain was reached wherein the Murder charges were dismissed and the Defendant pled guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, of which he already served 3 years.

Ex-horse race workers saddle up and sue Spitzer By Nicole Bode Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, September 10th 2008, 12:33 AM A pair of vindicated horse racing workers slapped ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer with a $100 million lawsuit Tuesday, claiming his professional ambition fueled a legal witch hunt that cost them their jobs and reputations. Former New York Racing Association employees Mario Sclafani, 51, of Dutchess County, and Braulio Baeza, 68, of West Virginia, were cleared in September 2007 of charges they rigged races by accepting bribes from overweight jockeys trying to bluff the scale. Spitzer, then the attorney general, spearheaded the NYRA corruption indictment in 2005. A Saratoga judge tossed out the charges midtrial, citing unreliable evidence from prosecutors such as improperly calibrated scales and failure to account for the jockeys’ gear in the measurements. “From the beginning, the prosecution did not make sense,” said lawyer Todd Greenberg, who filed the federal suit with Paul DerOhannesian. The suit also names half a dozen other individuals from the NYRA, the attorney general’s office and the state police – claiming they maliciously prosecuted the pair. The lawyers said they will have to overcome immunity charges that protect prosecutors and investigators doing their job.

On September 9, 2008 a Queens Jury returned a not guilty verdict on all criminal charges arising from the arrest of the Defendant, a liquor license holder and bar/restaurant owner. The Defendant was arrested on December 12, 2006 and charged with Driving While Intoxicated, a Class-A Misdemeanor, under two separate and distinct theories: Common Law DWI and Blood Alcohol Content of more than .08%. The evidence established that the Defendant did take a chemical test of his blood at the Intoxicated Driver Testing Unit which registered a .09%. Attorney Todd D. Greenberg attacked the result of the Chemical Test/Intoxilyzer Machine by pointing out on cross-examination the Arresting Officer that although the reading was .09% at the time of the test, approximately one hour after the arrest, that does not necessarily mean that the reading of .09 was valid at the time of the operation of the vehicle. Mr. Greenberg was able to elicit from the witness that depending on a person’s rate of metabolism and the time when the person had a drink and ate, that due to the absorption of the alcohol from the stomach to the blood system, the blood alcohol level could have been lower at the time of operation than at the time of the test. Although the Defendant admitted to the Police that he had consumed alcohol, the District Attorney could not establish the time that Defendant was drinking and, therefore, was not able to argue to the jury as to whether the .09 reading would have been higher or lower at the time the Defendant was operating the motor vehicle. Additionally, the Defendant was charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Vehicle in the Third Degree, based on the fact that he had several suspensions of his license. Most recently, the United States Supreme Court held in the Crawford case that a Defendant in a criminal case has a right to confront the witnesses against him. The District Attorney attempted to introduce into evidence an Affidavit of Regularity/Mailing of the Motor Vehicle Bureau to establish that the Defendant was mailed a letter of suspension and therefore knew or had reason to know of his suspension, a material element of that charge. Based on a Crawford objection raised by Mr. Greenberg that evidence was not permitted to be seen by the Jury. Without that necessary element, Mr. Greenberg’s Motion to Dismiss the Misdemeanor charge was granted prior to submission of the case to the Jury. Although the Defendant was acquitted of all Misdemeanor charges and has no criminal record, he was found guilty of a lesser charge of Driving While Impaired, a violation and not a crime, which has no effect on his liquor license.

On August 7th, 2008 Plaintiff, while working as a Laborer at St. Johns University, fell off a Baker scaffold, falling six feet, injuring his shoulder. Personal Injury Attorney Todd Greenberg discovered during the course of the case that the Baker Scaffold failed to have a safety device which would have prevented the fall. The Plaintiff underwent shoulder surgery repairing a torn rotator cuff. The case settled for $500,000.00 on the eve of jury selection. Due to the hard work of the attorneys at Addabbo and Greenberg, this injured laborer was able to be compensated for his pain, suffering and lost wages.

Ann Givens A Roslyn Heights man will serve 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison for causing the death of his friend in a 2006 car crash, his lawyer said yesterday. Andrew Dong, 20, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter for causing the death of his friend, Fidel Alincastre Jr., 18, of New Hyde Park, Dong’s attorney, Todd Greenberg of Forest Hills, said. Nassau County Court Judge George Peck granted Dong youthful offender status, which means his record will be sealed. Because he is a youthful offender, prosecutors did not comment on the case. Police said Dong, driving north on Shelter Rock Road in August 2006, lost control of his car, striking the curb and then a utility pole. Alincastre, a passenger in Dong’s 1999 Honda Civic, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Dong also was thrown from the vehicle. “This is a young man who lead an exemplary life, but made a stupid mistake,” Greenberg said.

After a trial that spanned approximately two weeks a Queens Family Court Judge acquitted a 15-year old teen of Robbery and Assault charges. The Juvenile allegedly committed the robbery on February 8, 2008 when he, and at least nine other persons, approached the Complainant, assaulted him and took his cell phone. Attorney Todd Greenberg argued a classic mis-identification case. Cross-examination of the Complainant, as well as an alleged eye-witness Security Guard, established that the Security Guard actually never saw the robbery and the Complainant saw the Juvenile, not at the time of the robbery, but shortly thereafter and only saw the side of the Juvenile’s face. Further cross-examination revealed that the perpetrators of the crime were wearing “Hoodies” which would further hinder any identification. At the end of the case the Queens Family Court Judge complemented Mr. Greenberg for his presentation and defense of the Juvenile in this case. All charges were dismissed and the Juvenile released from custody. A co-defendant pled guilty prior to trial.

by Robert E. Kessler May 30, 2008 Careful with those Trojan brand condoms from the discount store. They may not be the real thing. Same with the Barbie doll and the Louis Vuitton handbag. In raids in the metropolitan area yesterday, federal agents arrested at least eight people and charged them with heading a counterfeit products ring. Authorities say the ring has been smuggling into the country and then distributing massive quantities of fake brand-name goods manufactured in China, including Apple iPods, Major League Baseball and National Football League caps and Marvel comic books. The counterfeits, which included millions of the phony Trojans, were sold for the past three years mainly in small discount stores in the area, as well as elsewhere in the country, including Texas and Virginia, according to court documents. A spokeswoman for Church and Dwight, the company that manufactures the legitimate Trojan condoms in the United States, declined to comment on whether the counterfeit Chinese condoms could fail to prevent pregnancies or the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. But a source familiar with the federal investigation said that while the counterfeit condoms were of inferior quality, samples had been tested and they were no riskier to use than legitimate ones. The packaging of the Chinese condoms is almost identical to the legitimate ones, except that the counterfeit packaging is plastic, while the legitimate product is packaged in aluminum foil, said another source familiar with the investigation. “They spent all their money on printing,” said the source. One of the raids yesterday was carried out by both agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Food and Drug Administration at 18-28 Troutman St. in Ridgewood, Queens – a building used by the ZX Trading Co. Two of the owners of ZX Trading – Lin Hu and her brother, Jian Hu – were among those arrested on charges of selling counterfeit goods. They were arraigned without entering a plea before U.S. Magistrate Michael Orenstein in the federal court in Central Islip. He released them pending future appearances. Their attorney, Todd Greenberg of Forest Hills, said they were both not guilty. The assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, Charles Kelly, declined to comment. Those arrested face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. NOT KEEPING IT REAL What’s real? According to federal authorities, not some of the following products from China: Millions of Trojan brand condoms Apple iPods Louis Vuitton handbags Barbie dolls Caps for Major League Baseball and National Football League teams Marvel comic books

On May 7, 2008, the Defendant was found “Not Guilty” of all criminal charges stemming from an alleged attack by him against a neighbor with a machete. The Defendant was charged with Menacing and Criminal Possession of a Weapon regarding an incident that occurred on Saturday, September 9, 2006 immediately outside the Defendant’s home which is attached to the home of the Complaining Witness. The testimony revealed a long on-going dispute between the two families which culminated with words between the Defendant’s father and the Complainant wherein the Defendant was arrested and accused of coming out of his home with a machete and threatening his neighbor. The Police arrived and described a disorderly and violent crowd outside the Defendant’s house and the Police went inside and retrieved a machete which was introduced into evidence. Attorney Todd D. Greenberg attacked the credibility of the Witness and pointed out to the Court that on cross-examination two of the three witnesses testified that the Defendant never left the doorway of his home and did not exit his home, as the District Attorney alleged, to go after the Complainant. Further, after comparison of the testimony of the three alleged eye-witnesses, it was pointed out to the Court that there were major inconsistencies and that the Court should conclude that the testimony is false. On an interesting note, evidence was introduced that in the Indo Caribbean community, a machete, also known as “cutlass” is used for many things including cooking, gardening and as a household utensil. That argument was used to explain the presence of a machete in the Defendant’s house.